Faith, History, and the Meaning of Jesus The 2006 VeriTas LecTures aT uVa inside The Law Points to God The Divine in The Cinema
Praxis V10 N4
Winter 2007
Pr ax i s
2007 Reunions
By wes ZeLL Director of Undergraduate Ministries
C
ontemPorArY CULtUre is full of distorted portraits of Jesus. While current misrepresentations might be more creatively packaged than those of previous eras, the distortions themselves are not a modern phenomenon. many scholars, for instance, believe that the earliest surviving image of Jesus of nazareth is a cartoon from about 200 A.d. scratched into the rock of rome’s Palatine hill. the graffiti shows a man lifting his hand toward a crucified figure with a human body and a donkey’s head. the scrawling Greek inscription below the image
lectures on the topic of Faith, History, and the Meaning of Jesus. Carson is the research professor of new testament at trinity evangelical divinity school and the author or editor of more than 45 books on Biblical studies and theology. each lecture was attended by more than 300 students and addressed some of the most important questions about Jesus: “Are the historical sources about his life the product of conspiracy and conjecture, or might they be a reliable basis for faith, hope and love?” “is his reported resurrection just another ancient myth, or might it have something real to do with the suffering and experience of modernity?” “Can we ignore his claims without ignoring the most fundamental issues of human existence?” “What do we do with doubt?”
Donald Carson addresses UVa community at the university’s Newcomb Hall Theater photo by Eric Kelley
reads “Alexamenos worships his god.” the cruel joke about Alexamenos displays central features of ancient public perceptions of Christianity. Claims about an executed God were often mocked or ignored. though not evident in this particular graffiti, Christians were accused of cannibalism because they spoke of “eating the body and drinking the blood.” much of the culture simply didn’t know the basic elements of the Christian story and so constructed their own versions of it. two millennia after Alexamenos, our culture has its own set of rumors about Jesus, portraits that are as misleading as the one on Palatine hill. And while the claims of Jesus are sometimes rejected after hard study, more often they are simply not considered because the rumors are mistaken for fact. For this reason, the study Center recently hosted Biblical scholar donald Carson, who gave two public
Donald Carson speaks with students after an evening lecture photo by Carl Briggs
Carson demonstrated that faith and history were not at odds with one another; rather, Christian faith is rooted in the history of God’s work in the world. this, after all, is one central meaning of Jesus — that through the incarnation God truly enters space and time in order to redeem we who live here. in addition to his lectures on Grounds, Carson spoke to campus ministers, pastors, graduate students and community members at three different events at the study Center. one of those discussions — on the Christian mind — is among Carson’s talks available for download from the Center’s website. Faith, History, and the Meaning of Jesus was part of The Veritas Forum, a national series of conversations that began in 1992 at harvard University and has since happened at dozens of
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When I First Arrived deePening FaiTh aT The Law schooL By Jon Mureen
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eFore ArriVinG in Charlottesville, i had a feeling that i was supposed to go to Virginia Law, but i could not really explain why. i had not been admitted yet, i didn’t know anyone else who had gone to school here, and i had only been to the east Coast once. nevertheless, my call to Virginia was unmistakable, and when i received an offer of admission, i gladly accepted. After starting school in the fall of 2004, it didn’t take long for me to realize that God was up to something at UVa. i found a vibrant group of Christian law students, many sharing the same sense of calling to Virginia that i had, gathering weekly to sing, pray, and discuss the scriptures. this Law Christian Fellowship (LCF) consists of approximately 40 active members who share the common purpose of loving Christ, each other, and the world. each week, our thursday worship and fellowship meetings leave me with a renewed sense of the glory of God. the small group Bible study of which i am a part increases my knowledge of the Word, and our social events have strengthened those Christ-centered relationships that have been so critical to my law school experience. We have been blessed with a number of excellent guest speakers this year, including rick Campanelli, Counselor to the secretary of the U.s. department of health and human
services for human services Policy, and an alumnus of the University of Virginia undergraduate school and law school. At the 2006 fall retreat, he challenged us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. two other speakers who addressed our weekly meetings last semester also made a profound impression on me. Barbara Armacost, a professor at the law school, encouraged us to maintain a passion for our faith with the same commitment that we give to our study of law. she said we should demonstrate the same intellectual rigor and willingness to wrestle with questions in our Christian convictions that we show toward legal issues.
