Against Christianity

by Peter J. Leithart

Book Overview

How could a conservative Christian - an ordained minister with a beard, no less - be against not only Christianity, but theology, sacraments, and ethics as well? Yet that is the stance Peter Leithart... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591280060
• ISBN13: 9781591280064
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Canon Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Small Book, Huge Implications...

This is one of those books that caused a paradigm shift in my thinking. I read it for the first time about 3 years ago, and I can trace many of my current theological views back to this book. Other reviews have given some good analyses already, so let me just offer a few suggestions. If you align yourself with something close to "Reformed Baptist" (John Piper, James White, John MacArthur, Charles Spurgeon, etc.), read this book immediately. It will likely challenge many underlying assumptions and force you to face many questions that you probably didn't even know to exist. If you are a product of modern-day, generic Reformed Presbyterianism (i.e., all you read is R. C. Sproul) read this book immediately. It will help you develop a more robust understanding of the faith and the role of the Church (and maybe help you get over your fear of N. T. Wright). If you are a high church, liturgy-loving, Anglo-catholic-on-the-road-to-Rome wannabe who thinks that Protestants can't appreciate the sacraments or historic Christianity, read this book immediately. It will save you a lot of time and trouble (and maybe help you understand what true ecumenicalism should look like). If you are just getting into political theology and don't know what to do with Hauerwas, Yoder, or Milbank (or Augustine for that matter), read this book immediately. It will help create new categories to think in and give direction for further study. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who is interested in theology and Christ's Church.

Quick short thrusts to the heart

This the second book by Pastor Leithart that I have read (A House for My Name is the other), and here he has written a book that is quite difficult to read. Not because he uses bad English or his composition skills are lacking, but because he taking on such an overarching subject. I think one of the main things I took away from reading this book is that we must constantly be aware of false assumptions. When we go to church, when we read the Bible, when we pray, when we think about God, or when we write book reviews about good books we've read we must (by faith) seek to understand everything from the right perspective. The most glaring false assumption this book pointed out to me was the assumption that the "Christianity" that I am surrounded by here in 21st Century America is 'prima facie' the faith once delivered to the saints found in Holy Scripture. If you are looking for a book that may help you, anger you, confuse you, and edify you all at the same time: this is your book.

What a Book!

This book is a book that should be read by all Christians, but sadly probably will not be. When Leithart says he is against "Christianity" he does not mean the the Christian faith, but the privatized, individualized religion that turnes everything into propositions and is reductionistic in its outlook. He uses many weapons in his "deconstruction" of "Christianity" from John Millbank to Henri de Lubac to Alasdair MacIntyre to Stanley Hauerwas. He shows that Church is supposed to be a city, a polis, where we opperate as a community, not as a schismatic, divided body. Unfortunately today, it is seen as better to have the body of Christ divided, but this is not what Jesus prayed for. The church is supposed to the the civitas dei, the city of God, as Augustine taught. However, with our privatized faith, this is impossible to have. We want to defend "truth" from error, yet we err in our fundamental understanding of what the church is. This is a greater error than all the other erros that we point out in others. Dr. Leithart also does a great job showing the political implications for the gospel. This sounds bad in post-Social Gospel America, but the Gospel does have social implications. Leithart also argues that the body of Christ is a tangible body, which is entered into by baptism. This is a terrific teaching, and has terrific implications for all of life. May we all take what Dr. Leithart says seriously.

A Sober Assement

Why is it that whenever a politician in America attempts to speak out against the slaugter of innocent babies or the marriage of homosexuals he is silenced for mixing "religion" and "politics"? How can so many people claim to have true faith and yet live completely independant of God's Church, the Body of Christ? How did we get to a point where people's "religion" is completely separate from their finances, education, philosophy, and the rest of their lives in little glass houses? Could it be that some great heresy has crept in taken captive the people of God? If so, how can it be defined, what is the direction out, how far do we have to go, and where is the power to make it there?Peter Leithart has given us the name of this heresy: CHRISTIANITY. He has also given us, in brilliant color, a glimpse at the way out, a well-researched and highly intellegent critique of how bad things are, and hope for tomorrow.Don't be fooled. The title is NOT just attacking a misused word. He really means it. He is shooting at a real banner with real enemies under it. Many of whom are probably much closer to home than you expect, no matter where you are.As was aptly said by some wise man, somewhere, who knows what he is talking about:"Against Christianity is a brazen attack on Christianity."BTW - Though this book is accessable to almost anyone (I don't have any theological training), pastors, make sure this is one of the next three books you finish. And don't shy away if you are not part of the Protestant Church. I have an Eastern Orthodox friend who agrees that this is one of the best books he has ever read.

Robbins needs to lighten up!

Peter Leithart is by no means a heretic. John Robbins of Trinity Foundation seriously overreacts when he says that this book is heretical. It seems the "heresy of heresies" in modern Christendom (if you read the book you get that) is to tell the truth. Leithart attacks "Christianity" as we have fashioned it. He is not attacking God, nor is he attacking the Church. He is attacking the silliness that naturally ensues when men try to fashion either in their own image. Leithart attacks the false dichotomies we have drawn in order to systematize the teaching of scripture. (For example: "Is baptism a symbol or a reality?" - Clearly a false question. It is both). What Leithart seems to be arguing is for a life-encompassing view of Christ, one which does not submit to Procrustean systematization or "sacred vs. secular" compartmentalization. The Church is called to be a culture of her own, and to eclipse all other cultures with hers. Leithart argues that "Christianity" sets itself up as just one more popsicle stand within a broader culture, the "real" one we live in. He writes,for example: "Contextualization be damned. The Church's mission is not to accomodate her language to the existing language, to disguise herself so as to slip in unnoticed and blend in with the existing culture." Leithart argues for a belief in a Christian culture, one in which Christ is recognized and honored as the head of all things, in which worship is once again narrative, retelling (rather than systematizing) the mighty acts of God, and one in which the idea of modern "Christianity" is gone from our minds. Amen, come Lord Jesus. Thy Kingdom Come!