Category / theology

by daviddawson462742281

The Biblical Vision of One New Man Versus Secular Colorblindness

Theory of Race and Iberian Christendom, conclusion

I began this paper by explaining my advocacy for mission as intercultural reconciliation. MIR is a post-supersessionist of Christian mission that recognizes the nefarious contribution of the church towards modern race theory. If the vision of the one new man (Eph. 2:14-18) is to be taken seriously, addressing racism in an essential aspect of the gospel. For two thousand years of church history, fragmentation and ethnocentrism have distorted the vision of unity that Christ said would identify his followers (Jn. 17:22-23). Instead of embodying intercultural harmony in deference to the special role of the Jews, the white European church assumed the people of God as their exclusive racialized identity. 

But Christianity has become a global religion with deeply indigenized expressions among peoples of every biological variety. Therefore, addressing the legacy of racism in the church requires different approaches for different cultural contexts. The US-American civil rights movement, critical race theory, and Jennings’ ORS theory make valuable contributions to the global fight against racism. But as I serve in Europe and, more specifically the Iberian Peninsula and its colonial diaspora, I perceive different attitudes towards race. In Europe, the place of racial discussions in US-America is occupied by discussions of xenophobia, antisemitism, and islamophobia. There is the ancient thinking of the West as superior to the East, even within Europe itself. West Germans are wary of East Germans as not really of the same culture (Kalmar, 2022). Poles think of themselves as Central Europe, Ukrainians think of the “East” beginning only at the Russian border, and then there is the phenomenon of Russophobia (Kalmar, 2022). All these types of xenophobia are between the white peoples of Europe. 

We have seen the merits and limitations of Jennings thesis that supersessionism is the source of the modern concept of race, i.e., ORS. I have argued that ORS is helpful to my vision of mission as intercultural reconciliation, but it requires adjustment to engage the European/Iberian context. The European appropriation of the gospel as an exclusive possession of its own culture is a distortion that continues to turn its contemporary populations away from the church. The black-white binary common to US-America has incompatibilities applied to Europe, but the latter has plenty of its own intercultural conflicts. These social problems have not been solved by secular strategies of color-blindness, and this proposes an opportunity for MIR. Europeans are attracted to postcolonial ideologies, and post-supersessionism is a rejection of evil distortions of Christian doctrine that provided the underpinnings of colonialism. 

Portugal and Spain have recently become immigrant nations and thus feel the strains of intercultural tension. Jennings’ ORS hypothesis draws attention to aspects of Iberian Christian history that must be addressed to build a harmonious pluralistic society. We have read that the greatest reference for racism in Europe is antisemitism. In this case, ORS is extremely helpful in pointing to the connection between the church’s rejection of Jews and the development of modern race theory. As modern secular Portugal and Spain seek a basis of a more inclusive pluralistic society, MIR is a winsome approach to Christian witness. The one new man vision rejects the ideal of seeking national/religious identity in favor of seeking a land that is “married”:

No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah [my delight is in her], and your land Beulah [married]; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. (New International Version, 2011, Is. 62:4) 

References

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Benitez, I. (2015). A Critique of Critical Legal Studies’ Claim of Legal Indeterminacy. Lambert Academic Publishing.

Bernier, François (1684). “A New Division of the Earth” from Journal des Scavans, 24 April 1684. Translated by T. Bendyshe in Memoirs Read Before the Anthropological Society of London, vol. 1, 1863–64, pp. 360–64.

Critical race theory (CRT) | Definition, Principles, & Facts | Britannica. (2024, November 15). https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory

Critical race theory in the academy / edited by Vernon Lee Farmer, Evelyn Shepherd W. Farmer. (2020). Biola Library ebooks.

Cunningham, P. A. (2017). The Sources behind “The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable” (Rom 11:29): A Reflection on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic-Jewish Relations on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate (No. 4). Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, 12(1), 1–39, 12-13

Delgado, R. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction / Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic ; foreword by Angela Harris. Biola Library ebooks, 3, 5, 5, 3-5

Farmer, Vernon L. & Farmer, Evelyn S. (2020). Critical race theory in the academy / edited by Biola Library ebooks. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=6ff1bdc8-1406-30a2-a78d-ea3f135d2afa, 21, 20, 20, 20, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 24, 20, 21, 21

Feros, Antonio (2017). Speaking of Spain: The Evolution of Race and Nation in the Hispanic World. Harvard University Press; eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), 1, 1-2, 2, 2-4, 6, 6-7, 9, 9, 280, 281-2, 282, 283-4, 2, 9, 280-1, 283

Garros, Joel Z. (January 9, 2006). “A brave old world: an analysis of scientific racism and BiDil”. McGill Journal of Medicine. 9 (1): 54–60.

