Convinced Mrs. Baker hates him, Holling describes a year which includes the deaths of MLK and Bobby Kennedy as well as the upheavals caused at the height of the Vietnam War. As he falls in love with Shakespeare and works to understand "what it means to be human," Holling weaves an enchanting tale involving near-death experiences, a girlfriend, grief, miracles, and Shakespearian curses.
This young adult novel is an easy and engaging read. Definitely worth the time.
"True golden ages do not exist. Martin Luther King was a Christian hero, but he was also a reckless adulterer whose academic work was partially ghostwritten. The neo-orthodox theologians did a brilliant job of making the Christian intellectual framework intelligible to a secular audience, but they also frequently seemed to purposefully dance around some of the most important–and necessarily controversial–issues of Christian faith. (Martin Gardner's 1971 novel-of-ideas, The Flight of Peter Fromm, The Flight of Peter Fromm, features a young seminarian driven mad by Reinhold Niebuhr's evasiveness on supernatural questions...) (p. 51)
"The first approach would seek to forge a new Christianity more consonant with the spirit of the age, one better adapted to the trends that were undercutting orthodoxy. The latter would follow William F. Buckley's maxim and stand athwart religious history yelling "Stop!" The first approach would attempt to sustain Christianity's midcentury reconciliation with Western liberalism by adapting itself to the changing cultural circumstances. The second would break decisively with the revolutionary mood in American society and identify Christianity with cultural conservatism." (p. 81)
It's easy to imagine where this ended up. The liberal faction did a great job of embracing and modeling the love of Christ. It just set aside the judgment for sin embodied in Christ. In the process of all love and acceptance and no need for devotion or self-sacrifice, the Church made itself irrelevant. Who needs church when one could just accept everyone for what they were and sleep in on Sundays? On the other end was a resistance movement dedicated to fighting the excesses of the liberal establishment. The mainline churches lost members in droves while more conservative off-shoots and "para-church" organizations rapidly gained ground. Unfortunately with no oversight or hierarchal structure to hold them accountable, these groups easily strayed from orthodoxy as well. The evangelical movement became conflated with conservative politics. Young people, who did not want to identify with the Republican Party, yet desiring to retain a form of faith, departed into a more cafeteria-style religion, clinging to the attractive parts and discarding the uncomfortable.
For some, the discovery of "lost gospels" provided a new and interesting take on Jesus. Many could claim access to secret or hidden knowledge. The Divinci Code perfectly embodied the desire to forge a new brand of Christianity that could withstand the disdain many felt for the strictures of orthodoxy and its call for repentance. Mainline churches were irrelevant. Evangelical churches were too judgmental. The "lost gospels" provided an opportunity to forge your own Jesus. This appealed to the high-brow and intellectuals among believers.
But for the other half of America, something else was needed to tap into a different deeply felt need. Enter "Pray and Grow Rich." Joel Osteen and his Best Life Now perfectly filled a need for those feeling left behind in a culture increasingly exposed to "the risks and shocks of commerce and competition" (p. 202). As an added benefit, it could appeal to the rich by justifying their gain–God was blessing them for their righteous living. This transactional religion could also boast of melding perfectly with the American Dream. Work hard, "invest" in the cause, sit back and wait for the returns.
Once again the pendulum swung. Reacting to the brash materialism and commercialism of the prosperity gospel, Americans decided to turn to self-discovery and a connection with the transcendent that had no rules or rituals. It had one god–the god within. This god dwells within your being and coincidentally agrees with you in every respect. Gone are the hierarchies, and the rules, and the calls to sacrifice yourself for the Kingdom of God. The god within only demands that you stay true to your authentic self. As Elizabeth Gilbert modeled for us in her best-seller Pray, Eat, Love, we must search for that voice within ourselves that speaks in the most authentic us-ness possible. The god is there, waiting to be discovered. If that involves leaving a spouse (as she did), so be it. "You do you" replaces "Do unto others..." Unfortunately "I as god" tends to lead to isolation and unhappiness. Who knew? (Jesus. Jesus knew.) Cue rise of the therapeutic culture.
