My Critique of "Christianity's Dangerous Idea"

Introduction

Christianity’s Dangerous Idea was written by Alister McGrath. He currently holds the chair in theology, ministry, and education at the University of London. [1] Prior to that, he was a longtime professor at Oxford University. He has authored several books on the issues of theology and history and lectures all over the world and currently resides in Oxford, England.
His intent was to take a survey style look at the seeds that started what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. To that end, he attempts to chronicle the events that led up to the actual break with the Church of Rome, the reformers themselves who played major roles in these events, the eventual global ramifications that followed, and attempts to take a brief look at the possible future of Protestantism.

Brief Summary

The book is divided into three main sections which he refers to as Origination, Manifestation, and Transformation. In the Origination section, he lays the background for what he calls the gathering storm. [2] He starts this section by addressing the corruption that had already permeated the medieval church. The papacy is viewed as being out of control by many and there were those who sought to rein it back who were part of the Conciliarist movement. [3] However, the movement, while bringing the issue to the forefront, ultimately failed.
However, the issue of corruption did not go away. If anything, it got worse. Appointments of senior clergy were no longer based on the will of God, but the influences of family, fortune, and power. [4] Even the lower clergy were viewed with contempt by the laity because of the illiteracy that was rife within their ranks. According to the author, this gradual deteriorating view was not the result of a dwindling spirituality within medieval Christianity, but to the contrary, it was the result of an increasing “popular interest in religion” at the time. [5]
The final issue dealt with in this section of import is the advent of humanism. The humanists as they were called were primarily engaged in bringing about renewal and reform to the church with a call to return to the original sources of the faith. [6] In short, it was a renewed interest to return the church to the “vitality and simplicity of the apostolic age”. [7]
In the Manifestation section of the book, he takes a look at the impact that the Bible has had on the Protestant movement. This includes a discussion on distinctive protestant beliefs, how they are organized in their various denominational structures, how they go about worship, and the ministry of preaching.
His intent is to show how the various groups that make up the whole of Protestantism have interpreted and applied the Scriptures in these areas. [8] Of course, he shows that each have arrived at similar, yet different conclusions. However, it’s the similarities that make up a body of beliefs that are distinctively Protestant. [9] These include justification by faith, the nature of the church, the sacraments, and the issue of predestination. He even takes a look at how Protestantism has impacted the arts and natural sciences.
In the Transformation section of the book, he looks at the rise of western powers, particularly that of the United States, and its consequences. He asserts that the rise brought “inspirational” as well as “deeply disturbing” changes that were “incalculable” to Protestantism. [10] This was the result of what he refers to as the globalization of Protestant ideas that originated in the United States, but were then re-appropriated, repackaged, and disseminated to the rest of the world. He also goes on to assert the intellectual lead that was for many years in Germany had now been passed to the United States. He concludes that the most significant event to happen during this time was the rise of Pentecostalism. [11]

