Description
Book SynopsisFollowing the huge success of The Tortoise Usually Wins, 2012, and The Big Picture, 2015, in When Faith Turns Ugly Brian Harris explores why the Christian faith sometimes wears two masks - usually life-serving and transforming, but occasionally escapist, illusionary and even poisonous. What are the warning signs that faith is at risk of turning toxic? What do we mean by the conviction that the gospel liberates? Brian Harris' take on what constitutes life-serving faith is refreshing and will be appreciated by all who would like to be sure that their obedience to Jesus the Christ will help to build a world with a better name.
Table of Contents1 Jekyll or Hyde: More Than a Minor Dilemma 1 A Perplexing Problem 1 Intra- and Inter-Faith Differences 7 Faith as an Opiate 10 Faith as Illusion 10 Faith as Poisonous 11 Some Ways Forward 12 On Not Defending Fundamentalism 12 In Conversation with Victor Owuor 14 To Ponder and Discuss 17 2 What about Other Religions? 18 Getting Going 18 When Faiths Encounter Each Other 20 But the Bible Is Not Sympathetic to Other Faiths . . . 25 But I Believe My Faith Is True . . . 28 What about Different Versions of Our Own Faith? 31 In Conversation with Lloyd Porter 32 To Ponder and Discuss 35 3 Marx: Faith as Escapism 36 Religion, the Opiate of the Masses? 36 Is Worship Escapism? 37 Is a Contemplative Lifestyle Escapism? 40 Seven Risks to Watch Out For 42 In Conversation with Travis Fitch 52 To Ponder and Discuss 56 viii Contents 4 Freud: Faith as Illusion 57 A Father Christmas Faith? 57 Extrinsic, Intrinsic and Quest Religious Orientations 59 The Explanatory Power of the Christian Metanarrative 62 What Does This Mean? 68 In Conversation with Yvonne Kilpatrick 70 To Ponder and Discuss 72 5 Hitchens: Faith as Poisonous 74 An Encouraging Story 74 Attitudes to Avoid 77 Systemic Risks 83 Regaining the Right to Be Prophetic 86 In Conversation with Deborah Hurn 87 To Ponder and Discuss 90 6 And What About . . . ? Some Other Temptations 92 A Worrying Story 92 Leadership Traps 94 Forgetting That People Matter 99 Cultivating Burnout 102 Muddled Thinking 106 In Conversation with Dianne Tidball 107 To Ponder and Discuss 110 7 Contours for a Transforming Christian World View 111 The Link between Belief and Lifestyle 111 Six Common Problem Areas 112 Piecing This Together 123 In Conversation with Stephen O’Doherty 124 To Ponder and Discuss 129 8 Life-Serving Faith: Transformed Individuals 130 The Big Picture 130 What ‘Whole in Christ’ Might Look Like: An Orthopathy Filter 134 Contents ix When Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy and Orthopathy Meet: Ten Signs 136 Putting It Together 148 In Conversation with Rob Furlong 149 To Ponder and Discuss 151 9 Life-Serving Faith: The Global Impact 152 A Heartening Claim 152 Snapshots from the Early Church 153 Contemporary Options 159 In Conversation with Phillip Nash 166 To Ponder and Discuss 168 10 Theology Matters: The Case for a Core Conviction 170 Some Background 170 Why This Topic? 171 Discovering Grenz 175 The Case for a Core Conviction 183 In Conversation with Becky Oates 186 To Ponder and Discuss 189 11 A Closing Portrait: The Jesus Question 191 The Jesus Question 191 The ‘I Am’ Claims 192 In Conversation with Peter Christofides 196 To Ponder and Discuss 200 Bibliography 201 Endnotes 207