As it will, reactions to this heretical form of Christianity took the religion in the opposite direction. Beginning with the Tea Party and continuing to MAGA country, Christians intertwined patriotism and an infallible narrative with the gospel itself. Jesus didn't mean for you to be rich, a la the prosperity gospel, Jesus meant for you to be a Republican and 'Merica. While America has beautiful, biblical values upon which it was founded, America, and American politicians, can never be the Savior. America is simultaneously experiencing a fear of the Apocalypse (if the the wrong people are elected), and a rabid embrace of a messianic figure who can save us from destruction. Both positions cause harm to Christianity and the country in general.
While it is true that America has been a force for good and that it has always been an experiment that can fail, the true Hope lies in the gospel message of Christianity. Douthat states:
In our nation's better moments, Christianity has been intimately involved in American politics while standing somewhat apart from partisanship, summoning the country to reform without falling victim to the conceit that political reform is religion's only purpose. At their most robustand independent, our churches and religious leaders have reminded us that America is only almost chosen, and that paradise isn't possible on earth. In our finer hours, orthodoxy's universalism has been potent enough to temper nationalism in both its apocalyptic and messianic manifestations.
But we do not inhabit such an hour today.
In the end, Douthat doesn't really have a good answer for all this back-and-forth. Obviously he advocates a return to orthodoxy. He wants an embrace of the sacramental and beautiful. He calls the church to return to her mission of drawing the world to God through Christ and His death and resurrection. He mentions the Emergent Church movement as a possible source of renewal. Unfortunately since the book has been written, that segment of Christianity has proven liable to pastor-worship and heresy.
Personally, I think the solution lies in small, gospel-centered, worship-driven churches. Churches that ask much and offer much in return. A church focused on Jesus and his call to be perfect while offering a radical form of grace and forgiveness. A church that loves all, embraces all, welcomes all, but seeks to pull all up out of the natural fallen state of humanity into a glorious life of ongoing sanctification. The Church must strip away all the accruements that hinder the simplicity of the gospel message: You are a sinner in need of a Savior. You cannot save yourself. Jesus loves you so much that He willingly and at great cost took on that role. Surrender to Him and His call to be perfect is your only option. Welcome to the family. You are loved.
Anything that replaces or amends that message is heresy. It will not lead to Jesus. It will lead to Bad Religion.
Obviously the main story is great. Jean Valjean's fall, rise, and fall are the reason the book touches so many. The interweaving stories of Fantine, Inspector Javert, and Collette point to so many big themes of redemption, mercy, and justice.
If the book was about half as long, I know I'd love it. I hate that the details caused me to get so bogged down.
Wilson begins by making the case that all schools are religious schools. Being public simply means they are teaching a religion that is not Christian. But they are teaching a religion. Education itself is predicated on transmitting values and beliefs to the young. Public schools may not be teaching Christian values and beliefs, but they are teaching values and beliefs.
Wilson then proceeds to go through the history of public schools to show exactly how we got here. Although America was initially peopled by those with a strong faith, it did not take long for Christianity itself, as practiced in the colonial period, to devolve into a universalist, humanistic theology. While the early schools were explicitly "Christian," they embodied a form of Christianity which "bore no fundamental difference" between it and secular humanism (23).
This implies the problem began, not with schools, but in the home. Wilson blames "countless acts of disobedience in the living room and around the dinner table" for the godlessness of schools (31). Failing to practice "covenantal headship," the people allowed the schools to become places in open rebellion against God. He goes on to state, "If government schools reject the revealed character of God in the Bible as the basis for the ethical instruction they provide to children, then the only option open to them is to teach on the basis of the character of their new god, demos (the people)" (44). It is at this point that schools became incapable of teaching the good, the true, and the beautiful; without God, none of that is truly accessible. The people, in their failure to repent and practice godly parenting, are reaping what they sowed.