Jon Mureen, right, and Rick Campanelli photo by Justin Holcomb
Another speaker, John richmond, formerly worked with international Justice mission, which helps people suffering injustice and oppression who cannot rely on local authori-
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S pring F aith & L iFe p rogramS FaiTh & LiFe courses* God, His People, and His World, Part 2: Foundations of Christian Faith and Life
Lif d an h t i --> Fa s g m n i a Spr Progr
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monday evenings, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. January 22, 29; February 5, 12, 19, 26; march 12, 19, 26; April 9, 16, 23 instructor: Wes Zell Location: All saints Anglican Church, Charlottesville
Reformers, Rationalists, Modernists, and Evangelicals: The History of the Church Since 1500 Wednesday evenings, 6:45 – 9:45 p.m. February 7, 14, 21, 28; march 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11, 18 instructor: scott Amos Location: meadows Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville
From Crisis to Christ: Interpreting the New Testament as Good News in the Real World Wednesday evenings, 6:45 - 9:45 p.m. February 7, 14, 21, 28; march 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11, 18 instructor: Bill Wilder Location: trinity Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville
FaiTh & LiFe LecTure series*
FaiTh & LiFe sPeciaL LecTures
Focusing on the Family: Biblical, Sociological, and Ethical Views of Parental Authority
The Authority of Reason
All lectures will be at the Center for Christian Study
monday evenings, 7 – 8:30 p.m. February 5, 12, 19, 26 instructors: margaret Kim Peterson, drew trotter, and W. Bradford Wilcox
Bob Dylan: His Musics and Messages Wednesday evenings, 7 – 8:30 p.m. February 7, 14, 21, 28 instructor: drew trotter
When Oprah Talks, People Listen: Contemporary Cultural Authority and Christian Proclamation Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. march 21, 28; April 11, 18 instructor: Ken myers
All lectures will be at the Center for Christian Study thursday evening, February 1, 7 p.m. Presenter: nicholas Wolterstorff, noah Porter Professor of Philosophical theology, Yale University
Movies and America: What the Five Academy Award Nominees for Best Picture Tell Us About Ourselves thursday evening, February 22, 7 p.m. Presenter: drew trotter, President, Center for Christian study
The Authority of Experience thursday evening, march 15, 7 p.m. Presenter: drew trotter, President, Center for Christian study *Please contact Carl Briggs at carl@studycenter.net, (434) 817-1050, or www.studycenter.net to register.
Faith, History, and the Meaning of Jesus, continued from front campuses around the country. The purpose of the UVa Forum, which is funded and coordinated by the Study Center and co-sponsored by churches and several other ministries on Grounds, is twofold. First, the Forum intends to commend the truth, goodness and beauty of the Christian worldview to the university community by clarifying misconceived notions of Christianity. Second, the Forum is a time to encourage the believing community at the university to be less constrained by cultural assumptions and more free to follow Jesus. This stems from the Study Center’s conviction that with a better understanding of why Christianity makes sense, students can care for the university more by fearing it less. Past Forums at UVa have tackled race relations, the meaning of freedom, and the connections between faith and science. Past participants have included Os Guinness, Richard Keyes, George Marsden, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Eleonore Stump, Larry Woiwode, and Nicholas Wolterstorff. The joke about Alexamenos was met, in a way, by the many early Christians who set about the work of explanation and translation. Apologists for the faith tried to correct popular misunderstandings, as well as commend the Gospel in language that the culture would understand. This, too, is the ultimate aim of both the Veritas Forum as an event and the Study Center as a whole: not to simply defend the faith, but to show how it uniquely answers basic human questions. Donald Carson's presentations at Veritas Forum 2006: Faith, History, and the Meaning of Jesus, may be downloaded at the Study Center website, www.studycenter.net.
