I've been reading a couple of books by Philip Yancey again - first, there was The Bible Jesus Read, and now I'm reading a compilation of some of his articles in Christianity Today Magazine called "I Was Just Wondering". The book itself is probably my least favorite of his - the only reason being that there isn't a united theme or thought that Yancey is working with, as he does with his other books (My favorite book of his is probably "What's So Amazing About Grace?", which is a book about...yep, you guessed it, grace).
But several of the chapters in this book are very enlightening, and I think my favorite thing about this book is the list of questions that Yancey asks at the beginning of each section. So I thought I would highlight my favorite questions that he asks in this book.
- Why is it that the most beautiful animals on earth are hidden away from all humans except those wearing elaborate SCUBA equipment? Who are they beautiful for?
- Why are there dirty jokes? What makes the physiology of excretion and reproduction so funny anyhow?
- As Walker Percy asks, "Why does man feel so sad in the twentieth century? Why does man feel so bad in the very age when, more than in any other age, he has succeeded in satisfying his needs and making over the world for his own use?"
- Why did Solomon, who showed such wisdom in writing proverbs, spend the last years of his life breaking all those proverbs?
- Why are there so many alcoholics these days? Why don't they just come to church instead of sequestering themselves in their own gatherings? Why do sinners feel so attracted to Jesus but so repulsed by the church?
- Why do persons with AIDS so often not come to church? Why did former Surgeon General Koop, an evangelical Christian, get so much hate mail from other evangelical Christians?
- Does God love Americans more than Iraqis and Libyans? Irish Protestants more than Irish Catholics?
- How do you write or talk about theology in a society that still uses the theological words, but has changed their meanings?
- If Christians have their own Christian publishers, Christian bookstores, Christian magazines, Christian ads, and Christian broadcasting networks, how do non-Christians ever come across Christian products?
- What is a Christian product?
- Why does so much great art come from circumstances of oppression? Which makes a better nurturing environment for a Christian author: a free society full of Christians or a hostile society full of non-Christians?
- How can TV evangelists promise prosperity and security to the faithful even though Jesus promised them a cross, sent them out as lambs among wolves, and left most of his disciples to die martyrs' deaths?
7 comments:
in reference to your question about art: i find it interesting that the largest amount of "Christian" art was created by men who although paid by the church were not actually Christian. Commissioned artists like Michalangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael were as Christian as I am Jewish. They were producing art for money, period. Also interesting, the value of some of these works is estimated in the billions, and who "owns" most of them? The Vatican. Although Catholicism is one of the largest financially stable branch of religion it's numbers are down by almost 50% since 1976, The wealthiest denomination and yet it is dying. These are things that go through my head....
Here is another interesting fact: Between the Inquisition, the European Witch Hunts, and the Crusades the Church put to death over 6 million non-catholics. During the Holocaust, Hitler and the Nazis put to death nearly 6 million Jews. Hitler is labeled a monster, the Church is revered. Is that strange to anyone else?
Hey those are good thought questions.. I could only guess at some of the answers Having taken care of many AIDS patients in the 80's I do know that most of them were in the gay lifestyle and do not feel welcomed or accepted at most churches At the time they need the most love ..they feel the most isolated
Mike - you catholic basher you!
Next you're going to tell me the Pope is the Antichrist!
Just kidding, I agree with you on your points.
"Why do sinners feel so attracted to Jesus but so repulsed by the church?"
because in general (well, in the uk at least) most churches/'christians' are so 'holier than thou' that if a sinner did come to the church then sadly a lot of the 'christians' would look down on them. jesus doesn't turn us away for being sinners - we get a 2nd (and 3rd and 4th...) chance yet for some reason so many people in churches seem not to want to let things go.
"If Christians have their own Christian publishers, Christian bookstores, Christian magazines, Christian ads, and Christian broadcasting networks, how do non-Christians ever come across Christian products?"
they generally don't! sorry for being a cynic! seriously though, i much prefer "christian products" to be out in the secular world. if jesus was here today i reckon he'd be in the local pub watching a struggling christian punk-rock band getting bottled!
it one of my bug-bears that some christians think you should only listen to christian music or read christian books etc - it's refreshing to read that you, as a minister, listen to bands like the foo fighters. we're supposed to be in the world and not of the world - so why do some people read that as meaning don't do anything with non-christians! how else will they find out about god if you don't get out there and mix with them??!
MaFt
I am not a catholic basher. In fact i respect both Catholicism and Judaism for being the older brother and sister to my own faith. Without them, my version of Christianity would not exist.
I do see many aspect of both systems as flawed. The biggest flaw is the way that tradition is lifted up to an equal level as Scripture. Tradition, in my thought, is man made and can be no where close to as authoritative as Scripture.
I love both of these faiths greatly and respect those followers who chose to be unwaivering in their committment to these systems. I am just not that impressed with some of the aspects of the religious side of the systems.
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