Wilson emphatically states, "Only a Christian education can provide a standard for fixed and absolute truth, and only a biblical course of instruction can set a standard for distinguishing right from wrong" (49). But once again, Wilson makes clear this begins in the home. Parents must be marked by their own character and courage. True education begins with godly parents instilling their beliefs and values in their children. He quotes the Shema in Deuteronomy 6 as the model for parents (58). Children are to hear the word of the Lord when they sit, stand, walk, lie down, and rise up. The Word should be on the door posts as they go enter and exit. It should encompass the totality of a child's life. Without a Christian education, this is simply impossible.
Christian parents must wake up. "The big lie is that education can be 'religion-neutral'" (67). Yet education is simply "the processor learning how to think God's thoughts after Him" (68). An education which fails to make it clear that our job is to discover what God has already declared "true," is an education based on a false idol. As a society, we are reaping the results of our rebellion. God uses our godless rulers to bring us to repentance. We miss out on blessings, we see a rise in "unnatural passions", we become victims to crime and bad laws, we embrace relativity and cannot experience the joys of men and women serving in their God-given roles. But hope is always at hand. Repent.
Finally, Wilson addresses some common objections: many Christians were raised in government schools and they are fine, Christian schools are expensive, religion is part of the spiritual sphere of "home" and education falls under the physical realm, a child may be mature enough in his faith to handle it, the local Christian school does not have an adequate athletics program, other adult influences are not Christian, the children require special programs not offered at the Christian school, Chistian school is not "cool," and many of the teachers in the public school are Christians themselves. One by one Wilson demolishes these arguments. Time and again he brings it back to the Lordship of Christ. Either Jesus is Lord and we submit or He is not and we don't.
Wilson ends with his prescription for Classical, Christian education. He believes this model fully incorporates the kind of education outlined in Scripture. He gives advice for the practicalities of this kind of school. He offers advice on pitfalls to avoid. Overall, Wilson makes a solid case for avoiding government schools and educating children according to the precept found in the Word and embodied in Classical, Christian education.
The primary responsibility of a teacher is to lead her students towards the truth of God and into the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Yet all too often we fall victim to a worldly mentality that treats academic knowledge as distinct from the kind of truth that forms us spiritually. We have made the mistake of applying the label “Christian” to our schools and calling it good. Yet Gaebelein reminds us that all truth is God's truth, and therefore truth, by definition, must be integrated and point to God as its ultimate source. We, as Christians, have no trouble recognizing God as the fount of all knowledge and all truth, but often we teach our subject so removed from this idea that our students are little better off than had they received a secular education. The point of education is to direct our students towards God; knowledge is the path.
The key to a thoroughly Christian education is a Christian teacher. As hard as it seems to believe, some Christian schools have found the task of hiring only Christian teachers a hurdle too high. Apparently some are willing to compromise for the sake of competence in the subject. Yet Gaebelein insists that teachers must not only be committed Christians, but knowledgeable of their subject and teachers of the Bible. They must have a thoroughly informed Christian worldview. These kinds of teachers will most naturally infuse revealed truth into reasoned truth as they integrate the truths found in Scripture with the truths found in the textbooks. And they will naturally point out errors in the texts when a conflict arises with Scripture. These teachers, fully immersed in a relationship with Christ, are the only teachers suitable to integrating all truth.
The question then becomes how to practically integrate the material from various subjects with God’s revealed truth in Scripture. Gaebelein starts with the subject he believes most would find difficult to integrate - mathematics. He describes a teacher able to portray the beauty found in the patterns and laws of mathematics that reflect an orderly and rational God. For Gaebelein each subject reveals a portion of God’s character. The teacher who can reveal the beauty of numbers and their relation to each other can also reveal the beauty of a God who made math possible in the first place. Numbers, patterns, rational laws are all the products of a Mind that is rational and beautiful in its orderliness. Two plus two equals four because God created a world that reflects His commitment to order and rules; two plus two will always equal four, in every conceivable circumstance, throughout all time, because God is the same in all circumstances, throughout all of time. He is not random nor changeable. Math is because God is.
