“So it may be argued . . . that America has its own quest for Jesus, its own reshaping of the Son of God, fashioning Him into something more palatable to American tastes and acceptable to American sensibilities.” (p. 10)
The above quote accurately captures the main idea proposed by Stephen Nichols in his new book, Jesus, Made in America. In this book, Nichols guides the reader chronologically through American history, beginning with the Puritans, and ending with the current evangelical obsession with political activism. With every new era in American history comes a new transformation of the Son of God by the surrounding culture.
Essentially, Jesus, Made in America, provides a study of the way in which the church’s perception and teaching about Christ have been shaped by the culture. Nichols begins with the era of the Puritans in America. Although not perfect, in many ways the early American Puritans were the apex of the American perception and teaching about Christ. They welded together deep personal piety and a theological precision that the church today is severely lacking.
After the Puritans, the American perception of Jesus has been in severe decline and this is the story told throughout the rest of this book.
This decline began with the influence of the founding fathers on the national idea of Christ. Men such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were eager to strip Jesus of divinity and reduce Christianity to a set of good moral teachings. Next, through the 19th century Jesus was first a masculine frontiersmen and next a feminized Victorian depending on the bent of the culture. As the 20th century dawned it brought the fundamentalist/modernist controversy and with it another period of emphasis on the character and lifestyle of Jesus rather than the truth of who Jesus is.
Nichols spends the second half of the book all in the 20th and 21st century. These 4 chapters provide some of the most bizarre ways in which culture has influenced teaching on Jesus including the WWJD? craze, the book Jesus in Blue Jeans and the (often) shallow and money-driven Contemporary Christian Music industry.
Worldliness continues to plague the church and always will. I believe one of the major problems for Christians is identifying exactly what worldliness means and how to apply biblical commands to not be conformed to the world. Perhaps we make it more difficult than it should be. As I read through this book, I felt like the veil was being pulled back and I was getting an inside look at exactly how worldly the church has become. All throughout the history of America, we have allowed the surrounding culture to influence how we think of our Savior. Having a Jesus who has been molded by the fad of the moment has become such a “normal” part of evangelicalism that we can’t even see it anymore. It’s almost as if we believe Jesus should reflect the societal obsession of the moment.
One of the major reasons for the malleable Jesus we have created is the complex nature of Christ presented in the gospels. More often than not, problems arise when one generation focuses on one aspect of the character of Christ to the exclusion or at least minimization of the other facets of who He is. We must remember that Jesus is not only human but divine, He is loving and at the same time so angry over sin that He will send many to Hell for eternity. We must balance the tensions of the complex character of Christ. When we get out of balance in our perception of who He is, we create massive problems. This book is a clear and accurate description of the history of those problems in America.
The value of understanding history cannot be overstated. Many of the modern currents of evangelicalism make perfect sense when seen from the vantage point of the bridge overlooking the entire river. In other words, through the historical study of the misconceptions of Jesus, many of the problems in the church today become easily identifiable.
My favorite chapter and the one I found to be most helpful was the chapter dealing with Jesus and politics. Obviously we are in the middle of an election year and the political system has captured the mind of the country. Nichols offers insightful analysis of the way the “right” and the “left” have claimed Jesus as one of their own. Then he briefly offers a helpful strategy for Christian political engagement without cheapening the gospel or Jesus as so much Christian political activism does today.
Overall, this is a book that is enjoyable to read and one full of fascinating wisdom on the way American culture has shaped Jesus.
The above quote accurately captures the main idea proposed by Stephen Nichols in his new book, Jesus, Made in America. In this book, Nichols guides the reader chronologically through American history, beginning with the Puritans, and ending with the current evangelical obsession with political activism. With every new era in American history comes a new transformation of the Son of God by the surrounding culture.
Essentially, Jesus, Made in America, provides a study of the way in which the church’s perception and teaching about Christ have been shaped by the culture. Nichols begins with the era of the Puritans in America. Although not perfect, in many ways the early American Puritans were the apex of the American perception and teaching about Christ. They welded together deep personal piety and a theological precision that the church today is severely lacking.
After the Puritans, the American perception of Jesus has been in severe decline and this is the story told throughout the rest of this book.
This decline began with the influence of the founding fathers on the national idea of Christ. Men such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were eager to strip Jesus of divinity and reduce Christianity to a set of good moral teachings. Next, through the 19th century Jesus was first a masculine frontiersmen and next a feminized Victorian depending on the bent of the culture. As the 20th century dawned it brought the fundamentalist/modernist controversy and with it another period of emphasis on the character and lifestyle of Jesus rather than the truth of who Jesus is.
Nichols spends the second half of the book all in the 20th and 21st century. These 4 chapters provide some of the most bizarre ways in which culture has influenced teaching on Jesus including the WWJD? craze, the book Jesus in Blue Jeans and the (often) shallow and money-driven Contemporary Christian Music industry.
Worldliness continues to plague the church and always will. I believe one of the major problems for Christians is identifying exactly what worldliness means and how to apply biblical commands to not be conformed to the world. Perhaps we make it more difficult than it should be. As I read through this book, I felt like the veil was being pulled back and I was getting an inside look at exactly how worldly the church has become. All throughout the history of America, we have allowed the surrounding culture to influence how we think of our Savior. Having a Jesus who has been molded by the fad of the moment has become such a “normal” part of evangelicalism that we can’t even see it anymore. It’s almost as if we believe Jesus should reflect the societal obsession of the moment.
One of the major reasons for the malleable Jesus we have created is the complex nature of Christ presented in the gospels. More often than not, problems arise when one generation focuses on one aspect of the character of Christ to the exclusion or at least minimization of the other facets of who He is. We must remember that Jesus is not only human but divine, He is loving and at the same time so angry over sin that He will send many to Hell for eternity. We must balance the tensions of the complex character of Christ. When we get out of balance in our perception of who He is, we create massive problems. This book is a clear and accurate description of the history of those problems in America.
The value of understanding history cannot be overstated. Many of the modern currents of evangelicalism make perfect sense when seen from the vantage point of the bridge overlooking the entire river. In other words, through the historical study of the misconceptions of Jesus, many of the problems in the church today become easily identifiable.
My favorite chapter and the one I found to be most helpful was the chapter dealing with Jesus and politics. Obviously we are in the middle of an election year and the political system has captured the mind of the country. Nichols offers insightful analysis of the way the “right” and the “left” have claimed Jesus as one of their own. Then he briefly offers a helpful strategy for Christian political engagement without cheapening the gospel or Jesus as so much Christian political activism does today.
Overall, this is a book that is enjoyable to read and one full of fascinating wisdom on the way American culture has shaped Jesus.
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