Customer Reviews

Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Does it matter if Jesus was born to a virgin or not? Does it matter if Jesus was born in a manger or a field, to a virgin or a wife with several children? Does it change anything if Jesus wasn't really, physically raised from the dead? Is He somehow less influential, less important, less moral? Are His words or His actions any less significant or inspirational if he had a girlfriend or a companion? Then why, Meyers asks, is that all we talk about anymore?

The title and its accompanying cover say much of what needs to be said about the new book from Oklahoma City resident, author, professor, scholar, syndicated columnist, and controversial reverend Robin Meyers. The bluest man in the reddest state has put his new book to the masses for what he hopes will be a uniting, not dividing, result. With such a title, you'd think it a stretch, but Meyers' approach and respect for the subject is convincing for anyone who makes it past the Prologue.

This book attempts to dissect, as the previous sentence begins to describe, the human side of Jesus and the deity which was created in his remembrance. Jesus the human was about peace, unconditional love, inclusiveness, aiding the sick and the poor, forgiving, and fellowship. The deity, on the other hand, is much more about commandments and rules, practices and rituals, do's and don'ts. Dr. Meyers points out that merely believing in Jesus has no impact on our daily lives. Following Jesus, though, can change everything.

Dr. Meyers seeks to find the common ground in all the divisiveness and debate about religion. Meyers has said of his own book that he hopes Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, and Agnostics alike can see that when we remove that which we disagree - and there are many things about which we disagree - we can all see that following the teachings of a human being like Jesus will be the more productive task to merely consenting to belief in a deity like Christ.

Meyers' central purpose for the book? Finding a reason for the millions of Americans who have left the church in disappointment, confusion or betrayal to come back and try a new approach to faith: Following what Jesus represents, not just believing in His story.

While political in the Prologue (Meyers gives an account of a dream in which he found himself isolated from the modern stereotypes of Christianity and its alignment with Conservative politics, war, and greed), Meyers soon defects from his personal motives and finds a near-objective position from which he frames the rest of his book. Thoughtful and patient, Dr. Meyers teaches and guides at a pace that is tolerable for religious scholars and more than accommodating for the casual reader.

In his least political and most thoughtful book to date, Dr. Robin Meyers finds the common ground in the world of Jesus and lays out a call to action that unites us under a banner of hope and reconciliation.

Every so often, a book comes into my life and acts like the hand that shakes a snow globe, disturbing all of the molecules of my existence and rearranging my internal landscape. My college Intro to New Testament class textbook, Henri Nouwen's Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, Parker Palmer's To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey, and a handful of others have gone beyond being engaging or thought-provoking to being truly transformational forces in my life. To that short list, I'll now add a new one: Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus by Robin R. Meyers. It's a book that really should come with a warning label on it, like, "This book will either change your life, your ministry, your faith, your friendships, and just about everything else...or, you'll be too afraid to let it do so!"

Meyers, the pastor of Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City and the author of four books, surveys the state of the church and of contemporary Christianity--conservative and liberal--and doesn't think much of it is in sync with the message of Jesus. The bottom line for Meyers is that the church has overemphasized belief rather than actions that indicate one is following Jesus, and each chapter points us in the right direction.

Meyers is very solidly on the progressive end of the theological spectrum, and his book does a fine job of deftly skewering more conservative forms of Christianity or biblical interpretation. But those on the left should be well-prepared for the regular roasting they receive as well. This passage is fairly typical:

"In a world today that is desperate for something real, many megachurches today are like Disney World plus God, while too many mainline churches are serving up bits and pieces of the Great Books Club. One wonders which fiction is most cruel, that all your dreams can come true if you pray the "Prayer of Jabez" or that discipleship is the same thing as enlightenment...The first question any churchgoer should be asked and expected to answer is: What are you willing to give up to follow Jesus?" (p. 145)

Each chapter contrasts "common" Christianity with a progressive, uncommon understanding of Jesus' teaching. They cover a lot of territory:

* Jesus the Teacher, Not the Savior
* Faith as Being, Not Belief
* The Cross as Futility, Not Forgiveness
* Easter as Presence, Not Proof
* Original Blessing, Not Original Sin
* Christianity as Compassion, Not Condemnation
* Discipleship as Obedience, Not Observance
* Justice as Covenant, Not Control
* Prosperity as Dangerous, Not Divine
* Religion as Relationship, Not Righteousness

This prophetic book would make an ideal resource for group study (and it really begs to be read in community) though unfortunately no discussion questions are included. Consider it especially for a summer Sunday school class, a staff study, a young adult study, and a congregational study. The book does assume the reader is at least somewhat familiar with contemporary progressive biblical scholarship (i.e. has moved beyond a literal understanding of scripture), so little time is spent exploring the ground that has already been superbly covered by scholars like Borg, Pagels, Brueggemann, Levine and others (see his ample endnotes for many other great books). Instead, Saving Jesus consistently does a fine job of summarizing the scholarship and then moving on to the question which so often is neglected: "So what do I/we do now?" There is no "step by step guide to following Jesus" here, but if read carefully (especially with others), Meyer's work will undoubtedly help us all stop pretending to be followers of Jesus so we can save Jesus from a church which has for too long distorted his message.

I simply loved this book. Dr. Meyers 20 years' experience in the pulpit and extensive knowledge of Biblical scholarship lend authority to his writing. The book is a page-turner (!) and laugh-out-loud funny in places. It will be enjoyed by those who attend church weekly, haven't darkened the door of one in years, Jewish readers, the simply curious, and those who like me could never get anyone to adequately explain how Jesus' death on the cross meant we were all forgiven our sins, and that by this belief one would be "saved" -- from what?
Dr. Meyers describes his intended audience: "It is a word on behalf of those who have walked away from the church because they recognize intellectual dishonesty as the original sin of orthodoxy. .. It is meant to provide a second opinion for all those who know what they are supposed to believe but refuse to equate miracles with magic or liturgy with history -- and yet still fall silent when someone reads to Beatitudes or get goosebumps listening to the parable of the prodigal son." (that would be me!) "It is ... a call to reconsider what it means to follow Jesus, instead of arguing over things that the church has insisted we must all believe about Christ. Doctrines divide by nature. Discipleship brings us together."
Enjoy the book!

This book is definite not an orthodox take on Christianity. The author calls the virgin birth and other staples of Christian teaching into question.

At the same time, the book is a powerful argument for following the teachings of Jesus (no Christ). It removes the veil of church traditions, the focus on Christ, and the teachings of organized religions. It instead brings the teachings of Jesus to the fore and reminds us of the two most important commandments: Love the Lord God and love your neighbor as yourself. Those teachings are truly radical, and if we all followed them, we could change the world.

Meyers explores the truth of reality and the "truth" of the church and he causes you to ask yourself "What do I see in the world versus what I see and learn inside the church?" Then the question is, "If I am a Christian how is this played out, being and interacting or worshipping? Good read

I read an awful lot of religious and theological books in the course of a year. The best compliment I can pay to the Reverend Meyers is that this is not only one of the best I have read recently, but one of the best I've EVER read!
Meyers weaves what amounts to a reorientation for many of what being Christian and being Church is all about. Be warned: as he advises, in order to be re-oriented, one first must be dis-oriented. For many, the theology behind this work will call them to see Christianity in a new (or really very old; perhaps glimpsing "original") light. Stay with it! Far too often we divorce our ways of modern thinking from faith because we fear that if we were to be honest, our "faith" would not hold up. Is that real faith? This book gives a fine, thoughtful and honest blend of modern scholarship with the best of pastoral practice to give a far more credible vision of faith and what it means to be Church in the world of today, with all its implications.
I never thought I'd want to visit a church in Oklahoma City, but this book simply makes me more hungry for this honest, intelligent and credible vision of faith and Church!
One of the finest works of its kind in print...too bad Amazon doesn't let me give it more than five stars!

