Western Liberalism: Christianity's Prodigal Son
Why the Liberal West is a Christian Creation: John Gray is an English political philosopher and former London School of Economics and Political Science professor. In this book review of Tom Holland’s book Millenium: The Forge of Christendom, he submits an interesting idea. Though contemporary liberals see themselves at odds with conservatives who self identify as Christian, they both have deep ties to orthodox Christian beliefs. For example, Christianity was the first worldview to suggest that selfless, sacrificial care for the poor and marginalized should supersede high-mindedness and achievement. Here is a fascinating quote:
“The powerless came to be seen as God’s children, and therefore deserving of respect as much as the highest in society. History was a drama of sin and redemption in which God - acting through his son - was on the side of the weak.
Modern progressive movements have renewed this sacred history, though it is no longer God but “humanity” - or its self-appointed representatives - that speaks for the powerless. In many ways, the West today is more fiercely self-righteous than it was when it was professedly Christian.”
One can’t help but wonder what the West would look like if liberals dropped the self-righteousness and conservatives dropped the self-enrichment. Fourth-century philosopher, Augustine, said that the central human problem is that our lives are incurvatus in se, Latin for “curved in on self.” Isn’t that really what self-righteous and self-enrichment are both about?
To the dogmatically conservative, Jesus looks a lot more liberal than you care to admit. Likewise, for the dogmatically liberal, Jesus looks a lot more conservative. And yet He is anything but moderate. He cared not for human agenda, only His own. To the self-righteous, he said, “I see right through you;” He called the religious right “whitewashed tombs - full of dead men’s bones,” meaning they looked good on the outside but were rotten within. To the self-enriching he said, “Fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
If Jesus wasn’t an actual historical figure, we can thank “him” for these nice liberal ideas and move on with our lives. If he was, the questions are three-fold: (1) whether the guy who claimed to be the son of God actually was, (2) why the 12 guys who followed him closely were all willing to be impoverished and martyred, and (3) how both biblical and extra-biblical writings point to his resurrection as a historical event. Tim Keller puts it this way:
“Many, many people saw Jesus Christ with their eyes raised from the dead. In fact, at one point, Paul (Jesus contemporary, converted pharisee, New Testament writer, and martyr) says, Jesus appeared to 500 people at one time. At one time. So, he says, there are hundreds and hundreds of people, spread around the Mediterranean, who actually saw Jesus Christ raised from the dead, and you can go talk to them, says Paul. Now, what do you think of that? Now, here’s what you have to say. That he couldn’t have written a public document like that unless there were hundreds and hundreds of people who had seen Jesus Christ. That’s what they said. Now, you may not believe them, but they were there.”
In Zero to One, Peter Thiel asks interviewees (and readers) for their contrarian views. He refuses to accept token answers like “our education system is broken.” It has to be something few people in your field agree with you on. Well, here’s mine: Jesus Christ was a historical figure, He was God, and He was raised from the dead. You can roll your eyes, but this view is growing in popularity among Western intellectuals (see Anthony Flew if the likes of CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, and Ravi Zacharias are not compelling). I think Christianity explains human experience incredibly well: (1) the world has always been messed up and tragic, (2) I’m no daisy, (3) and yet there is hope.
I obviously think myself a part of the drama of sin and redemption (on the side of the sinners who are redeemed). As Jesus said of the prostitute who wept at His feet in the house of Peter the Pharisee in Luke 7:
“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
The prostitute who wept for her broken life and many sins had been forgiven much. She was newly capable of loving much out of a contrite heart instead of a self-righteous heart. In fact, Jesus praised this woman in front of the self-righteous, conservative pharisee. He thought he had little to be forgiven of; Jesus said this made him capable of very little love.
I look out into the world and see hatred, selfishness, and anger. Then, I look down in my heart and see the same. When I look at Jesus, I know I am forgiven much and so I am free to love much. Then, and only then, does the ice of my conservative self-preservation melt that others may touch me without fear of frost-bite. The heat of my liberal self-righteousness cools that I may touch those around me without scorching them.
