February 18 2023
THE OLD TIME RELIGION: STILL GOOD ENOUGH?
You may know that ‘old time religion’ song:
Give me that old time religion,
Give me that old time religion,
Give me that old time religion,
It’s good enough for me.
It was good for Paul and Silas,
It was good for Paul and Silas,
It was good for Paul and Silas,
It’s good enough for me.
Of course, that ‘old time religion’ was never defined, because Christianity is not a religion, and cannot be defined. When Paul spoke to the philosophers on the Areopagus in Athens, he started by saying that he proclaimed ‘the unknown God’. Just as we cannot ‘know’ creation – our Global Heating predicament is proof of that – we cannot know God. Both creation and God remain the unknown, even when God and Creation reveal themselves to us. Strictly speaking, theology, the doctrine of God, is also an impossibility. Yet God permits it, as long as we know that it is not possible, only permitted.
Creation is alive and holy.
I increasingly like Bonhoeffer’s suggestion that we perceive God and creation as complementary. Just as we acknowledge that God lives, be it in inapproachable Light, we hold that creation is alive as well. It is James Lovelock’s lasting legacy when he stated that planet Earth is a ‘living’ reality. We also owe Karen Armstrong, when in Sacred Nature she argued that we need to think and feel differently about the natural world by rekindling our spiritual bond with creation.
A long time ago: 75-80 years
When I attended the City of Groningen Christian Gymnasium, during WWII and beyond, (100 students over 6 grades, almost all male, whose diploma gained unconditional entry to either the Law or Medical faculties or a Theological school), I was a bystander in a theological dispute on ‘child baptism’, splitting not only the local Reformed churches, but also families and communities. It caused tremendous stress in my school as well, among staff and students, as the fanatic children of the ministers at the heart of the controversy attended the school.
My church, even more orthodox, stood beyond the fray. In retrospect that theological conflict may have contributed to a total realignment and decline of Protestant Netherlands.
What now strikes me is that theologians then knew exactly what God had in mind concerning the Christian faith. Augustine, who, 1600 years ago, founded Christianity as we now practise it, wrote once – in Latin of course – Si comprehendis, non est Deus, which means, “If you think that you understand, it isn’t God you’re talking about”.
Another ‘theological’ battle.
Today another schism is looming in connection with the same-sex issue. Here too, across all denominations, the words “we know what God has ordained”, are banded about. This same-sex issue too may lead to a realignment and decline of Christian North America.
All this makes me question whether we can still speak clearly about the essence of Christianity. It is by now obvious that Christianity is not a religion. Karl Barth, early in his career as a pastor in Switzerland, said that, “The message of the Bible is that God hates religion”, quoting Amos 5: “I despise, I hate your festivals, I take no delight I your solemn assemblies”.
May be Greenpeace is a better representation of the church, more in line with the ancient song “Like a mighty army moves the church of God”. At least they do something about God’s creation, by attacking corporate power. Yes, I support them financially!
The church is good at religion.
The church is good at ‘religion’. Soon King Charles III will be crowned: he also is head of the Church of England, and ‘religion’ will be front and centre at that ceremony. Soon Pope Francis will die or resign. Again ‘religion’, the ‘old time religion’, fashioned on Old Testament decorum, will be on display for the world to see when a new Pope is elected. Compare it to Jesus’ birth, life and death: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58).
The church in turmoil.
The church is in turmoil: it always has been. It slowly is being fashioned to reflect the Life of Jesus, a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. And there is a lot of grief out there: long Covid, mental anguish, weather disasters, wars. And we are only at the beginning.
The “Old Time Religion” is not good enough. Rituals and colorful vestments, tradition and liturgies, carefully staged ceremonies may be entertaining to watch, but ‘religion’ will not save us.
Micah 6: 8 comes to mind: “To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Love your neighbor as yourself, including Creation, love all animals, walk humbly, act justly.