Wonderfully Human - Part 2

Daniel at Sibboleth has continued with parts two and three of his thoughts on Biblical humanity, which seem, imho, to be right on.

I am reminded of Rodney Stark's book The Rise of Christianity (Harper Collins, 1996), and his often provocative explanations of "how the obscure marginal Jesus movement became the dominant religious force in the western world in a few centuries." The haunting (second) last line of the book touches directly on this conversation about the nature of humanity and, in my view anyway, suggests a high degree of Biblical, missional faithfulness among the early Christians: "Finally, what Christianity gave to its converts was nothing less than their humanity (215)." And just a page earlier, Stark explained "Christianity brought a new conception of humanity to a world saturated with capricious cruelty and the vicarious love of death."

I think the reason that I've found myself so moved by Stark's account of early Christianity is the compelling hope that he(probably unintentionally) offers for 21st century Christianity in an increasingly pagan world. If the early Christians inhabited the Biblical story of God's restoration of his human creation and lived out that story in their communal life, and if that Biblically shaped life effectively offered life in Christ to a dying world, I can't help but wonder what would happen if Christians today developed a sense and a taste for that same Biblical vision and mission.

(For a transcript of a short interview with Rodney Stark that nicely summarizes some of his views, click here.)