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Book Review
Butterflies in the Belfry—Serpents
in the Cellar: An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity
J. Michael Jones, Naked Christian
Press, 2016, 235p.
My friend Michael Jones has written an
intriguing and poignant memoir in which he describes his journey from
the destructive aberrations of Christian evangelicalism to a more
holistic and “natural” style of Christian faith. His journey
takes him from East Tennessee to Egypt where he experiences a crisis
of faith. Upon returning to the States, suffering deep depression and
failing to find healing in the evangelical churches and ministries he
had previously known, Jones begins the “unintended pursuit” for
understanding the Christian faith as it has developed in Western
culture. The author shares this journey with the reader as, through
his study and travel in other cultures, he comes to see the
destructive impact that Greek philosophy has had in Christian
culture. Philosophical dualism, whether of the Platonic or
Aristotelian variety, has, in his view, resulted in unbiblical or
unnatural forms of Christian faith. In sharing his experience, Jones
offers the reader a more honest and healthy way of faith than is
found in perhaps most churches of modern Western culture.
This is a very honest and helpful book.
I can identify with the author's pursuit because I have walked much
of this journey myself. Coming from similar religious backgrounds
(small-town Southern Baptist Churches) to the same college and
para-church ministry organization, we have seen some of the same
unhealthy and destructive tendencies in fundamentalist and
evangelical Christian faith. We have arrived at different places in
our journeys, but his experience resonates with my own in many ways.
I was concerned when I saw the
sub-title of the book: “an unintended pursuit for a natural
Christianity.” Is that “natural” as opposed to “supernatural”
I wondered. But no, what Jones was pursuing is a Christian faith in
its purest form, a more Biblical faith, one not so affected by the
corrupting effects of dualistic thinking. I appreciate that effort.
He does a fine job of describing the historical consequences of
Christian faith being over-laid with Platonic idealism or
Aristotelian materialism. Yet I am not convinced that Christianity's
use of Greek philosophical categories is all a bad thing, as Jones
seems to think. Believing that “all truth is God's truth,” and
that even pagan philosophers, through the use of reason can perceive
that truth, I believe that, with much of Christian thinking, at least
in the West, Aristotle and Plato can be very helpful. Nevertheless, I
would agree that dualistic thinking, especially in its Gnostic
tendencies, is a huge problem, and for Christians, Biblical
revelation must not bow to Greek philosophy.
I wish that the author had explored the
divide between Catholic and Protestant thinking to some
degree—Luther's rejection of Idealism in favor of Nominalism and
its effect on evangelical faith and practice would be a beneficial
study to include in this pursuit, I believe. I think the historical
overview could be improved by avoiding the historical bias revealed
in the term “Dark Ages,” and I would want him to study further
the suggestion that “during its first millennium, the Roman
Catholic Church had ignored or even destroyed the original writings
of the Greek philosophers” (p. 144). I would suggest Thomas
Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization and Rodney Stark's
Bearing False Witness as helpful correctives to what may be a
bit of anti-Catholic bias in the author's reading list.
But these are minor reservations. This
is a fine book and I am very glad he published it. The author is an
excellent writer. I found myself close to tears as he narrates the
desperation of his family's crisis in Cairo, and I felt the joy of
his healing as he marvels at the goodness of God's creation. This
book is an intelligent and honest portrayal of one man's struggle of
faith in the contemporary world—it perhaps can bring healing and
hope to others. It deserves a wide readership and I highly recommend
it.
