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The Political Meaning of Christianity - The Prophetic Stance : An Interpretation
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First published December 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 30, 2016
I've read and assigned chapters from Tinder's Political Meaning before, but this was the first time I'd assigned the entire book to a class, and thus the first time in a while that I'd read the book closely. It's wonderful. There is much to argue with in regards to its claims, but that argument is an important one to have, and thus something I appreciate.
The heart of Tinder's book is his claim that the Christian tradition, properly understood, makes it obligatory upon believers to recognize two fundamental, and tension-filled, claims. First, that as God calls upon us to emulate His love, and to treat all human beings as the exalted individuals they are, it is incumbent that we strive to fully respect human liberty, and to establish societies wherein real communities of love may exist. Second, that as fallen creatures we are not only too sinful to ever will such communities into existence, but we will be too limited in our ability to see beyond ourselves so to avoid doing harm to others--treating them instrumentally, as a means, rather than as the God-graced ends each and every individual most fully is--when we go about the whole business of establishing societies. This isn't, of course, a new argument; the kind of tragic necessity that Tinder thinks is the lot of Christian believers is deeply interwoven with different strands of Lutheran and other Protestant political theologies, and Tinder makes very clear that his is a Reformed rather than a Catholic perspective. Yet his Protestant take is bracing, or at least I thought it was, both due to its thoroughness--he works step by step from foundational principles of Christian love and fallenness, on to the vital call for both liberty and community, and concluding with a discussion of the kind of Christian transformation which may actually be politically possible--and due to its unapologetic commitment to the idea that Christians must be always waiting, always attentive, always looking for ways to serve and save, even while holding fast to the vanity and harm which can never be extricated from the whole obligation. This passage, towards the end of the book, expresses it well:
"Every one of the standards according to which action is condemned demands action. Although the dignity of persons is inevitably violated in action, this dignity would be far less recognized in the world than it is had it not been supported by actions such as the establishment of constitutions and the fighting of wars in defense of human rights. Action must be untruthful, yet religion, science, philosophy, and the arts, the main forms of absolute fidelity to the truth, could not survive were they unsupported by action. Action cannot but be anticommunal in some measure, yet communal relationships would be almost nonexistent without areas of peace and order, which are created by action. We must act hesitantly and regretfully, then, but still we must act" (p. 215).
The "prophet stance" that Tinder used in the title of the book (note: my 1991 copy of the book preserves its original title, which the republished version lacks) refers to this ability and willingness to "wait for God in history" (which entails both solitude and inaction, as well as attentiveness and availability, when God's movement in history, and thus the occurrence of the "beloved community," is revealed). The prophetic stance is one of hope, but also tragedy, and mostly willingness to accept one's limitations, but not be defined by them. Tinder does not call Christians to bravely embrace crusades; while he never criticizes Martin Luther King by name--after all, who is to say that God didn't move in history to allow Reverend King to be and say and do all that he did?--it is pretty clear that Tinder's view of Christianity would never allow anyone to say, as King confidently did, that the "moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." "Justice," in Tinder's view, is something we can't know: it is a social accomplishment, one rooted in those arrangements by which genuine love could exist, but something that is also, because of its connection to instrumental society, that will fall short of what is needed. Such falling short isn't a reason not to seek it, of course--Tinder is uncompromising on the need to fight racial discrimination, economic oppression, and other threats to both human equality and community--but it is a reason not to turn it into an idol. God is doing His work; we believers, in the meantime, hold to a "qualified ideal of social transformation," and hope that will lead us to be able to do whatever God would have us use our liberty to do.
Some of my students found this a quietist, passive conclusion, though Tinder insisted it was not, and I agree with him. In my view, it is a conclusion which steps right up to quietism, but does not fall into it, because there is a tragic necessity that propels those who accept this understanding of Christianity forward. "Waiting," after all, is also a doing, sometimes an exhaustive and demanding, even "activist," one. Regretful and repentant warriors and servants, is what Tinder calls believers to be. I see that as balancing between Catholic Social Justice teaching on the one hand, and neo-Anabaptist rejection of the state on the other. It's a balance worth taking seriously, I think.
