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Books & Culture, May/Jun 1998
The Meaning of Jesus
I was glad to hear about the good things happening in the worship life of Lichfield Cathedral, detailed by N. T. Wright in your
March/April issue ["The Meaning of Jesus"]. It is good to know that Christians there are supporting Palestinian orphans and Jubilee 2000, and that Wright himself is preaching that Christian victory is not victory in war but over war. However, I found it amazing that Wright would say that "those kinds of agendas" are ones which he would not have engaged in "before I started to study Jesus in his historical context." Does he seriously mean to suggest that Christians are dependent on scholarly work on the historical Jesus in order to understand that such activities are the kind that are required of those who would be followers of Jesus of Nazareth?
I should have thought that all kinds of Christians have been doing such things for almost 2,000 years, and that no special scholarly expertise would have been required to know what following Jesus demands of us. Surely, to understand and follow the risen Christ, one needs only a humble willingness to read and study the Scriptures as the Word of God.
Historical scholarship about Jesus, like Christian philosophy, can be very valuable. It can also be dangerous. We should not overestimate the value or underestimate the dangers.
C. Stephen Evans
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, Mich.
This talk about the historical Jesus is all very fine and good. But my question is, did Mary let Jesus smear his food on the kitchen wall?
Sue Radosti
Sioux City, Iowa
Ethnic Cleansing
I am concerned by Chris Erdman's myopic view of the events in the Balkans ["The Dead Zone," January/February]. I agree completely that violent atrocities are in no way excusable, nor can they be in any way justified by a "Christian" end, no matter what brand of Christianity one espouses. Nonetheless, Erdman makes only scant mention of the Croatian attempt to "cleanse" itself of Serbs around World War II; nor does he stop to consider what 500 years (hello, that's before the Reformation) of domination by Muslim Turks means. No wonder the Serbs have developed a so-called mythic reconstruction of history; several bouts with attempted genocide over the centuries can do that to a people.
I say none of this to excuse anyone. Jesus Christ and the apostles laid down their lives; they did not defend themselves. But any Christian who would pick up a stick to protect himself from an attacking madman should be slow to judge the Serbs. Rather, he should look into his own heart and cry to God for mercy, and with tears of repentance beg forgiveness for the atrocities he himself might commit if pushed to such an extremity.
Rev. Deacon Michael Gillis
Claremont School of Theology
Claremont, Calif.
Choosing to Die
J. Bottum's article, "The Subjunctive that Killed Hugh Finn" [March/April], is a really curious contribution to the current discussion of suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. What difference does it make whether or not Finn would have wanted the life-support machinery to be disconnected? Or at least, what difference would it make to the people who oppose any legitimation of assisted suicide or euthanasia?
Think of what has happened to Dr. Jack Kevorkian in Michigan. No doubt one of the infuriating things about Kevorkian is that he has never assisted in the suicide of anyone who has been in a coma for three years, and he has never euthanized anyone who was completely unable to communicate for three years. All of his clients were conscious adults, well able to speak for themselves. Many of these people were videotaped talking with Kevorkian. And they were not talking subjunctively about what they would want; they spoke indicatively and plainly about what they did want and what they did not want, in the actual circumstances of their lives.
But these plain assertions of a choice about oneself and for oneself, assertions not at all in need of any philosophical theory about the sense of subjunctives, are regularly and bluntly ignored by Kevorkian's critics. What Kevorkian's clients want makes no difference at all to those critics, and what his clients choose is treated as irrelevant.
Kevorkian has been prosecuted at least three times for assisting in the suicide of people who chose suicide, and now he is facing murder charges in connection with the death of a man who requested euthanasia. Hugh Finn was unable to communicate for three years, and his wife and brothers disputed about "what he would want." But Jack Kevorkian talked with Tom Youk on the day of his death, and the prosecutor is apparently desperate to keep the jury from seeing the tape of that conversation. No doubt the prosecutor knows his lawyerly business.
There are fully conscious people who are able to say, without subjunctives, what they actually want, and they can articulate in plain English the choices which they make. If what these conscious people actually say, and actually choose, counts for nothing, then why in the world should we spend time and ink speculating about what comatose people would want or would choose?
George I. Mavrodes
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Do Parents Matter?
I have enjoyed reading many of the articles in your publication over the years and have found them to be well written and thought provoking. For that reason I was surprised to read such an unscientific article (in your section "The Science Pages") as "Do Parents Matter?" by Margaret Alter [March/April].
The most blatant scientific mistake, in my opinion, was Alter's citing of twin studies to indicate that parenting does not have much effect on children's personalities. First, the twins who were separated from birth not only did not grow up in the same homes with similar parenting, but did not grow up in the same peer group as each other either. Therefore the studies are useless in supporting Judith Rich Harris's (and Alter's) thesis that peer groups are more influential than parents in shaping human character.
Also, I do not know of any current child-development theories that propose that a child's basic personality is affected by parenting styles. Most parents of more than one child generally agree that children appear to be born with a personality all their own. The theory of the tabula rasa was considered passé when I studied for my B.A. in Human Development with a specialization in early childhood. Perhaps it has been resurrected in the past decade.
I also found it strange that Alter appears to commend Marion Diamond for her caution about generalizing from animal studies to humans but quotes Harris's reporting on a monkey study as if it were directly applicable to humans. I would like to know more about those Nazi death camp survivors who had careers and families at age 40, too. Had they been through a series of marriages? Were they addicted to any substances? Are they abusing their children? How did their "happiness quotient" compare to that of others their age who were raised in stable families? I would also be interested in how well they had bonded with their children, but that would not seem to interest Alter and Harris.
Diane B. Grant
Children's Pastor
Crossroads Covenant Church
Concord, Calif.
God's Coming-Out Party
I just read "The First Easter: God's Great Coming-Out Party" [Commentary,
March/April, Timothy George]. Thank you! It's a most useful piece.
I'm a lady pastor to gay men/men with aids. I evangelize in gay bars and have had the honor of leading many men to Christ right there in the bars. What a wonderful call this is.
My guys asked me to start a church. I have, within the last month, and I figure that Easter will be our first service to be attended by a significant number. I hope to be able to "slant" every teaching to "hook" my beloved fellas, and your "coming-out" commentary is right on target. I hope to incorporate your concepts in my Easter teaching.
Jan Smith
Denver, Colo.
Copyright © 1999 by the author or Christianity Today International/Books & Culture Magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail
bceditor@BooksAndCulture.com.
May/June 1999, Vol.5, No. 3, Page 3
Books & Culture
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