Customer Reviews

The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive?

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Finally! a book for the layman that goes to the very heart of christianity in raising fundamental questions about our outdated concept of a personal god, the role of the Bible, the divinity of Jesus and the status of ancient mythology in the Christian message. Bellinzoni, professor emeritus of religion at Wells College, says it is time for us to give up our first century world view, think and behave like children of the enlightenment and retrieve Christianity from Christian extremists. In rattling the cage of an archaic, male dominated, narrow-minded tradition, he asks us to address the tough questions, break with the past and find a Christianity that is in sync with reason, science and human rights. As churches lose both members and clery, Christians must take the lead and recast their religion to make it relevant.

This book is amazing in its focus and the precision and clarity of its analysis. It may rock your belief system, especially if you tend to take Scripture literally but even if you accept it more metaphorically. You won't be able but to agree with the analysis of the author, a distinguished academic.

I'm referring to what for me is the heart of the book -- a study of the New Testament, especially in the origins of the life of Jesus as we know it in the Old Testament. Jesus' early followers were so stunned by the void his disgraceful death left them, Dr Bellinzoni writes, that they turned to the Old Testament for explanation. From there they built a story of Jesus' life and resurrection. The OT gave them the authority they needed and also helped them argue that Jesus' life had been predicted. The result ended up in the synoptic gospels the Christian world has taken as truth for two millennia.

By analyzing passages from both testaments, Dr. Bellinzoni gives you the bridge. It's shockingly clear. All you need to do to check it yourself is to open your own Bible and follow the logic. If such an analysis has been done before, it can't have been any more compelling than Dr. Bellinzoni's.

From there, Dr. Bellinzoni goes on to discuss significances and, eventually, his theme, which is that if main-line Christianity isn't to continue to lose membership and become, in effect, a minor sect in the panoply of world religions, it will have to push through sweeping reforms to make itself relevant to today's understandings of science and today's needs, not those of Roman Palestine. He believes this can be done.

If this book was entitled something like "Why Jesus was Only a Man" I would probably give it 4 stars, because it is an effective scholarly critique of the orthodox Christian view of the Bible with some philosophical weaknesses. But the book's bizarre title suggests that it is something it is not: an explanation of why Christianity in its present form will decline unless deep doctrinal changes are made.

The content that the book (mostly) succeeds in delivering, the historical critique, consists of an exposition and application of the "historical-critical method" of analyzing ancient texts. One of the premises of the historical-critical method is that supernatural claims should be automatically excluded as explanations for stories about historical events. Bellinzoni is no philosopher; his attempted defense of this methodological premise is either lacking or missing altogether. Yet it is this premise that orthodox Christians tend to dispute most vigorously. As a result Bellinzoni will have difficulty reaching out to the audience whose mind he most dearly wants to change: that of orthodox Christians.

As for the book's title, Bellinzoni delivers very little in the way of analysis about the decline and fall of Christianity, and what needs to change for it to survive. He says things like 'how can anyone in the 21st century be expected to believe in a three-tiered universe' consisting of earth, heaven and hell. Bellinzoni never manages to answer his rhetorical question, again exposing his weakness as a philosopher.

If you are interested in a scholarly skeptical analysis of the Bible that challenges the basic claims of orthodox Christianity, this book is not a bad introduction. But don't expect it to deliver on the promise of its title.

Don't waste your money on drivel like this.

Amazon.com has thought provoking, insightful books by Margaret Barker that delve into the symbolism upon which Christianity is established- the First Temple of the Israelites.

Engage your mind with books of hers, from Amazon, such as: Temple Themes in Christian Worship; The Gate of Heaven: The History and Symbolism of the Temple in Jerusalem; The Great Angel: A Study of Israel's Second God; The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy; The Older Testament: The Survival of Themes from the Ancient Royal Cult in Sectarian Judaism and Early Christianity; The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its influence on Christianity; The Revelation of Jesus Christ: Which God Gave to Him to Show to His Servants What Must Soon Take Place; The Hidden Tradition of the Kingdom of God; and Christmas The Original Story.