Golden, Timothy J. (2022). Racism and Resistance: Essays on Derrick Bell’s Racial Realism. SUNY Press; eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), 32, 32, 33, 33-4, 34, 36, 195, 207-8, 32, 32, 34

Jennings, W. J. (2010). The Christian imagination: Theology and the origins of race / Willie James Jennings. Biola Library ebooks, 33, 33, 31, 32, 33, 33, 36, 60, 60, 61, 62, 63, 63, 63, 65, 97, 97-98, 61

Jewish Relations on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate (No. 4). Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, 12(1), 1–39.

Kalmar, I. (2022). White But Not Quite (1st ed.). Bristol University Press; JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2fjwpz8

Levaeau, Rémy, Mohsen-Finan, Khadija & Wihtol de Wenden, Catherine, (2002). Introduction, in NEW EUROPEAN IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP ix (R~my Levaeau, Khadija Mohsen-Finan & Catherine Wihtol de Wenden eds. 2002).

Lindsay, J. A. (1917). “The passing of the great race, or the racial basis of european history”. The Eugenics Review. 9 (2): 139–141.

McDermott, Gerald. (2023). Is Supersessionism the Source of Race? Challenging a Popular Paradigm. In J. Kaplan, J. M. Rosner, and D.J. Rudolph (Eds.), Covenant and the People of God: Essays in Honor of Mark S. Kinzer (Pages 144-55). Pickwick, 2023.

Morley, S. P. (2022). Connecting Race and Empire: What Critical Race Theory Offers outside the U.S. Legal Context. UCLA Law Review Discourse, 69(1), 100–117. HeinOnline, 101, 101, 102, 102, 104, 104-8, 101, 102-8

Moschel, M. (2007). Color Blindness or Total Blindness—The Absence of Critical Race Theory in Europe. Rutgers Race & the Law Review, 9(1), 57–128. HeinOnline, 65, 66-9, 70, 72, 72, 72-5, 80, 80-95, 100, 100-115, 124, 124, 65, 66-8, 72, 72-5, 80, 81-4

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by daviddawson462742281

When did Christians start believing that?

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My dad is a Church historian and I picked up his passion for the drama of the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation. I’ve experienced Bible college and seminary and have always preferred the study of Church history to the study of theology. I do love theology as well. My favorite definition of theology is the “so what” of every idea declared in Scripture in it’s application to every imaginable human context and paradigm. Some people get turned off by obscure theological terms but the reason there are so many is because there are so many areas to answer the “so what” of Scripture in this time and space.

That said, I prefer Church history because it is theology done in the context of a drama. It’s easier for me to comprehend and evaluate great foundational Christian ideas in the context of the debate and struggle that swirl around them through history. The ideas of Saint Augustine and Martin Luther are so much more powerful when we know what they were responding to.

And that brings me to the title of this post. Within the study of Church history the most impacting answers I’ve found respond to the following question: when did Christians start believing that? I’ll give a few examples but let me preface by saying I won’t go into any depth here just bullet points. First off, when did Christians first start saying that the gifts of the spirit had ceased? The most compelling evidence, in my opinion, points to the late second century movement called the Montanists. It was in response to this influenceia, controversial, charismatic movement that we see the first writings by Church leadership proposing that the gifts of the Spirit had ceased (https://enduringword.com/church-history-3-the-early-church-part-3-important-leaders-and-writings-the-montanists/).

Or what about the worship of Mary mother of Jesus? The Christological controversies of the first 4 centuries of the Church were the impetus behind the eventual exaltation of Mary that Protestants object to. Mary began to be called “the God bearer” by those parts of the Church that wanted to emphasize the divinity of Christ. The initial point of affirmubg that Mary gave birth to the Divine Son was not to exalt herself but Jesus.