THE STAFF & CENTER . . . Bill Wilder participated in two apologetics presentations: a Stump the Chump outreach event at the Christian Club, Western Albemarle High School, Oct. 27; and a Stump the Pastor event with Justin Holcomb at a Darden Christian Fellowship meeting at the University of Virginia Nov. 1. . . Justin Holcomb spoke Oct. 25 at St. James Episcopal Church in Richmond, Va., about his annual summer seminary training of chaplains in southern Sudan in East Africa. (Holcomb is among the instructors who serve chaplains-in-training in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army; the program prepares former soldiers and other civilians to provide pastoral care for civilians, soldiers, and prisoners-of-war, and to become human rights monitors.). . . Justin also spoke at the Stony Brook School in Long Island, N.Y., at the faculty development day Oct. 30, addressing trends regarding high school students and college students and religion. He preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville on Oct. 3, Nov. 5, and Nov. 12. . . Drew Trotter served as one of the moderators of the 2006 Virginia Film Festival, Revelations: Finding God at the Movies, introducing and leading discussions of the movies Tender Mercies, the premier showing of Amazing Grace (about anti-slavery British parliamentarian William Wilberforce), and The King of Kings, Oct. 27-28. Drew also introduced actor and filmmaker Robert Duvall before the screening of Tender Mercies. . . Drew also attended the American Academy of Religion meetings in Washington, D.C., Nov. 17-20, participating in the group Religion, Film and Visual Culture. . . Drew will present the Faith & Life Weekend Seminar on Show & Tell: The Christian and the Movies in Contemporary America Feb. 3-5 at First Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, Tenn. He also will speak Feb. 9-11 on Afraid? Of What? A Biblical Investigation of the Fear of God at the Institute of Biblical Studies, sponsored by Bethel Grove Bible Church and the Chesterton House in Ithaca, N.Y. ... Drew will attend an April 13-15 gathering in Ithaca for the exploration of a new Consortium of Christian Study Centers. On April 28-29 he will be preaching and conducting an evening seminar at Peace Presbyterian Church in Cary, N.C.
When I First Arrived, from previous page ties for relief. Richmond now is a prosecutor with the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He encouraged us to obey Christ's call to do justice and free the oppressed (see, e.g., Micah 6:8 and Luke 4:18), and this semester in LCF we will explore ways that we can use our legal education to do just that. God has been teaching us about mercy and service as well. During spring break last year, we took a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, where we built a children’s orphanage that provides shelter, food, and education to nearly 40 Dominican orphans. We’ll be making a return trip this spring. It has been amazing to watch God bless and flourish this Fellowship, especially in light of the
fact that, to my knowledge, nothing of this magnitude exists at other “top tier” law schools. He is working in a unique way at Virginia, and with so many UVa law students destined for positions of influence around the country, I can’t help but wonder if He is planning to use these LCF relationships for something else in the future. He is certainly using them for good right now. Jon Mureen is completing his third year at the University of Virginia Law School.
Movies and God
sTudy cenTer PresenT aT Virginia FiLM FesTiVaL The Center for Christian study was honored to have a significant presence at last fall’s 19th Annual Virginia Film Festival oct. 26 – 29. the theme for this year’s festival was REVELATIONS: Finding God at the Movies. As Festival director richard herskowitz put it, “Without the help of faith-based organizations like the Center for Christian study, we would never have gotten the recordbreaking turnout we did. We appreciate the work both splintered Light (bookstore in the study Center) and the study Center put in to make the Festival such a success.” And while the Festival showed films representing faiths from islam to Buddhism, the Center, along with splintered Light Bookstore, co-sponsored three films that were shining examples of historic Christianity. study Center President drew trotter introduced and afterward held discussions of the three films: Amazing Grace, Tender Mercies, and the 1927 silent version of The King of Kings. Perhaps the most prominent event for the Center’s presence at the Festival was the premiere showing of Amazing Grace, a film to be released in February of next year and developed by the same company that developed last year’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. the movie is about the thirty year-long struggle to abolish the slave trade in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, a struggle that was led by Parliamentarian William Wilberforce. “Frankly, i was afraid they would water down Wilberforce’s clear and resounding purpose for his struggle,” said trotter. “his conversion to Christ and clear call from God to ‘suppress the slave trade’, as he put it, were what kept him going through extraordinarily trying circumstances. instead of suppressing his faith, however, they made that call an integral part of the movie. i have not been so impressed with the sympathetic portrayal of Christian faith in a movie since Chariots of Fire.” the film drew a packed audience to newcomb hall theater october 27, even though actor and filmmaker robert duvall was introducing his film The Apostle at the same time at another theater across town. A large number of the 450 viewers remained for the discussion, which ranged from historical questions about the slave trade to questions about the historical accuracy of the film’s presentations of such figures as William Pitt, John newton and Wilberforce himself. earlier that afternoon, trotter was the presenter for Tender Mercies at the regal downtown Cinema, introducing duvall, who spoke about his Drew with film festival honoree Robert Duvall Academy Awardphoto by Carl Briggs winning performance in that 1983 film. described as “one of the most realistic portrayals of Christian conversion and the difficult, but inspiring, journey it entails”, the movie tells the
