The Corruption of Christianity

by David Cayley

The corruption of the best is the worst. This old adage sums up Ivan Illich's view of the fate of the Christian gospel for 2,000 years. He speaks as a Christian who believes that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, something gloriously new came into the the possibility of knowing and loving God in the flesh. But along with this came a that the call to love more abundantly would become the basis for new forms of power in the hands of those who organize and administer the New Testament. "Wherever I look for the roots of modernity." Illich explores this hypothesis with respect to medicine, law and other modern institutions.

Audio Cassette

Published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Marcas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of David Cayley's many great Audio productions available and brings the ideas of Ivan Illich alive today, flipping over certain preconceived notions in your mind about how things are and must be. The radical claims of Illich on how modernity is Christian heresy are not new to me but there is considerable unexpected light shone in unfamilar places to complement the work of others such as Milbank.

The basic thesis of Illich is the beginning of a really strong Theology of the antichrist that really needs fleshed out in order to understand the true extent of the derangement of the modern world, one which could be simultaneously non- sensationalist, nor crudely drawn or focused on 'this time' in contrast to some supposed Golden age.

Rene Girard, is another scholar with whom Cayley dialogues and his work too lends itself to the development of such a Theology, one which would rub up against modern anti-social, unecclesiological models of 'Church', faux unions, pacifist dogmatisms or a moralising universalism with no sense of the importance of Incarnational embodiment. (Though I think Girard's views on violence may not allow him to escape from pacifism).
Overall, this is a great piece and Cayley deserves enormous credit for the service he has provided.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A relatively concise overview of Ivan Illich's views on how the institutionalization of the church corrupted Christianity, and its implications.

I managed to read this, thanks to Henry's Zoo of Ivan Illichs work (https://henryzoo.com/illich/) and my Claude Code Project, Replaypub (https://replaypub.vercel.app/feeds/il...), which allows for automated email drip feeds of blog posts and books!
(And yes, Illich would certainly have thoughts on his conversations being broadcast over radio, only to ultimately be delivered via email inbox one part at a time)