The Diluted Church: Endorsements and Articles
Endorsements
Dear Tim:
I met you recently at the national House2House conference in Denver (Sept. 2-5th) and you gave me a copy of your excellent book "Diluted Church". I have read your book and really appreciated it. I think you have touched on an excellent subject that is most needful in the church at this time.
I would be particularly keen to encourage your book amongst the house churches here because some are caught up still in the whole right wing "Let's change our culture by worldly means". I am Vice President of the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand, so you can imagine where my sympathies lie regarding nationalism etc.
Blessings
– Bessie Pereira –
www.oikos.org.au
I’m in agreement with your position and commend you for the depth of your study. You wisely warn Christians not to be seduced into deep political action.
– Dr. David L. Rambo –
Former President of the Christian Missionary Alliance
I think you touched on some really critical areas of how Christians have traded the prophetic voice of the church in the culture for a weak ineffectual political approach. The book is well written and well researched; the cover is great!
– Wayne Jacobsen –
Director of www.lifestream.org
The Diluted Church is a technical and critical work, which I appreciated.
– Winkie Pratney –
International speaker and author
http://www.ultimatecore.net/
The Diluted Church is great! Few have published a work that says it the way you do. The church is far too dependent on politics.
– Pastor Randy Shupe –
Arvada, CO
http://www.pastorrandyshupe.com/main.php
The Diluted Church, is certainly coming from a more evangelical perspective, but it's outstanding! There are several people who I'd like to send it to. Right now, I'm writing a bit about it for my blog (http://www.jeshuaerickson.com/wordpress/).
What I like about it is that it is so balanced and refreshing, and he's speaking from a strong biblical imperative. Part of his premise is that we cannot assume that conservatives are speaking with the strongest biblical foundations beneath them. This is especially true in his discussion of nationalism and the impossibility of serving both God and manna, or two masters, if you will.
Tim Price's theology is some of the most clear-headed I've read in a while, from the right or left. The Diluted Church is giving me great food for thought, and from someone who falls outside my usual circles of influence. Thanks!
– Jeshua Erickson –
Albert Lea, MN
http://www.jeshuaerickson.com/sip/index.php
I just finished reading The Diluted Church by Timothy L. Price. My friend, Jason Baker, sent it to me a few days ago. Price touches on several key topics throughout his book, but a couple points really caught my eye.
A former writer for the Army’s third largest newspaper and a solidly unapologetic Evangelical Christian, Price argues that the assumption that American Christians owe their allegiance to God’s Kingdom and to the U.S. is a fallacious twist of Scripture’s true message.
He writes, “God is not an American and He has no eternal interest in this country. He is interested in each person and his or her soul’s condition. God isn’t cheering when America beats the Chinese on trade deficits, or who broke the sound barrier first. He could not care less!”
While no one can say exactly what God does or does not care about, Price’s point is well taken: we’ve elevated the United States to a place of divine appointment without a consistent scriptural basis to do so.
Putting Christianity and nationalism together, Price argues, leads us toward a regrettable duplicity. He refers to the ‘servant of two masters’ passage in the sixth chapter of Matthew, which discusses how we can have either a primary relationship with either money or God but not both. According to Price, the ‘servant of two masters’ principle readily applies itself to the impossibility maintaining a primary allegiance to both God and country.
Price explains, “This text, of course, is speaking of money and the danger of it owning us. At the same time there is a principle we can draw from what Christ said: we cannot have two things directing our lives. They will fight against each other.”
Although I’m sometimes uncomfortable with Price’s reference to ‘the enemy’ and to the Satan-as-Prince-of-the-Earth motif, he uses it well, and in a way I believe it is meant to be used.
Price writes, “One of the key activities of the enemy is to destroy. The quickest way to destroy any group’s effectiveness is to divide it.” Price claims that paying homage to the state; we divide our singular allegiance to God.
In addition to his discussions about nationalism and the church, I came across a particularly interesting discussion about conservative political activism.
He writes, “If all we are doing is putting our fingers into all the holes in a dam, holding back total anarchy, we have failed to solve the real problems in the process. In addition, we have preoccupied ourselves with a ruse. We have become fools to think that we can successfully legislate the morality of people through law as an extension of our vote.”Before making the point above, Price explains, “I am surprised that we, who believe in a Holy God, waste our time trying to get people to act morally without the gospel, as the basis for being able to be moral, having been addressed in the process.”
Perhaps Price is suggesting that with our attempts to legislate morality, we’re not properly representing a true, transformative gospel message; rather, we’re merely presenting the legalistic half of what the bible teaches. Spiritually, this is like telling chopping off someone’s right leg, forcing them to run a marathon, and expecting them to like it.
On the whole, Price’s book is a tad bit conservative for me to fully align myself with it, but I believe—with respect to our biblical imperative and the role of the church in relation to the state, and the role of the church in today’s society as a whole—it is one of the most clear-headed books about modern Christianity I’ve head the pleasure of reading. Price argues that we not spoon feed ourselves with the teachings of the church without considering first whether there is a sound biblical basis for these teachings.
The topics from Price’s book that I’ve mentioned here are only the tip of the iceberg, as well as his discussion of these topics. His book is a balanced, well-developed, and articulate expression of thoughtful Christian living and discipleship.
– Jeshua Erickson –
http://www.jeshuaerickson.com/wordpress/
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"Timothy L. Price presents a bold, solidly biblical, historically insightful and philosophically compelling argument that Christians in America have compromised their unique kingdom calling by allowing themselves to be co-opted by American political and nationalistic agendas. If Price is right -- and I, for one, am completely convinced he is -- multitudes of Christians in this country are guilty of political and nationalistic idolatry, and nothing has harmed the advance of God's kingdom more than this. Whether readers end up agreeing with all of Price's conclusions or not, this book is required reading for all who claim to put their commitment to Jesus ahead of their commitment to anything else." – Dr. Gregory A. Boyd – |
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Bill McKibben is an author and journalist. McKibben is a frequent contributor to various magazines including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He is also a board member and contributor to Grist Magazine. He is active in the Methodist Church, and his writing sometimes has a spiritual bent. Bill is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. His current book is: The Comforting Whirlwind : God, Job, and the Scale of Creation (2005) ISBN 1-56101-234-3 Bill’s Comments about: The Diluted Church “The Gospels are radical and subversive documents—subversive of any established orthodoxy. This book helps us remember why, and helps open necessary dialogue!” – Bill McKibben – |
Articles
- Omaha World Herald, Sept. 18th 2005, pg. 5AT
- Lincoln Journal Star, Sept. 17th 2005, Sect. C, pg. C1, C6 (Archive: Flash - PDF)
- Omaha Reader, March 30th –April 5th 2006 Vol. 13, pg. 15 (Archive: Flash - PDF)
