Eutychus and His Kin: September 18, 1981

What More Can I Say?

Over the years, I have read some of Tim LaHaye’s books and have been occasionally helped by an idea or two. But nothing Dr. LaHaye has preached or written has helped me as much as his statement about his successor at the church he previously served in San Diego. You will find this profound statement on page 89 of the July 17, 1981, issue of CHRISTIANITY TODAY. I quote: “In my opinion, [he is] the most dynamic 40-year-old, Bible-teaching Baptist minister in America today.”

Marvelous! Thank you, Dr. LaHaye! You have freed me from guilt and given me the perfect approach to use when people ask me for my opinions or recommendations.

You see, up until now I have tried to avoid trouble by being deliberately vague in my statements. You know the approach: “My, that is a baby!” or “Yes, that is some book!” or “Now, that was a sermon!” But I have been taking the wrong approach. The secret is to imitate Dr. LaHaye and be more specific.

“Madam, your daughter is the greatest 6-year-old bass soloist wearing a pink dress that trails on the floor who has ever sung on an August evening in this church.” Just watch that mother beam and immediately decide to add me to her Christmas card list.

“This is the finest book on how to have a happy family ever published on a Tuesday by a Grand Rapids publisher, and bound in green cloth, having 116 pages.” Nobody can fault a review like that!

“Pastor, I must tell you that your message was the best exposition of the burial of Moses ever given in this church by a Talbot graduate wearing a blue suit and carrying a copy of the NIV.” Why, a pastor hearing that kind of praise will immediately begin to expect a D.D. from his alma mater.

Thank you again, Dr. LaHaye. Your statement is helping me win friends and influence people. In fact, it is the finest endorsement of a successor that has ever been recorded from a California-based minister who has resigned from a church, and—oh, well! I’m sure you’ve got the idea.

EUTYCHUS X

Cooks Can’T Cook

Re “So, What’s Cooking?” [Eutychus, Aug. 7]: Myself, I have a hard time finishing most meals. I am as hungry as when I began, and yet I don’t really care to eat any more. I feel most cooks spend most of my mealtimes chiding me for not being as healthy as I should be; but frankly, on their diet, I am surprised anyone would be, unless they take a lot of supplements. Far too many of us are far too undernourished to be able to do all the things our cooks are insisting on. I am sure most of us would gladly do all we should if our meals really gave us the strength, nourishment, and energy to do so. I suspect a lot of cooks really don’t know how to cook.

LARRY CRAIG

Wilmette, Ill.

Dostoevsky’S Okay

Dostoevsky knew alienated man and he knew redeemed man. God makes no mistakes. Dostoevsky’s own sad life story probably gave him the deep and tender understanding of the human hearts he wrote so poignantly about [“The Dostoevsky Who Might Have Been,” Aug. 7]. Somehow, the gospel of Christ shines through his writings more powerfully than in all of the born-again Christians currently writing about how to become a success in ten easy steps. I’m sorry, but I thank God for the Dostoevsky who was.

KOREEN SNOW

Gayville, S.D.

It was a special shock to read your terrible remarks about Dostoevsky. It is hard for me to believe that anyone with an appreciation of Dostoevsky could write such pious nonsense. Yes, the poor man did live a wretched life. The point is that God would not let him suffer in vain and found in Dostoevsky a channel for the truth. One can only wonder just what kind of writer Dostoevsky would have made as one of your teetotaling, born-again Christians. As far as the kingdom of heaven is concerned, he has found a much stronger welcome than will those who presume to make such judgments as were made in your editorial.

REV. DANIEL GOLDSMITH

Mission Farm

Killington, Vt.

Raids On Our Review Of Raiders

Must a movie, even about the ark, be a theological statement [“Raiders of the Lost Ark Puts God in a Box,” Aug. 7]? Raiders is entertainment, not indoctrination. It should not be rejected because it fails to achieve someone else’s expectations. Raiders was not billed as a documentary about the ark. It is simply a modern adventure epic, offering wholesome entertainment.

ARTHUR MAY

Springfield, Mo.

It is a very violent film and reveals the depth of human depravity. It is certainly not fit for children.

RICHARD DURSTON

Denver, Colo.

