Radical Christian Voices and Practice: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland

318 Pages·2012·2.23 MB·English

by  Zoe Bennett

RADICAL CHRISTIAN VOICES AND PRACTICE
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RADICAL CHRISTIAN
VOICES AND
PRACTICE
Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland
Edited by
ZOË BENNETT AND DAVID B. GOWLER
1
3
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Foreword
Alan Kreider
Action and all—these words are often missing in academy and church.
Scholars privilege thought, for that is their métier; church leaders craft
words, necessary for public worship. Pondering and polishing, both scholars
and church leaders tend to defer action, or urge others to act or not to act.
Actionisoptional.Theydevotetheirattentiontothefewwhoareimportant,
buttheyexpectlittlefromtheall,towhomtheyoftenpaylittleattention.
Christopher Rowland as scholar and churchman repudiates these tenden-
cies.God’sSpirit,Chrisinsists,empowersallChristiansforactivediscipleship
of Jesus. So the witness of all Christians—especially groups that have been
diminished and marginalized—is valuable testimony to the voice of God.
Chriswantstolistentothem,learnfromthem,andjointheminaction.
How did Chris arrive at these views? Perhaps through coming from Don-
caster, a working-class city in the north of England. Possibly through strug-
gling with deafness, which has given him the experience of marginalization.
Certainly through his academic researches into apocalyptic—through which
hecametoseethewrithingworldunveiled,andalsotolongforaworldmade
new. Definitely through repeated visits to Brazil and inner-city England,
where he encountered liberation theologians and urban practitioners. And
not least through his deep sensitivity to the mediated insights of artists,
musicians,andpoets.
As Dean Ireland’s Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at Oxford
University,Chrishasdevelopedhisinsightsandexploredthemwithstudents.
His academic horizons have kept broadening, as he has explored new dis-
ciplines and encountered radical individuals and groups that most scholars
find uninteresting—first-century Jewish mystics, John the Revelator, six-
teenth-century Anabaptists, Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers, William
Blake,thePanaceaSociety.AshisstudentsseeChrisengagingtheseunimpor-
tant people as kindred spirits, they also observe thatit is possible to read the
biblical texts from the point of view of marginalized people—demoniacs,
women,lepers.InhisaudaciousInauguralLectureasDeanIreland’sProfessor
in1992,ChrisjoinedJesusinrejoicingthatGodhas‘hiddenthesethingsfrom
the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants’ (Matt. 11:25;Rowland,
1993), and in his teaching he invites his students to have the same mind.
StudentsfindthatChrislistenstothemcarefully,pushesthemintounexplored
terrain, urges them to find their own voices, and invites them to collaborate
vi Foreword
with him in learning and even at times in writing. A surprising number of
Chris’sstudentshavebecomehisfriends.Severaloftheseareamongtheseven
scholarswhohaveco-authoredbookswithChris.
Committed to action, Chris has struggled with institutions. He has been
critical of university and church, intensely aware that both need a ‘change of
heart and practice’ (Rowland, 1999). But he has been restlessly patient with
both,servingonfacultyboardsanddiocesanmissioncommittees,andpresid-
ing at eight-o’clock Sunday Eucharists in his parish. His action has involved
him in a variety of campaigns, and led him to assign royalties to Christian
Aid. His concern for good listening has also led him to train himself and
othersinmediationtechniquessothattheconflictsthatinevitablyarisecanbe
productive.
MyownencounterwithChrisillustrateshiswayofworking.Almosttwenty-
five years ago, Chris phoned the London Mennonite Centre, of which I was