Finally Gaebelein calls us to look beyond the walls of the classroom in our integration of truth. In extra-curricular activities, in discipline, in chapel services, in the marketing of the school, and in our personal search for scholarship, Christians must see everything as a way to lead others to the fear and admonition of the Lord. Often we think of extra-curricular activities as just that, extra. But Gaebelein makes it clear that all activities must point to the character of God and lead students into a relationship with him. Discipline must reflect the sacrificial love of Christ. Our chapel services must direct the students towards a loving and holy God. Marketing must accurately reflect the capabilities and vision of the school. Christian schools must be sold as discipling institutions, not places of career advancement. And Christians must avoid the temptation to shun worldly scholarship pursuits. Some believe ours should be a simple faith and want to avoid high levels of academic achievement. But if all truth is God's truth, more knowledge can and should lead to a deeper love and understanding of God.
Christian education is a high and holy calling. It is not for the faint of heart. “But for those who are called, for those who have for youth a Christ-like love and sympathy, Christian education is a glorious work. It means dealing with the most important and precious material in the world -- growing human souls. Few professions bear so plainly the marks of the Lord Jesus, which are the marks of self-sacrifice.” (108)
Ever since first becoming a mother, I would say my main identity was "mom." Once it hit me that my oldest would be going off to college, I wondered if I counted as "mom" anymore. Was there still a role for me going forward? Turns out there was, but it was different. It was mostly limited to scheduling flights back and forth to college over breaks, and writing tuition checks. Check-ins over the phone provided a connection, but it was not the same.
Then came marriages and it felt like the final tie to "mom" was severed. I know, I know. I'll always be a mom, yada, yada, yada... But not really.
So how, after 20 + years of being "mom" does one become someone's "mother"?
Burns response is to "keep your mouth shut and the welcome mat out." Welp.
Burns is highly encouraging for moms like me struggling with the next stage. One of his most helpful statement is that we didn't screw up our kids! We need to see them as differentiated adults; they are not simply reflections of us.
"But what about..." I hear some saying. Burns has a chapter for that. Whether its children who walked away from the faith, are making bad financial and personal decisions, have in-law troubles, or have generally failed to launch, Burns has words of wisdom. It makes me grateful that the worst thing I can say about my kids is that they grew up to become independent, fully-functioning adults.
It's a good reminder that we as parents are only on the job full-time for a season. Our job, as I often told my own daughters, is not to raise children, but to raise adults.
It doesn't mean I don't miss the "Mom!!!" cry once in a while.
That said, even if he did father Heming's children (which Kerrison takes as undisputed fact), Kerrison admits to a lot of speculation. As there is almost no historical information on Hemings or her children, Kerrison is forced to make assumptions and say what "could have" or "might have" happened. Also, Sally Hemings was only 1/4 black and her children would have been 1/8. From what I've read in other sources, most went on to become part of white society after Jefferson's death. This complicates the narrative, I think. Generally Jefferson is thought to have basically repeatedly raped a very young slave (Sally) and then neglected the resulting children. If the children are his, this is a bad story. If they are not, Jefferson was very generous with what were possibly his philandering brother's offspring, setting them up to eventually go on to lead lives as they chose.
So those assumptions bothered me.
But the parts that were more definitive, about his daughters with his wife, were much more interesting. I especially loved reading about the education they received and the desire they had to pass that education onto their children. As much as possible, he wanted them educated like boys when in America and then with the finest female education France had to offer. While Jefferson may not match up to our standards today for a female-affirming man, he definitely displayed some traits that were most likely rare in those days.
His friendship with Abigail Adams was also touched on vis-a-vis his trips to Europe. Having read a book before about Adams, his relationship with her and her sentiments rang true.
The book is worth reading, if only for a different glimpse into Thomas Jefferson.