story of down-on-his-luck country/western singer mac sledge (duvall), who finds redemption through the simple faith and love of a single-mom widow in the isolated plains of West texas. A story of fame and its temptations versus the simple strengths of a life lived in quiet devotion, the movie Drew Trotter introduced the movie Amazing was one of the Grace at UVa’s Newcomb Hall Theater clearest examples photo by Carl Briggs at the festival of its theme: finding God. When herskowitz first called trotter, inquiring what films he would show, it topped his list; again the movie was a sell-out. trotter also introduced and led a discussion of the silent film The King of Kings on the saturday afternoon of the festival. the film was accompanied by a score written and performed by donald sosin and Joanna seaton. trotter was also able to arrange for Jubilate, the renowned choral group from University Baptist Church, to participate with sosin and seaton, and the effect was transformative. though the crowd was smaller than other presentations at the festival, it was the largest silent film turn-out at the Festival in some time. the Center’s presence at the Festival was not limited just to trotter’s work. W. Bradford Wilcox, Assistant Professor of sociology at UVa and study Center Board member, was a respondent to the highly controversial documentary Jesus Camp, a film that focused on a large Pentecostal church youth program in missouri at its annual summer camp for kids. After the film, Wilcox and UVa english professor mark edmundson led a spirited discussion of the documentary’s depiction of the techniques and values of the group. Wilcox called it an attempt by a biased filmmaker to solidify a stereotype of Pentecostal church practices for an already unsympathetic audience. he accused them of attributing such practices unfairly to a broad range of historically orthodox Christians. the film implies, and sometimes directly asserts, that this group's rituals and beliefs are typical of "evangelicals," wrongly portraying all Bible-affirming Christians as anti-intellectual, strangely charismatic, and weirdly right-wing socially. more thoughtful scholars of religion draw a distinction between believers who are Pentecostal/charismatics (as those in the film are), fundamentalists, and "broad" evangelicals. the deep and broad influence of the Center at the Film Festival is another welcome example of how it seeks to serve the University community by encouraging it to explore the truths of Christianity. With the Center’s long history of using film and other media to “facilitate wise discussion of the truth in light of the challenges of contemporary culture”, it is a heartening example, which we look forward to continuing in the future.
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photo by Eric Kelley
The Messiah and Mr. dawkins
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hAVe Attended mAnY LeCtUres in old Cabell hall auditorium at the University of Virginia, but i have never been to one quite like the richard dawkins lecture sponsored by the University Library in november. dawkins, famous in the academic world for his contributions to the field of sociobiology, has recently begun a campaign with several other academicians (known by some as “the new Atheists”) to force the issue of atheism to the forefront of intellectual discussion in the West. in dawkins’s words, “if this book [his recent The God Delusion] works as i intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down.” Knowing that dawkins was as in-your-face as the quotation above would imply, i was still not prepared for what i saw and heard that cool Friday afternoon in old Cabell. After a very few introductory pleasantries, his “lecture” began this way: “the God of the old testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” then he got really caustic. the auditorium was packed, and at the end of point after point, dawkins was wildly applauded. Laughter punctuated the address, and, generally, a gleeful time seemed to be being had by at least half the audience. i had come expecting my faith to be seriously challenged; after all, dawkins is regularly looked to in magazines like Skeptic as the man with all the answers. And this is not just the approbation of others. he holds himself up as the essence of reasonable argument; for instance, the foundation he has begun is modestly titled the richard dawkins Foundation for reason and science. As i listened, though, i could not get the vision out of my mind of what a Billy sunday crusade must have been like in the early twentieth century. sunday was known for his anti-intellectual power evangelism; it was at his crusades that the phrase “the sawdust trail” was coined. dawkins’s sad tirade was every bit as emotional and irrational, just not as loud and corny. i also had images flash by of a documentary i had seen recently called Jesus Camp in which children were being led in cheers and an uneasy anti-intellectualism pervaded the atmosphere. to compare dawkins to this kind of unthinking fundamentalism is not simply the reaction of Christians to dawkins’s work. nicholas Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times, and a clear non-Christian, calls the tone of what he refers to as the Atheist Brigade “…mean. it’s contemptuous and even ... a bit fundamentalist.” dawkins’s book does present some arguments for his case, but his logic — in addition to his manner — has been getting generally bad reviews. We do not have the space to deal with all he gets wrong, but two brief statements will
