A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story

Bass, Diana Butler, A People's History of Christianity, The Other Side of the Story (New York, HarperCollins, 2009) I would recommend this book to anyone who has never read any book on the history of Christianity. But be warned. This book is not a `complete', or even a scholarly study of its subject. You may wish to graduate to a more conventional history after taking three or four evenings to finish this. It is patterned after Howard Zinn's essay, A People's History of the United States, which tells history from the viewpoint of social activism. However, while Zinn's book exceeds 760 pages to cover 400 years, Ms. Bass gives us 352 pages to cover 2000 years. Ms. Bass wishes to tell the story `from the ground up', stressing those things which the average lay Christian, with eyes blurred by 'spiritual amnesia' may have no knowledge. Her example of `spiritual amnesia' is the undergraduate's asking what the Protestants thought of the Crusades in 1095 CE. Her main target is what she calls `Big C Christianity, whose highlights are Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America, which `then became the most important Christian nation in the world, a beacon of faith and democracy.' In spite of the fact that Ms. Bass is a card carrying member of the highly educated Christian scholarly fraternity, she does claim the imprimatur of what is known in Catholic theology as sensus fidelium, the wisdom or understanding of the individual believer within the community of the faithful. The book does not deal with orthodoxy, doctrines, dogmas, or theologies, but on those moments `when Christian people really acted like Christians', even when, from our point of view, these people acted in ways which are simply un-Christian, as when John Chrysostom writes things which are deeply offensive to the Jews. Since our own actions will be similarly judged by our great grand children, Jesus' teaching to "judge not, lest you be judged". History, like Paul's law, offers lessons in how we can do better. Thus, an objective of the book is to help teach humility and discard the arrogant `Big C' history of Christianity. Another limit to the narrative is that it deals exclusively with `western' Christianity, giving no attention to the Orthodox churches. In order to address our `amnesia', the book is certainly a decent chronology of the high points of Christian history, even if some important actors, such as Athanasius and Søren Kierkegaard are left out. But these are theologians, and this book is only very tangentially about theology. It is as if one were flying above the clouds, over the Himalayas, and only the peaks of those 22 mountains which are taller than any other mountain range in the world, peeked up above the clouds, except that the seven or eight peaks which represent Eastern Orthodox confessions are fogged in and invisible to us. Since the story begins in 100 CE, it also seems as if our airport, including the Gospels, St. Paul, and the rest of the New Testament are also fogged in, temporarily. I am also surprised that the book does not mention today's great theological buzzword, `post-modernism'. This may be more regrettable than it sounds, as one of Ms. Bass' believes one of the most important aspects of Christianity is hope in the future. If one is distressed about the lost influence of the church, the though of going backward to ways of thinking which ruled in the age of glory (1945--1964) for American churches is simply not the answer. Nostalgia buys you nothing in the future. In a sense, this is a history of people who believed in Christianity, and what they did, rather than a history of beliefs. This is entirely appropriate, as one of the more important contemporary movements in Christian thought is that it is not what we believe, but what we do that is most important. This means an emphasis on 'Great Commandment' theology of working through love of others. Most chapters include an anecdote of experiences by the author or one of her friends, to help associate the musty events of the past with modern experience. The book is entertaining. For that reason, it is a book you will read rather than leave on the shelf to impress visitors with its title on the spine on your bookshelf. It has many odd observations, such as the fact that the early cathedrals had no chairs at all. This is offered as an antidote to those who insist on having pews in a new church, because `we always had pews, because they are uncomfortable'. A more serious story connects Mother Theresa and Emily Dickenson, who were both filled with doubt, revealing that `doubt is the primary language of God'. I believe that any book which either confirms a hunch you had, or offers a whole new avenue of thought, is worth the time it takes to read it. At the risk of contradicting the statement I made about the past, my most delightful find was the explanation of one reason why the early church was so successful in the years between Paul's missions and the `nationalization' of Christianity by Constantine in 313 CE. This is the fact that Christians were willing to care for the sick when most non-Christians barred their doors to others when epidemics flowed through the cities of the Roman world (see the NT reading for Wednesday). Ms. Bass does not point out that there were other reasons for the early success, but this strengthens the picture that Christianity succeeded due to filling some notable `holes' in the Greco-Roman Weltanschauung. It would seem that success in the future would be to bring hope and comfort to those still outside the great umbrella of the modern state. A metaphor from Ms. Bass regarding the Christian history is of a stream flowing among many rocks, which split the water into separate rivulets, each going in their own course, in spite of a common source. But one trend in history is to see the water rise, covering the rocks, to form a single course, moving forward unimpaired. The folly of looking backward applies to `what worked' and what didn't work 50 or 500 or 2000 years ago. It does not apply to the world of ideas. In spite of our post-modern glitterati, we are still wrestling with 2400 year old ideas from Plato and even older ideas from the Bhagavad Gita, which was quoted at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions by Swami Vivekananda. This reflects an aim to have our waters rise high enough to join all faiths together.

