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History is to a country (or spiritual community or denomination) what memory is to an individual. And loss of memory is a tragedy and ultimately, fatal. Diana Butler Bass, in her new book, A People’s History of Christianity, seeks to capture the history, the memory of Christianity. She talks with host Spencer Burke about the history of Christianity-using a different framework than most contemporary historians. Their framework, which may be true but perhaps with some gaps that need to be filled in, tells the history via the “big Cs”-Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Crusades, Calvin, and Christian America.
Butler Bass believes we’ve lost some of our memory about Christianity’s history-importantly, some of the positive history. So she tells the story of Christianity from the framework of the great commandment-love God and love your neighbor. Her history includes some of the well-known and influential characters you’d expect, but also some who are completely off the radar, like Sam Green, a pastor in Maryland in the 1850′s whose quest for freedom is inspired by his understanding of the freedom of the gospels.
Butler Bass says history is telling the story of the past and including both the good and the bad. Nostalgia is remembering only the good parts and jettisoning the bad. But the flip side can occur too-letting the negative history overpower the positives, and Butler Bass believes the history of Christianity has focused too much on the bad and lost the memory and the power of the good. This what she hopes to bring with her book.
Without memory-without history-we stop knowing who we are. We disconnect from ourselves and our future. History is about time: what happened, what is happening and what will happen in the future. These are beautifully woven together in a mystery that we as humans long to participate in. We live in a time in history that is not boring, says Diana, and she is hopeful for the future. We can fill in the goods parts of our history, and see the fullness of the good and the bad together. We can see the work that still needs to be done in our time and have a place of wisdom from which to do our work.
Personal Reflections:
- Who would you include in “your history” as influencers of your journey of faith?
- What stories you would pass on to keep from losing your “memory,” both glorious and difficult?
Small Group or Staff Questions:
- As an institution, if we wanted to have an honest reflection of our history (beyond nostalgia), what is one realistic story of where we are today?
- If history is what was, what is, and what will happen, then during this time of imagination and creativity, what would you like your next chapter to be?
Resources:
- Visit www.dianabutlerbass.com
- Learn more about A People’s History of Christianity
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June 12th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
This piece, while brief, raises a few important questions for me: why have we continued to resist telling the stories of women and minorities who have been a significant part of the story of Christianity? And what part of the story will we “tell” by our own creative responses to these times of turbulence and challenge?
July 25th, 2009 at 7:11 am
[...] reading this right now, and will blog about it shortly. In the meantime, though, feel free to watch this OOZE.tv interview with Diana, where she discusses the [...]
July 26th, 2009 at 5:44 am
[...] done with 2 new (great) books Diane Butler’s “People’s History of Christianity.” I’ve only got a little bit left of this book to read and, to be honest, it’s been quite [...]
August 12th, 2009 at 4:02 am
[...] Here’s a good interview with Diana Butler Bass on theooze.tv. [...]
August 13th, 2009 at 5:07 am
[...] the next week or so I will post more of my thoughts on the book. In the meantime, below is a video interview with Diana and Spencer Burke from [...]
September 6th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
[...] Get the HD quality video & show notes here. [...]
September 13th, 2010 at 11:02 am
[...] a video interview that explains it a bit more: The Ooze TV (or on [...]
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