And of course there is the matter of clerical celibacy? Who came up with that idea and why? Well, it was in the context of corruption in the Church involving the sale of bishoprics and high offices. These positions of leadership held sway over huge material inheritance: land, buildings, the intake of tithes and offerings, and eventually the sale of indulgences. Partitive inheritance is a term which refers to when a ruler has to divide his kingdom between his sons, who generally fight amongst themselves thus weakening and eventually destroying it. When a sole heir is chosen things are much easier to administrate. Church leadership realized that it was a lot easier to avoid nepotism if bishops had no children.

I’m just giving superficial reference to these topis and overgeneralizing them for sure. My point is not to get into theological debates but to share how helpful it is for us to know the context of the emergence of some peculiar aspects of Christian practice and thought.

Quando é que os cristãos começaram a pensar assim?

Meu pai é um historiador da Igreja cristã e eu aprendi a amar este assunto dele – o desenrolar da estória do plano de Deus da salvação.  Eu ja tive a experiência de estudar no seminário e sempre preferi o campo da história da igreja sobre a teologia.  Não me entenda mal, eu amo o estudo da teologia também.  A minha definição favorita da teologia é a aplicação das idéias da Escritura à toda área do universo no qual vivemos.  É por isso que a teologia tem tantos termos esquisitos e que fazem com que muitas pessoas a acham chata.  Mas cada um destes termos se refere a uma área de aplicação da Palavra de Deus ao nosso mundo.  

Mas eu prefiro o estudo da história da igreja porque representa teologia feita no contexto de um drama magnífica.  Para mim, é mais fácil compreender e avaliar as grandes idéias cristãs no contexto dos debates, divisões e tribulações do povo de Deus.  As idéias de São Agostino e Marin Lutero são muito mais poderosos quando compreendemos as situações as quais eles estavam respondendo.  

E com isso eu chego ao tema deste post.  O maior impacto da história da igreja na minha vida é como ela responde à pergunta, “Quando é que os cristãos começaram a crer assim?”  Vou dar alguns breves exemplos.  Quando é que os cristãos começaram a crer que os dons do espírito não existiam mais?  Não sei se você sabe mas existem denominações evangélicas que ensinam essa doutrina.  Nas escritas antigas dos anciãos cristãos, a primeira vez que lemos essa doutrina é em resposta a uma polêmica envolvendo um grupo crente que se chamava os montanistas.  Era um grupo que exercia os dons do espírito de uma forma que muitos achavam errado e gerou polêmica.  E pela primeira vez vemos alguns bispos e presbitérios dizendo que os dons do Espírito Santo tão prevalentes no Novo Testamento haviam cessados na era cristã após Jesus e os apóstolos.  

E quando é que os cristãos começaram a venerar e até adorar à Maria mãe de Jesus?  As controvérsias cristológicas dos primeiros 4 séculos a.C. são o ímpeto por trás da exaltação da Maria que escandalosa tanto os protestantes.  Tudo começou quando a Maria passou a ser chamada teokotos , que significa “Aquela que deu à luz a Deus”.  O importante aqui é saber que aqueles que usavam este termo estavam reagindo àqueles que estavam negando a plena divindade de Jesus Cristo.  O ponto era enfatizar que o menino que Maria deu à luz não era apenas um ser humano mas também possuiu a natureza divina.  

E o celibato dos padres na igreja católica romana, de onde surgiu esta idéia?  Bom, houve uma época de grande corrupção na igreja envolvendo a venda das posições de liderança na igreja: bispo, presbítero, etc.  Quem ocupou estas posições tinha grande influência, as vezes controle total, sobre os bens materiais da igreja.  Isso representava uma imensa riqueza de terras, dinheiro, prédios, animais, etc.  Então a igreja observou a prática dos reis de passar o trono para um dos herdeiros em vez de dividir entre vários.  Desta forma o poder podia ser consolidada.  Os bispos sem filhos não promoveriam o nepotismo e eram mais fáceis de manter submissos às autoridades eclesiásticas responsáveis por evitar tal tipo de corrupção.  

Então o meu ponto é que o estudo da história da igreja é maravilhoso porque ele revela de onde vem tantas idéias que vieram a fazer parte do cristianismo.  Estou ciente de que a explicação dada acima é muito superficial e uma visão mais compreensiva seria complexa demais para abordar num post de blog.  Mas espero que posso com este breve testemunho meu alguns de vocês sejam despertados para investigar de onde vieram as doutrinas que muitas vezes nós aceitamos sem nenhum questionamento e com pouco compreensão.