A smooth and deceptively easy read. This is the first book by Butler Bass I've read. I'm now encouraged to read more of her books. Not everyone who is an accomplished scholar is a good writer, or vice versa. Butler Bass is both.Written with a nod to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, this book gives voice to many lesser known Sisters, Brothers and movements within Christianity over the last 2000 years. It assumes you're already familiar with the more well known personalities, isms and schisms dominating most histories of Christianity.Which makes me wonder how my own faith and stormy relationship with the church might have gone if I'd been exposed to an account of Christian history like this one BEFORE I became familiar with the more familiar history of Christianity? Behind the crusades, witch burnings, executions, violence, isms and schisms and all (DESPITE these things) Butler Bass's account weaves together many examples of how the Love, Truth, Mercy and Justice of Christ have been active in and among us all along.Often underground (as Jesus was), often under duress (as Jesus was), so many people have genuinely dedicated their lives to following Jesus, to seeking His Kingdom first, to speaking and walking out His dangerous and revolutionary Truth and Love. At times it's only been a remnant, but God always keeps a remnant of vessels for His Love and Truth alive and well. This book will introduce you to some of them you probably weren't aware of.I can hear some of my more conservative Christian friends adding Butler Bass to their list of folks who are indulging in fashionable church-bashing. But she's not. To use a churchy word, I would describe this account of Christian history as edifying. Challenging of some aspects Christian history? Absolutely. But then, a life dedicated to following Jesus IS challenging!But this history is mostly encouraging and hopeful. Woven through the lives of the people in this book, you can see Jesus alive and active through it all...right up to our current era of hyper-politicized religion and churches here in America. Throughout the resounding cymbals and clanging gongs of every chapter of Christian history, Love and Truth simply will not go away. They will find a crack in every container we use to suppress them with, and they will quietly rise through all the unholy agendas we pile on top of them...to shake the lies and hatred off of them and shine......and that is very good news!Grace and Peace,Mark

The author paints a picture of the goodness of Christian practice and thought through two millennia. Providing glimpses, anecdotes and quotes into the Christianity that was, that could have been and could still be, Bass manages to convince us that the adverse elements of organized religion, which so often haunt us, should not be allowed to hide the bright light of Christian love amply demonstrated by so many individuals and movements.For the sincere reader this book can be a good source of references as to where to look for more historical details. I did appreciate the author not getting bogged down too much by focusing on any one influence. If she had, the book would have been three times longer. But what her abbreviated topical and chronological methodology accomplishes is to reveal how many of the followers of Jesus were inspired by the true core of His gospel and especially His "Great Commandment" (Mark 12:28-34) and how that orientation has been continued by many into the 21st century. Christian reformation is still ongoing.The book has five parts, according to significant Christian epochs. Each of the first four parts has three components: a general overview, particular aspects of devotion and aspects of ethics. For example, the section called Ethics: Kingdom Quest from part four involves tolerance, equity, freedom, community, progress, ecumenism, pluralism and "the recent end". These topics should give the prospective reader a good idea of the thematic scope, promoting spiritual and social unity, promoted by the author. A favourite quote: "Devotion means stepping into the river of God, moving with the love of Christ."P.S. Satan or the Devil is not mentioned once in this book.

Butler Bass gives a kinder sort of history. She walks through the centuries looking for neglected heroes, and focuses on what has been good in people. Where many historians would expose the dark sides of founding fathers or crusading reformers, Butler-Bass highlights their acts of generosity.Concerning the theocracy of Calvinist Geneva, she emphasizes medieval Europe's enormous popular demand for community-enforced justice, and adds, "they enacted their own vision of heavenly society in sometimes restrictive ways."Some readers will feel this is history lite. Maybe I was expecting her to get real and indulge in self-righteous denunciations of other people's hypocrisy. But in an age of almost hopeless division between progressives and fundamentalists, Butler Bass focuses on appreciating big-hearted compassion wherever she finds it. For her, Christianity as a series of experiments in practicing love, and the future of love seems wide open.--author of Correcting Jesus

An interesting point of view for people who are not satisfied by orthodox doctrine. Good book for discussing in groups.

still working through pondering and reflecting on the issues identified by Diane and may expend further at a later date