We wondered whether Hiawatha Bray was not the one placing God in a box while practicing a safe religion. His contention that the film should have taken the form of either a sermon or a lesson on the nature of God demonstrates his lack of discernment vis-à-vis the film’s intended purpose: to provide a good time and perhaps prod us into asking our own questions about God, without the producer or director furnishing the answers.

JAMES AND LEONE ANASIEWICZ

Indianapolis, Ind.

Hiawatha Bray goes to extreme efforts to find something theologically wrong with a movie that is immensely pleasurable, silly, and harmless. He should know that it isn’t meant to be taken seriously. The movie isn’t about God, one way or the other.

My beef extends beyond Mr. Bray and this film, however. CT has admitted other bizarre interpretations of movies. Ordinary People was somehow “anti-Calvinist.” Altered States supposedly “takes Christianity quite seriously, and systematically dispenses with it.” Star Wars is snidely referred to as vague mythological symbolism. The film is in some way dangerously pseudo-Christian.

In each of these reviews, the essence or spirit of the film was passed over in favor of something more peripheral. The problem, CT, is that you understand films only in your own terms—theological and philosophical—and you can’t appreciate a movie on its own level. Your reviews generally have no sense of the visual style of films, or of the meanings that design and color and light communicate. There is little feeling for the texture of a story, the nuances of character, or the philosophical structures that editing, cinematography, or direction impose upon a film. Instead, you grab at the only thing you understand—theology. And if it’s not there, you put it there.

KEN PETERSEN

Wheaton, Ill.

Mr. Bray states Raiders is a dangerous film in that it limits our conception of God. To this I can only answer that I have never heard more discussion of a biblical story than I did from people, Christians and non-Christians alike, who have seen the film. It may be a very simple and sensationalist version, but then how many non-Christians ever saw The Hiding Place or Joni?

PETER SCHNEIDER

Ossining, N.Y.

Evangelism In Poland

It is the height of arrogance to suggest that there is any need for evangelism in Poland, a country which has been Christian for more than a millennium and is without question the most Christian country on earth [“Polish Pastors Meet and Pledge Evangelism Thrust,” Aug. 7]. Speakers spoke of revival. What could be more ridiculous? The Catholic church is in a constant state of renewing itself through prayer, the sacraments, and the guidance of the Holy Father. Only total ignorance could lead anyone to believe that Poland is not the world leader in spiritual and temporal renewal. It borders on spiritual treason to call the election of Pope John Paul II a hindrance to evangelism in Poland. Political treason, too, considering the popular leadership Karol Wojtyla has provided over the years. Evangelism to the unchurched and non-Christian is one thing; trying to convert Poland to Protestantism is not only a waste of time but a slap in the face to a people who have died and are dying for their faith.

KEITH SKRZYPCZAK

Tulsa, Okla.

Good To Be In, Or Out?

Mainline denominations have more to offer evangelicals than an arena for missionary activities [“Spiritual Sparks Ignite Some Mainstream Churches,” Aug. 7]. Having been reared in an evangelical tradition, for the first time in my life I found myself in a middle-of-the-road Methodist church following a job relocation. After several months of theology shock, I began to appreciate my decision. I found that the challenge of loving liberals required me to reanalyze long-accepted views, which further grounded and balanced my faith. I sense a new drive to work with all my Christian brothers.

DAVID BOURELL

Austin, Tex.

I was moved by Robb’s emotional plea to infiltrate the mainline churches to purge them. However, I do not find his recommendation biblical. God commands not to do what Robb advocates. God forbid that I should fellowship or have partnership with the enemy, no matter what spiritual garb he may wear (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).

REV. GREGORY MOYER

McDonald Federated Church

McDonald, Kan.

More Monuments

When Christians in much of the Third World regularly worship in what Robert Webber calls “if necessary” places, why should we be so certain that God is calling us to build yet another monument to please our architectural tastes [“Church Buildings: Shapes of Worship,” Aug. 7]? With school buildings standing empty on weekends, and church buildings standing empty the rest of the week, and with interest rates forcing us to pay large sums to creditors rather than to God’s work, we ought to consider stewardship in our choice of worship places. The humility of the people who worship in a given place determines what takes place there much more than the “shape of the space.”

DAWN MICHELSON

Grand Forks, N.D.

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