The heart of Tinder's book is his claim that the Christian tradition, properly understood, makes it obligatory upon believers to recognize two fundamental, and tension-filled, claims. First, that as God calls upon us to emulate His love, and to treat all human beings as the exalted individuals they are, it is incumbent that we strive to fully respect human liberty, and to establish societies wherein real communities of love may exist. Second, that as fallen creatures we are not only too sinful to ever will such communities into existence, but we will be too limited in our ability to see beyond ourselves so to avoid doing harm to others--treating them instrumentally, as a means, rather than as the God-graced ends each and every individual most fully is--when we go about the whole business of establishing societies. This isn't, of course, a new argument; the kind of tragic necessity that Tinder thinks is the lot of Christian believers is deeply interwoven with different strands of Lutheran and other Protestant political theologies, and Tinder makes very clear that his is a Reformed rather than a Catholic perspective. Yet his Protestant take is bracing, or at least I thought it was, both due to its thoroughness--he works step by step from foundational principles of Christian love and fallenness, on to the vital call for both liberty and community, and concluding with a discussion of the kind of Christian transformation which may actually be politically possible--and due to its unapologetic commitment to the idea that Christians must be always waiting, always attentive, always looking for ways to serve and save, even while holding fast to the vanity and harm which can never be extricated from the whole obligation. This passage, towards the end of the book, expresses it well:
"Every one of the standards according to which action is condemned demands action. Although the dignity of persons is inevitably violated in action, this dignity would be far less recognized in the world than it is had it not been supported by actions such as the establishment of constitutions and the fighting of wars in defense of human rights. Action must be untruthful, yet religion, science, philosophy, and the arts, the main forms of absolute fidelity to the truth, could not survive were they unsupported by action. Action cannot but be anticommunal in some measure, yet communal relationships would be almost nonexistent without areas of peace and order, which are created by action. We must act hesitantly and regretfully, then, but still we must act" (p. 215).
The "prophet stance" that Tinder used in the title of the book (note: my 1991 copy of the book preserves its original title, which the republished version lacks) refers to this ability and willingness to "wait for God in history" (which entails both solitude and inaction, as well as attentiveness and availability, when God's movement in history, and thus the occurrence of the "beloved community," is revealed). The prophetic stance is one of hope, but also tragedy, and mostly willingness to accept one's limitations, but not be defined by them. Tinder does not call Christians to bravely embrace crusades; while he never criticizes Martin Luther King by name--after all, who is to say that God didn't move in history to allow Reverend King to be and say and do all that he did?--it is pretty clear that Tinder's view of Christianity would never allow anyone to say, as King confidently did, that the "moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." "Justice," in Tinder's view, is something we can't know: it is a social accomplishment, one rooted in those arrangements by which genuine love could exist, but something that is also, because of its connection to instrumental society, that will fall short of what is needed. Such falling short isn't a reason not to seek it, of course--Tinder is uncompromising on the need to fight racial discrimination, economic oppression, and other threats to both human equality and community--but it is a reason not to turn it into an idol. God is doing His work; we believers, in the meantime, hold to a "qualified ideal of social transformation," and hope that will lead us to be able to do whatever God would have us use our liberty to do.
Some of my students found this a quietist, passive conclusion, though Tinder insisted it was not, and I agree with him. In my view, it is a conclusion which steps right up to quietism, but does not fall into it, because there is a tragic necessity that propels those who accept this understanding of Christianity forward. "Waiting," after all, is also a doing, sometimes an exhaustive and demanding, even "activist," one. Regretful and repentant warriors and servants, is what Tinder calls believers to be. I see that as balancing between Catholic Social Justice teaching on the one hand, and neo-Anabaptist rejection of the state on the other. It's a balance worth taking seriously, I think.
