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When Rita Brock and Rebecca Parker began traveling the Mediterranean world in search of art depicting the dead, crucified Jesus, they discovered something that traditional histories of Christianity and Christian art had underplayed or sought to explain away: it took Jesus Christ a thousand years to die.
During their first millennium, Christians filled their sanctuaries with images of Christ as a living presence in a vibrant world. He appears as a shepherd, a teacher, a healer, an enthroned god; he is an infant, a youth, and a bearded elder. But he is never dead. When he appears with the cross, he stands in front of it, serene, resurrected. The world around him is ablaze with beauty. These are images of paradise—paradise in this world, permeated and blessed by the presence of God.
But once Jesus perished, dying was virtually all he seemed able to do.
Saving Paradise offers a fascinating new lens on the history of Christianity, from its first centuries to the present day, and asks how its early vision of beauty evolved into one of torture. In tracing the changes in society and theology that marked the medieval emergence of images of Christ crucified, Saving Paradise exposes the imperial strategies embedded in theologies of redemptive violence and sheds new light on Christianity's turn to holy war. It reveals how the New World, established through Christian conquest and colonization, is haunted by the loss of a spiritual understanding of paradise here and now.
Brock and Parker reconstruct the idea that salvation is paradise in this world and in this life, and they offer a bold new theology for saving paradise. They ground justice and peace for humanity in love for the earth and open a new future for Christianity through a theology of redemptive beauty.
"Only rarely is a single book an event. This book is such a rarity. Rita Brock and Rebecca Parker show that solid scholarship can be expressed with passion and literary grace as they recover the beauty of an earth-loving Christianity lost for a thousand years beneath dry creeds and formulae and poisonous myths of sacralized violence."
—Professor Daniel C. Maguire, author of A Moral Creed For All Christians
"Every Christian theologian and preacher should read this book and be profoundly challenged."
—Professor James H. Cone, author of Malcolm & Martin & America
"Saving Paradise challenges us to recover an ancient world view which is life transforming and earth affirming. It reminds us of a biblical perspective which does not reserve paradise for the dead, but invites the living to find grace, justice, peace and compassion--here and now--amid the jangling discords of violence and war. It may mark the beginning of a paradigm shift in contemporary Christian understanding and interfaith dialogue."
—Reverend James A. Forbes, Jr., President and Founder of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church of New York City
"The message of Early Christian art is about God's miraculous intervention in the daily lives of Christian believers. How then did Christianity become a religion of finitude and guilt rather than one of promise and celebration? Brock and Parker ran with the evidence, showing us the importance of art, ritual, devotional practices, and liturgical space for early Christians. This tangible past transformed their research and led them to see that paradise in this world lies at the heart of Christianity."
—Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, author of Dictionary of Christian Art
"This powerful, unprecedented, and compelling book brings real Christianity out of the shadows. It lights up the religious roots of American society at a time when progressives need to challenge conservative politicians who use Christianity as a false prop for their ideology."
—George Lakoff, author of Don't Think of an Elephant!
Toward Paradise regained
| Customer Rating:  | Normally, I read an entire book before posting about it. But, I am over halfway through reading a fascinating new book, Saving Paradise -- subtitled, How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker. You need to read this book. Brock and Parker offer some of the freshest, most exciting insights into the transformation of the Christian church over the past 2,000 years.
Paradise, the authors contend, was the focus of the early church. Paradise was where humanity was created in the image of God. Paradise was the destiny of the people of God -- the land flowing with milk and honey. The psalmists wrote of paradise; and the prophets described the renewed land as paradise restored. The church was the "portal to paradise" and baptism the rite that ushered new converts back into the paradise that sin had lost.
The book overflows with first-through-fourth century historical vignettes depicting how the early church spoke of and anticipated paradise here and in eternity. One of the most fascinating chapters titled, "So Great a Cloud" describes how the early church held sacred dinners at the entrance to the burial places of Christians who had died. They placed a single lit candle in an empty chair, signifying the presence of the deceased in their midst. Based on the Hebrews 12 image of "a great cloud of witnesses" the early church believed that the dead were present with and helped those Christians still in this life. They believed that the resurrection defeated death immediately, not just in the future, and that the veil between this world and the world to come was much thinner than we believe now.
The tone of the book is positive, hopeful, and points us back to a time when the church took seriously and practically the life-giving power of the resurrection. Paradise was the narrative that gave coherence to creation, even in all its sin and short-coming. Paradise, the garden of God, is not only the goal, but the present reality of followers of Christ.
