Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity … Titus 2:9-10a NRSV
How can these words of Paul that were used to justify slavery a century and a half ago be excused as part of “Reclaiming the Radical Visionary”?
Original members and leaders of the Jesus Seminar, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan have settled in as very popular authors, reaching beyond the academic community into the pews.
Flannery O’Connor died young. In 1964, she died of complications of lupus at age 39, but she has left a following of devoted readers, some Catholic and religious, but mostly literary.
Conservative commentator Ross Douthat (author of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream) sees a sinister theology behind the popular novels of Dan Brown. In a NY Times op ed piece, Douthat suggests that The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and the soon to be released The Lost Symbol are more than wildly popular pulp fiction. “He’s writing thrillers, but he’s selling a theology,” says Douthat.
The “secret” history of Christendom that unspools in “The Da Vinci Code” is false from start to finish. The lost gospels are real enough, but they neither confirm the portrait of Christ that Brown is peddling — they’re far, far weirder than that — nor provide a persuasive alternative to the New Testament account. The Jesus of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — jealous, demanding, apocalyptic — may not be congenial to contemporary sensibilities, but he’s the only historically-plausible Jesus there is.
Is it too early to label The Shack as an all-time classic, a top fifty Christian novel? Yes. Does the literary quality of The Shack merit classic status? No. Is the theology insightful, noteworthy, or provocative? Not really.
Published in 1942, The Robe soon achieved New York Times bestseller status. It remained number one on the list for a year, and it also became a popular movie released in 1953 starring Richard Burton.
The Red Tent has achieved classic status even though it was first published barely a dozen years ago. It was recently reprinted in a 10th anniversary edition. It is a misnomer to call it Christian fiction, because it features characters and storyline from the Hebrew Scriptures (the Christian Old Testament), and the Jewish author’s earlier works were non-fiction treatments of contemporary Jewish life. This speaks to the commonality in the cultural and historical threads of Christianity and Judaism that should be emphasized, and the novel has been well-received in both traditions:
A richly imagined world … Paints a vivid picture of what women’s society might have resembled during Biblical times. Although it is a novel, it is also an extended midrash or exegesis – filling in gaps left by the Biblical text. Quoted from the Jewish Times.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was first published in 1880 and established a new literary genre, the Biblical novel, as a sub-genre of historical fiction. The essence of the genre is a story set in Biblical times with Biblical characters in greater or lesser roles. The novel was wildly successful, surpassing Uncle Tom’s Cabin as the best-selling American novel until 1936 when Gone With the Wind became number one. In 1912 alone, a million copies were printed and sold for thirty nine cents apiece. Wallace’s work changed the attitude of the clergy toward popular fiction, who encouraged their congregants to read the novel. The Pope blessed it.
We will start with a personal favorite, Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist. Lagerkvist was a Swede, and he won the Nobel prize for literature in 1951. The short novel was translated into English that same year. Of course, Barabbas was the criminal who was released by Pontius Pilate instead of Jesus of Nazareth. This Biblical character then becomes Lagerkvist’s protagonist, and the novel traces Barabbas’s wonderings and wanderings for the rest of his life.