December 29, 2024
The "interpretation" offered is essentially Anabaptist, albeit not quite as radical as the standard presentation of that system. Not particularly interesting or insightful.
July 26, 2024
A LUTHERAN/REFORMED PERSPECTIVE OF POLITICAL GOALS AND IDEALS
Glenn Tinder is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; he has also written books such as 'Political Thinking: The Perennial Questions,' 'Liberty: Rethinking an Imperiled Ideal,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1991 book, "This book, as the subtitle suggests, is a personal statement. It is an interpretation and is not intended as a complete and definitive exposition of the political meaning of Christianity... My own viewpoint is broadly that of the Reformation, hence, Catholics will at times disagree. My attitudes are more Lutheran than Calvinist... My interpretations ... are not markedly denominational, although I think they are broadly orthodox... My aim in this essay is not to refute... the 'Catholic' tradition... What I hope to do is give clear expression to a version of the other tradition." (Pg. 1-3)
Early in the book he states, "Christianity implies skepticism concerning political ideals and plans. For Christianity to be wedded indissolubly to any of them [as it often has been: 'Christian socialism'... (for example)] is idolatrous and thus subversive of Christian faith." (Pg. 8)
He suggests, "Underlying prophetic criticism of the Church, therefore, is a loyalty and respect not present in any other kind of social criticism... personal independence of the Church is authentically prophetic only as a paradoxical form of loyalty to the Church." (Pg. 94-95) Later, he adds, "Christian principles lead to the conclusion that no state in itself can be fully justified. States may of course be PARTIALLY justified... But no state, judged by its own intrinsic qualities, is completely legitimate." (Pg. 141)
He concludes, "The Christian justification of the state and its coercive acts must in the final analysis be eschatological. The things we do in history are justified only in the context of eternity." (Pg. 148) Furthermore, "Christians must learn from their times and often must learn from people who are not Christians. The present democratic age, for all of its turmoil and degradation, has much to tell Christians about the meaning of their faith." (Pg. 178)
A refreshing perspective on Christianity and politics (that doesn't involve polemical discussions about the so-called "Religious Right"), this book will be of interest to anyone studying the interaction of Christianity and politics.
Glenn Tinder is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; he has also written books such as 'Political Thinking: The Perennial Questions,' 'Liberty: Rethinking an Imperiled Ideal,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1991 book, "This book, as the subtitle suggests, is a personal statement. It is an interpretation and is not intended as a complete and definitive exposition of the political meaning of Christianity... My own viewpoint is broadly that of the Reformation, hence, Catholics will at times disagree. My attitudes are more Lutheran than Calvinist... My interpretations ... are not markedly denominational, although I think they are broadly orthodox... My aim in this essay is not to refute... the 'Catholic' tradition... What I hope to do is give clear expression to a version of the other tradition." (Pg. 1-3)
Early in the book he states, "Christianity implies skepticism concerning political ideals and plans. For Christianity to be wedded indissolubly to any of them [as it often has been: 'Christian socialism'... (for example)] is idolatrous and thus subversive of Christian faith." (Pg. 8)
He suggests, "Underlying prophetic criticism of the Church, therefore, is a loyalty and respect not present in any other kind of social criticism... personal independence of the Church is authentically prophetic only as a paradoxical form of loyalty to the Church." (Pg. 94-95) Later, he adds, "Christian principles lead to the conclusion that no state in itself can be fully justified. States may of course be PARTIALLY justified... But no state, judged by its own intrinsic qualities, is completely legitimate." (Pg. 141)
He concludes, "The Christian justification of the state and its coercive acts must in the final analysis be eschatological. The things we do in history are justified only in the context of eternity." (Pg. 148) Furthermore, "Christians must learn from their times and often must learn from people who are not Christians. The present democratic age, for all of its turmoil and degradation, has much to tell Christians about the meaning of their faith." (Pg. 178)
A refreshing perspective on Christianity and politics (that doesn't involve polemical discussions about the so-called "Religious Right"), this book will be of interest to anyone studying the interaction of Christianity and politics.
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