Critical Interaction

The stated purpose of the author was to gather into one work a single, organized narrative for the origins and development of Protestantism. [12] His attempt was not so much to look at the small details of each and every person and event, but to find the “bigger picture” underlying them in an effort to find their significance for “understanding the past, present, and future trends” of Protestantism. [13]
The prevailing conviction of the author seems to have been that for his readers to understand and appreciate where the Protestant movement is today, they must first be able to understand and appreciate where it has been in the past. [14] Of course, the author realized that this was no small task, and in so doing, much historical information would have to be left out or handled with a “broad-brush”, which inevitably left much to the interpretation of the author. [15] Of course, this is where any author opens themselves up to criticism. History is history with facts, spaces, and places, but when one tries to interpret that history to make application to the present; it becomes subjective; let alone to attempt to forecast the future based on that interpretation.
There have been several book reviews that have critiqued how well the author did in this effort. One such positive review was written by Bryce Christiansen of The Booklist who refers to the work as “capricious” and “highly provocative”. [16] He interestingly notes McGrath did an excellent job of showing how quickly the reformers such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli took the doctrine of sola Scriptura and developed their own forms of church authority. He also concludes that anyone who cares about Christianity’s past and future should read the book.
There is no doubt that the Reformation had no sooner displaced the Roman Catholic Church and it’s suppressive policies when the reformers inadvertently set about to establish their own based on their individual interpretations of the Scriptures. They each appealed to the “same source as authoritative, and yet arrived at different conclusions (e.g., the Communion). [17] With the removal of what had been the only recognized authority for hundreds of years invested in the hierarchy of the Roman Church, that authority had now been invested in each and every believer as per the teachings of Luther and the “radical doctrine of the priesthood of all believers”. [18] The author did an excellent job of showing the conflict that quickly arose with seemingly no resolution except disagreement and division.
Another such reviewer is James Overbeck. In his opinion, the only real contribution of the book is that it does help to “describe the shift currently taking place in the Protestant world with the decline of churches in Europe and North America”, and the shift that is currently in place toward Africa and Asia. [19] He also takes shots at McGrath for equating Christianity with Protestantism to the exclusion of the Roman Catholics.
There is no doubt that the author wrote the book from the Protestant viewpoint. It’s obvious that he is a Protestant just based on the biographical data given on the cover of the book. As such, he wrote the majority of the time from the viewpoint of a Protestant observer to history. We all tend to write one sided on every issue and it can be very hard to not do so because it’s the side that we are on. For example, when describing any war of the past, each side has a different take on why it started, how it played out, and how it ended. We all have perspective. McGrath’s perspective was most definitely Protestant, and thus it is through that lens that he wrote. Ultimately, the he made a very straight forward historical presentation of how the Reformation took seed and how it spread throughout Europe and to the rest of the world.

Conclusion

In the end, the issue at hand for this reader is to understand how the information contained in Christianity’s Dangerous Idea impacts my own life, ministry, and church. In regards to my life, as a lover of history, I believe that if we don’t know it, and at least attempt to understand it, we are inevitably going to make the same mistakes. Just a cursory look at men such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli should prove to anyone that they were not perfect. They had their’ share of faults, but each of them can be learned from. For example, Luther constantly felt that he needed to “get in with God” and that he “had to make himself into a good person”, but he eventually learned that “God’s love is not conditional” and that personal transformation follows with an understanding of “divine acceptance”. [20]
In regards to my ministry, it was obvious that men and ministries go through hard times. All of the great reformers had their friends, and yet also had their enemies. Standing on the front lines of any fight will draw fire from both sides. To do great things for God requires taking a stand that will sometimes cost more than we ever thought that we were going to pay. Just the very thought should make the words of our Lord ever clearer when he said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple”. [21]
Finally, in regards to the church, there is much to be gleaned. The one great take away for me personally is that the church belongs to Jesus Christ and not to man. It was his creation from the very beginning, and the men that he has graciously allowed to be a part of it are indeed sinful creatures. It doesn’t matter if they call themselves Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or by any other name, because of their sinful natures, everything that they touch tends to come crumbling down around them and gone forever, except the church. With the church in view, Jesus said to Peter after he had questioned his disciples as to who men said that he was, “And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [22] The church certainly has been through a lot of things and yet it has survived. It is not going anywhere until the Lord himself comes and gets it.

Bibliography

Christensen, Bryce. "Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution-A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First." The Booklist 104, no. 3 (2007): 22. Accessed June 16, 2014. http://search.proquest.com/docview/235593694?accountid=12085 (accessed June 16, 2014).

HarperCollins. “Discover Author Alister McGrath.” HarperCollins.com.
http://www.harpercollins.com/cr-105130/alister-mcgrath (accessed June 13, 2014).

McGrath, Alister E. Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Reformation – A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2008.

Overbeck, James A. “Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution; A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First.” Library Journal 132, no. 13 (2007): 93. Accessed June 16, 2014. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&
db=bah&AN=26206263&site=ehost-live&scope=site.