I read a lot of books, as I am sure many of you do. Most books are rehashes of old ideas, maybe with some good stories or clever twists. But, Saving Paradise presents a unique perspective, a fresh encounter with the early church. If the second half of this thick volume (over 500 pages) is as good as the first, then I'm in for a treat for the next couple of days. I'll let you know. - Amicus Dei |
Encouraging and refreshing way to see our world
| Customer Rating: | | It is a remarkable book! The scope and depth of the authors' research for the book and the clarity and richness of their expressions are impressive. It is not easy for me, as a Christian, to face the history of Christianity, at least part of it, which has wrought so much suffering and death to the world in the name of salvation. And yet, by the end of the book, the authors convince me of the true wonder and beauty of the world we live in as God intended. Let us rejoice in it and do our part to keep it and make it even better for all God's people. |
Outstanding Analysis of a Fundamental Problem within Christendom
| Customer Rating: | | This book cannot easily fit into any one category -- it is historical, theological, artistic, biographical, and a wonderful narrative at the same time. It probes deep into the heart of a once-vibrant, subversive faith that through time has been corrupted by Empire, thus turning from Christianity into Christendom. The core problem is really sacrificial atonement and the violence associated with this theological mistake. By reclaiming paradise and eros-love for our earth and for our generation, Brock and Parker instill hope that is not delusional, but is based (ironically enough), in "traditional" Christianity. |
Paradise permeates all of Creation
| Customer Rating: | Images of Jesus's crucifixion did not appear in churches until the tenth century. Why not? The crucified Christ is so important to Western Christianity, how could it be that images of his suffering and death were absent from early churches? With these questions began a five year pilgrimage for the authors. They were taught that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ saved the world and that this idea was the core of Christian faith. However, during extensive searching, they found that prior to the tenth century, Christian imagery portrayed Jesus alive teaching and healing, living in the paradise that is this world. All the images were of goodness and plenty, of gentleness and love; images that reflect the belief that creation is good and blessed by God's love, especially in the person of Jesus Christ. The foundation of Christianity is grounded on love of this world and a certainty that paradise permeates all of creation. The Eucharist was a sign of paradise and celebrated in gratitude and joy with Christ.
Brock and Parker take on the history of the subversion of the Christian message beginning with Charlemagne, who instituted the death penalty for conquered people who refused to convert to Christianity. After Charlemagne, the clergy introduced the dead body of Christ into the Eucharist. Killing, suffering and dying in the name of Christ began to represent the highest honor for Christians.
At 550 pages (including extensive notes and index) this book is not for the faint of heart. But, just like their first book Proverbs of Ashes, it is written in an approachable, conversational style. Consider reading and talking about it in a small group with people taking responsibility for one or two chapters, or bring it into a classroom and/or church setting. |
Saving Paradise--A MUST READ
| Customer Rating: | | I LOVE Saving Paradise!! Brock and Parker provide a historical lens through Christian thought and practice that demonstrates that the earliest followers of Christ embraced a theology of hope, life, and living community as opposed to the emphasis on torture, suffering, and death. As a graduate student of church history, I found myself amazed in my own studies of even so-called `orthodox' Church Fathers including Justin Martyr, Ireneaus, and Origen that a theology of the cross was not highlighted. Instead, these thinkers, whose works are indicative of many early Christian communities, highlight the Incarnation of Christ as the crucial defining event--the coming of the Logos to the world as a human being. Even later thinkers (like Athanasius and Cyril) embroiled in the Christological controversies of Nicaea and later Constantinople, were concerned with the definition of the Logos-man--how God could come in the flesh. Again, it was the living incarnation of God in Christ that was the crucial defining event--that is, the LIFE that God brought to humanity through Christ, not the death and suffering of the crucifixion alone which is the pivotal event in Christology! Brock and Parker make this case convincingly by traveling through the annals of church history and showing that it was in the second millennium of Christian history, amidst the warring struggles of the tribes of Europe and later in the birth of the Holy Roman Empire, that the theology of the crucifixion rises to prominence. This book is a MUST for students of the bible, Christian thought, the history of Christianity, theology, or anyone interested in the way that Christian ideas and doctrine are transmitted through the church and other institutions! In addition, it is a DELIGHTFUL read! The text is comforting and enjoyable to peruse, and is very spiritual and healing in places, particularly in the description of early Christian rites and practices. There are portions of this text that I plan to read over and over again in the future for this reason. Persons who have questioned or even struggled with the focus of torture and suffering in the passion and crucifixion singly as the way to salvation in the Christian faith will find themselves blessed and encouraged by these authors' re-discovery of the beauty, light, community, and fellowship among early followers of Christ--paradise!! |
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