Obviously written by an informed mind. Real information as opposed to fairy-tale story type of accounts promoted by uninformed "Preachers" or televangelists. Good news to any serious reader.

Now here's a really good book! I enjoyed reading it. Interesting material. There are a lot of books out there on this subject, and I feel like I've read almost all of them. Most are boring. Some are quite good. Here's another good book you can check out on Amazon. Same subject matter, different, but also very interesting and enjoyable to read. Just passing it along:

What Did Jesus Really Say-How Christianity Went Astray: [What To Say To A Born Again Christian Fundamentalist, But Never Had The Information] by Peter Cayce.

I really loved this book. Robin Meyers liberates Jesus from the stiffling straightjacket of being a god to being a man who believed in God and saw life in God as something to be lived. Meyers makes the point over and over again that not only is a literal view of the bible untenible, it reduces humans to only being interested in what it takes for their own personal "rescue", not to mention what it says about a god if there is one. Biblical scholarship makes it plain that the ideas of Jesus as god were added later, and I agree with Meyers and others like him that this was a litergy meant to explain, in the understanding of people at that time, their feeling of what Jesus was. Anyone who wants to believe in a god that kills for the price of his favor is welcome to their tribal and evil god. Anyone raised in the church was given the belief that Jesus is god, that he came here on a rescue mission, and the only thing that counts is that you say the right things so god gives you a ticket to the good side of the park when you die. What if Meyers and others are right and that view was wrong? Christianity started as an offshoot of judaism. Perhaps it is time to consider the background Jesus came from when looking at what he represented.

Although most religious people will see Meyers views as stripping the mystery out of God, I believe it restores it. Remember, people, Jesus was not a christian!!! It is shocking how many christians believe that Jesus was not jewish. He was a jewish man raised in the jewish vision of god, and he took that understanding to a higher level by insisting that living through the prisim of, not a merciful god but a loving god, should inform decisions about how to live. He obviously stood against power structures such as the temple in his day, and we would do well to emulate his example with regard to the church and out-of-control political structures as well. They serve largely to preseve power and do not move forward the collective and individual good in balance with one another. Jesus stood against the "robber barons" of his time and was killed for it. Meyers is right: Jesus as a god is powerless, but Jesus as a person who lived as though god informed everything is extremely powerful. Speaking out in favor of what is right has never been popular, but has served to move forward the good policies we enjoy today. Are we prepared to suffer to do what is right? Jesus was.

Although I think Meyers' book leans a little too hard on what some would call the "social gospel", I believe the view that informs the details is right. "Rugged individualism" has become an excuse to ignore the collective good. Our world becomes literally "survival of the fittest", informed by those at the top of the food chain. If that is all that humans are, then we are worse than the animals we use and subdue. Humans, endowed with different brain functions, are required to look at common as well as individual good to survive, and I believe Jesus rebelled against the "survival of the fittest" mentality of his time as should we all. He intended to raise the consciousness of people, not to be worshiped as a god.

This is an excellent book. Robin Meyers writes very clearly, powerfully and honestly about how the Church has distorted the basic core values and truths of the biblical stories, and all their wisdom and richness, into peddling personal salvation, the politics of individualism and self-absorption, plus the Gospel of prosperity in our society. Unlike some biblical scholars who remain stuck in their discovery of the truth, Robin takes the next step. He is willing to challenge us to do. He is willing to put himself out there on the line and translate these truths into very clear, meaningful, and relevant language so followers of Jesus can understand what it really means to follow Jesus in our day. But also, he is willing to do and grow in becoming a follower of Jesus, not just a "fan."

This is a book that is vitally needed for out times. It is the kind of book you want to say every member of the Church, who cares about what's happening to it, our nation and our world, needs to read and discuss with other followers of Jesus. It is a remarkable work. I highly recommend it.