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124 of 130 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A timely challenge to be like Christ, June 21, 2006
I highly recommend "Myth of a Christian Nation." It is a well written, engaging, and scripturally based book that will likely challenge the Christian reader in the way they live out their faith.
Boyd's premise is that the New Testament describes a "power-under" dynamic, where we are called to live radically loving lives that look like Christ. Kingdom people serve others, as Jesus took upon himself the role of a servant and washed the feed of the disciples. As Jesus' loved us enough to give his life for us, we are to love others - even our enemies - to the point of death. The power-under dynamic of the KoG looks like the cross of Christ. Boyd calls the Christian reader to seek to have a KoG mindset, as defined in scripture, and to live in a way that looks like Christ.
Contrasted to this is the Kingdom of the World (KoW) which uses a "power-over" dynamic to achieve individual and tribal influence in the world. In every way it is opposite of the Kingdom of God. Boyd notes that Satan is called the "God of this World", and as such, he exercises significant influence on the world systems. The power-over dynamic looks like the sword.
As Boyd tells us this book was inspired by a sermon series he preached in 2004 called the "Cross and the Sword," which resulted in about 20 percent of the congregation leaving his church.
A common objection to Boyd's message is that "you cannot separate our faith" from our actions in this world. What I think Boyd is trying to say is that we should not IDENTIFY our society or country as "Christian." Doing so suggests to those outside the church that the actions of our society and our country reflect the Christian faith. While it is true that this country may do very good things, as a power-over structure it does not reflect Christ.
Some suggest that Boyd is promoting a particular political position. This totally misses Boyd's point. ANY political activity is a part of the KoW dynamic. While he repeatedly tells the reader to "vote their conscience," he reminds us that the realm of politics is outside the realm of radical Christ-like love that "does not seek its own."
Boyd, like Jesus, the disciples, St. Francis, and others who took Jesus' message very literally may seem a little odd to you. Yet, it is just that oddness that fascinates us. It is so different than what we know, and we hope that, perhaps, they might be right. The "Myth of a Christian Nation" is indeed a challenging book, but I have found that I have benefited by allowing it to challenge me.
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152 of 161 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A deeply religious reflection on the Kingdom of the Sword versus the Kingdom of the Cross, August 19, 2006
This is a book by a Christian pastor written for other Christians. Non-Christians may find it interesting to learn that no all evangelicals stand shoulder to shoulder with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and Tom DeLay in their understanding of the possibility of a truly Christian government. Falwell, Robertson, DeLay, Roy Moore, Tim LaHaye, and a host of others on the Religious Right believe that it is the duty of Christians today to "Take Back America for God." Some (such as Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore), inspired by the unusual writings of R. J. Rushdoony and Gary North, actually want to make the United States a theocracy, with the constitution trumped by the laws in the Bible. These are the people that Boyd has in mind in this book, though it is important to emphasize that his arguments apply equally to those on the Left, were they to attempt to identify the kingdom of the world with the kingdom of God.
Non-Christians would likely also find the tone of the book a bit too devout. The entire book is structured around discussions of Biblical passages, teasing out their meanings, striving to understand the implications of the teachings of Christ and Paul. I personally think the title of the book is a bit misleading, and I wonder if it was his original title. For the book really focuses more on what it means for any Christian anywhere to identify the eternal kingdom of God with the temporal kingdom under which he or she lives. Although Boyd has a very different understanding of the Christian's relationship with the political, he almost could have borrowed St. Augustine's title THE CITY OF GOD (AND THE CITY OF MAN), the latter half the implied title of Augustine's classic. Or the great French lay theologian Jacques Ellul work THE POLITICS OF GOD AND THE POLITICS OF MAN. Like Ellul, Boyd insists that it is impossible to Christianize any temporal political regime. To confuse the two is to make what Gilbert Ryle would have called a category mistake, to confuse one kind of entity for another.
Boyd from the outset makes the distinction between worldly governments, which he refers to either as the kingdom of the sword or the kingdom of the world with the kingdom of the cross or the kingdom of God. The former is characterized in all cases by a self-interested "power over" others. This is true even in the most just and fair governments as well as in the most tyrannical. The kingdom of God, however, is characterized by disinterested, loving "power under." Boyd shows that Jesus repeatedly in the New Testament refused any "power over" role, despite being the son of God, instead continually acting out in his life a "power under" self-sacrificial love, a way of living he demanded of his followers. Over and over the NT emphasizes that Christians are to live out the life of Christ in love and service to others. Moreover, this love is to be indiscriminate, and not given only to those who are like us and share our views. In fact, Jesus emphasizes that it is those on the furthermost edges that we are most to show our love to, not by judging them and legislating against them, but by serving them. There is little doubt that if Jesus were walking the streets of America today, he would be spending all his time with gays and people with AIDS and drug addicts and the poorest of the poor.
Boyd sees a large number of failings in the Religious Right today. He hints that people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are, in fact, heretics. Boyd asks why we so often identify people as heretics based on some religious belief, when in fact Jesus emphasizes over and over how crucial it is to love others. He asks, when has anyone ever been identified as a heretic because they failed to love as Jesus commanded them to do. And that is much of his complaint with the Religious Right: their patent failure to love. Boyd stresses that if we are actually expanding the kingdom of God, it will look like Jesus, it will look like love in action. It will not look like people who fanatically attack gays, who ferociously delight in the killing of terrorists or Arabs, who are obsessed in condemning others as sinners.
One of the reasons that James Madison pushed through constitutional clauses that divided church in state both in Virginia and later in the United States was that he felt that a close alignment of any religious body with a government did great harm to the the church. Madison pointed out that if the church closely aligned itself with a particular political party, then when that party went out of favor, the church would be rejected along with the sectarian political party. Boyd explains in great detail the many dangers to the kingdom of God whenever it is confused with kingdom of the world. Therefore, the greatest dangers to the church are those who want to Christianize America, for they not only trivialize religion, they profanize the holy.