have to suffice. First, dawkins is a microbiologist, not a philosopher, theologian, or Biblical studies scholar. this should not keep him from writing in these areas, if he wishes, but he had better be right if he expects to be taken seriously. i am not trained in biology, but i am trained in Biblical studies, so i listened carefully when he spoke about the one area where i can assess his grasp of the facts and his arguments based on them. there he gets it woefully, thoroughly wrong. his statement at the lecture, for instance, simplistically caricatures what is a complex portrait of Yahweh in the old testament, a portrait that shows him every bit as much long-suffering, forgiving and gracious as it does vengeful and full of wrath. in his book, dawkins makes even more ludicrous statements about the historicity of the new testament reports concerning Jesus. With such unexamined, shoddy dependence on bad second-hand scholarship in Biblical studies, why should i then trust even his statements about biology, much less those he makes about philosophy or theology? secondly, dawkins lives in an age that most reasonable people have passed, the age when objectivity was something one could assume as unassailable in an argument. dawkins assumes his own intellect to be the final arbiter, completely separate from the will and the emotions, and pristine in its vision; i.e., devoid of bias. no real human being has reminded me so starkly and frighteningly of the brain in a jar, which C. s. Lewis reveals at the end of his novel That Hideous Strength. dawkins is the true man without a chest, writing and speaking so violently against the faith that it is chilling. Anyone who so trusts his own reason that he believes he simply cannot think wrongly has not only fulfilled the sad dictates of 1 Cor. 8:1-3 — “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” — he has taken steps along a road that leads to a dangerous fascism. such people end up advocating stamping out “for the good of mankind” those who do not think like them. they become hitler, a famous atheist himself, reborn. A friend of mine was at the dawkins lecture and told me about returning to Cabell hall a month later for an event of a very different kind. it was the annual Messiah sing-in, an occasion where students, townspeople, musicians, and singers of all kinds come to sing one of the most inspiring pieces of music ever written. the disconnect between the two events gives me a strange sense of sadness and joy at the same time — sadness at the shallowness and yet widespread acceptance of dawkins’s views, and joy at the depth of truth of the message of the Gospel found in handel’s great oratorio. the response of the Christian, who is called to love those who “utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (mt. 5:11), is to pray that dawkins and his friends will someday be able to sing, “And he shall reign forever and ever” — and mean it. — Drew Trotter
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The Center for Christian Study is a non-profit education and outreach ministry serving the University of Virginia and Charlottesville-Albemarle region since 1968. Through programs, ministries, and partnerships, we provide opportunities and resources for the corporate and individual investigation of the truths of the historic Christian faith. Some of the ways we do this include courses, lectures, seminars, student-run fellowships, internships, mentoring opportunities, discussion groups, and special events. We proceed believing that men and women will be transformed by the Truth, which will be reflected in their thoughts and actions, both in their private lives before God and in their public lives as members of society, the family, and the Church. Center for Christian Study 128 Chancellor Street Charlottesville, VA 22903 Phone: 434.817.1050 www.studycenter.net Praxis is published quarterly for our friends and supporters. Carl Briggs, Editor carl@studycenter.net University Christian Ministries, Inc. (dba Center for Christian Study) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation EIN 51-0192618.
The Center for Christian Study pledges financial accountability through our membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Save the Date: 2007 UVa Alumni Events Sponsored by the Center for Christian Study
Saturday, April 21 Darden Alumni Weekend
Saturday, June 2 UVa Undergraduate Alumni Weekend
Saturday, May 5 Law Alumni Weekend
For registration and lodging information for the June Alumni Weekend, please visit the UVa Alumni Association’s Reunions website, www.virginiareunions.com
Darden Alumni Gathering, co-sponsored with the Darden Christian Fellowship
Law Alumni Gathering, co-sponsored with the Law Christian Fellowship
Christian Fellowships Reception, co-sponsored with the UVa Alumni Association
Reunions contact: Shelly Pellish, 434.817.1050 or shelly@studycenter.net
Study Center Welcomes Three New Directors Three new members of the Board of Directors began their service last year: John Owen is an associate professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He has served previously on the Board of Directors. Tim Robertson is Chairman of Bay Shore Enterprises LLC in Virginia Beach. The Rev. Paul Walker directs Anglican College Ministry at UVa. Two long-term board members completed their service last year at the Center: Lawrence Adams, former chair of the board, is executive director of Mars Hill Audio in Virginia, and is a faculty member of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at UVa. Ken Elzinga is the Robert C. Taylor Professor of Economics at UVa.