This is one of the most devout books I have read in quite a while. Rev. Boyd is clearly a deeply religious, careful, humble, intelligent reader of the Scriptures. He also is an advocate for a truly radical reading of the Bible, one that calls for radical discipleship. What has disturbed me about the Religious Right has all too often been its incredible worldliness, the way its leaders have supported a culture of grasping after worldly wealth, of elevating greed and political power to the level of the theological virtues faith, hope, and love. I remember vividly a number of years ago sitting in First Baptist Church of Dallas and hearing W. A. Criswell speak of "the only economic system ordained by God, the American free enterprise system." I have heard countless preachers proclaim that America is a country uniquely blessed by God. Boyd, on the other hand, emphasizes a Gospel where if you have two coats you are told to give one of them away; where if you are struck on the face, you are to offer the other cheek; and where there is no difference between Jew or Greek or (by implication) American. Boyd's vision of the kingdom is a nonnationalistic, self-sacrificing, unselfish, nonmaterialistic striving to imitate Christ. It is a corrective that has never been as needed as much as it is today.
I am not sure that I recommend this book to non-Christians. The point of the book is to help correct the church. Non-Christians can in reading it learn that not every evangelical is like the Falwells and Robertsons and Dobsons of this world. But I definitely recommend this book to everyone who considers him or herself a Christian. There is no better Christian book available today for understanding the proper understanding of the kingdom of the cross and how it differs from the kingdom of the world.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good treatise despite flaws., December 29, 2008
Gregory Boyd's concept in the Myth of a Christian Nation obviously did well because it left me nodding in agreement heartily on some points, but scratching my head on others.
In essence, he argues and defends the point that the United States has never been and never will be a Christian Nation. Perhaps by culture, we are--but not in a truly transforming way. Still, for the most part, many Evangelicals equate America (more specifically Republicans) with Christianity.
He argues that the Church often operates from a "power over" mentality in which the U.S. Government rules over us like Church officials to regulate our morality. Boyd, on the other hand, suggests we operate from a "power under" mentality of washing feet, being a servant, and offering love.
In this aspect, I totally agreed with him. Often, when the Church gets power, it leads to monstrosities like the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials.
Also, I agreed that American Christianity is often ten miles wide and a half inch deep. We would rather pray against abortion, join a picket line, or write our legislator about the issue than actually really do something about it. We often marginalize "tax collectors" and "sinners," then categorize our sins as not so bad compared to others like homosexuals.
According to Boyd, what is really important is serving others and bleeding with them. On this I found a whole-hearted agreement. This comes to ethics. This is relational which is what Christ calls us to. In my personal experience, I find myself closest to God when I'm serving others.
I also agreed on his poignancy in pointing out how truly shallow we are. It is truly amazing that many Christians were so upset over the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" as opposed to injustices that are far more egregious. In the same vein, many Evangelicals bemoan gay marriage while people in the Church have the highest divorce rate.
However, while Boyd chastises the Conservative Christian movement, he forgets the speck in his own eye. Yes, in a way, the Myth of a Christian Nation delivers the same judgment as something from the right (although Boyd is much more subtle).
I was a little put-off in his continual chastisement of Christianity when other religions certainly have their problems as well. Moreover, he overlooks the fact that the worst human rights atrocities occurred in secular states like Nazi Germany and Communist Russia and China.
For the most part, most Christians let their politics define their faith as opposed to letting their faith define their politics. The same is true for Boyd--and his colors definitely show.
He ignores a few facts that bothered me. In the first place, he ignores the separation of Church and State issues. While he mildly addressed this issue, he forgot that at one time, the Church did take care of the poor as opposed to government. Since the roles reversed during the Great Depression, those roles have conflicted heavily and have worsened the problem of the poor.
On another note, he fails to recognize the reconciliation and love the Church offers is not something governments ore kingdoms can implement. We might forget that the U.S. has served nations like Iraq, Afghanistan, and many African nations, only to see them come to resent us. They have not repaid loans, oppressed many people, and not used the money as they should, and still resent the U.S.
Yes, the Church should offer love, forgiveness, and restoration, but nations cannot do that. History has shown us that Neville Chamberlain tried appeasement to put Hitler at ease, but it did not work. Also, Hitler broke his pact with Stalin as well. Government is in the role of protecting its citizens and must do some things the Church should not be doing.
This leads to Boyd's pacifist role, hailing the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., who both used passive non-resistance to change the British Empire and the U.S. However, I found two faults in his line of thinking. As pointed out by many other critics, those actions might have worked in societies with a conscience, it would not have worked in societies that had none. Gandhi did suggest Europe and the Jews surrender to the Nazi's, which would have allowed more genocide to continue. Such measures under Stalin would have also been disastrous.
My final critique is that Boyd is not a pragmatist who lives in the world. In his classic, Christ and Culture, Reinhold Neibuhr commented that sometimes in our fallen world, we must take the lesser of two evils. Sometimes, we cannot take the moral high ground he touts. For that to happen, both have to agree to adhere to that moral high ground and despots like Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Saddam Hussein did not take that route.
Boyd is big on not judging others. While this is admirable, and I find myself on agreement with him, he (like so many other Christians) ignore the fact that Jesus also commanded us not to "cast our pearl before swine."
Don't get me wrong. I liked how Boyd debunked the idea of Christian America and how Christianity is confused with American Civil Religion that often results in Nationalism. His ideas for the true role of the Church are right on. However, his inability to recognize the lesser of two evils, and his lack of pragmatism are two errors that he needs to address more adequately.
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by John Howard Yoder