then director; he wanted to learn about the Anabaptists. This surprised us.
After all, historian G. R. Elton had recently stated that Anabaptists ‘appeal
to ... the intellectually unenterprising’ (1973, p. 856)—but Chris wanted to
talk, stayed for hours, and left with a stack ofbooks. Later we invited him to
preachatoursmallMennonitechurch,andheenthralleduswiththerelevance
ofapocalyptic.Aftertheservice,heandhiswifeCatherinejoinedusforlunch,
and we found it impossible to persuade him not to wash the dishes! We
watched as Chris used a story from the Anabaptist Martyrs Mirror in his
inaugural, and were grateful as he pointed the nascent Anabaptist Network
towardsstory-tellingratherthanprinciplesasitsmodusoperandi(2000).Chris
and Catherine became friends of my wife Eleanor and myself, supporting us
throughtimesbothtroubledandgood,sharinginsightaswellassolidarity.We
haveenjoyedthestuffoffriendship:rambles,mountainphotography,football,
andJ.S.Bach.ThroughusChrismetHansDenck,anAnabaptisttheologian
whogavehimthephrase‘NoonecantrulyknowChristunlesshefollowhim
withhislife’(Denck,1991,p.113).ThroughChriswegainedinsightintothe
witnessofothermarginalgroupsandtheweaknessesinherentinourattimes
rule-riddenapproachtotheChristianlife.‘Theletterkills,’thundersChris,oris
itPaul(2Cor.3:6)?
Action is the life of all wonderfully demonstrates the fruits of Chris’s
thoughtandthestrengthsofhisrelationships.Iamsurethateverycontributor
has stories like mine, reflecting ways they have learned from him and colla-
boratedwithhim.Withhimtheyhavediscoverednewtruthsonthemargins
and new understandings of the God who is impatient with talk. The authors
andChris,Ibelieve,wouldjoinmeinfindingthatDorothyDay,thefounder
of the Catholic Worker, both sums up this book and unsettles its readers:
‘Ihavelongsincecometobelievethatpeoplenevermeanhalfofwhattheysay,
and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions’ (1952,
p.107).
Foreword vii
REFERENCES
Day,D.,1952.Thelongloneliness.NewYork:Harper.
Denck, H., 1991. Whether God is the cause of evil. In: C. Bauman, ed. The spiritual
legacyofHansDenck.Leiden:Brill,pp.78–117.
Elton,G.R.,1973.ReviewofC.-P.Clasen,Anabaptism:Asocialhistory,andI.Horst,
TheRadicalBrethren.EnglishHistoricalReview88,pp.853–6.
Rowland, C., 1993. ‘Open thy mouth for the dumb’: A task for the exegete of Holy
Scripture.BiblicalInterpretation1(2),pp.228–45.
Rowland, C., 1999. Introduction. In: C. Rowland, ed. The Cambridge companion to
liberationtheology.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,pp.1–16.
Rowland, C., 2000. The return of an Anabaptist voice: Listening to the stories. In:
A.KreiderandS.Murray,eds.Cominghome:StoriesofAnabaptistsinBritainand
Ireland.Kitchener,ON:Pandora,pp.145–56.
Preface
Zoë Bennett and David B. Gowler
IthasbeenaprivilegeandadelighttoeditthisbookinhonourofChristopher
Rowland. We hope that it not only honours him, but is in its own way a
witnesstowhathemostdeeplybelieves,andistherebyapocketofresistance
againstreligiontoomuchateasewithitself.Itisagifttohim,notonlyfromus
theeditors,butfromeverypersonwhohascontributed.Wethankthem—for
theirinstantreadyandjoyfulacceptanceofthechancetohonouramananda
scholar they love and admire—and more latterly for their good-hearted
enduringofeditorialpersecution.
We also thank Chris for being the catalyst for the editors to have worked
togetheronthisproject.Wedidnotknoweachotherbeforethis,and,todate,
havenotyetmetinperson,buthavegrownasfriendsandcolleaguesthrough
thepasttwoyearsofcountlessemailsandlengthySkypecallsaswecreatedthe
vision for this volume, deliberated over ‘minute details and particulars’, and
worked diligently—but with much joy and laughter—to bring this volume
togethertohonourChrisappropriately.
TorecallourfirstmeetingswithChrisallowsustocelebratewhataspecial
teacher,scholar,friend,andhumanbeingheis.
‘ItaughtSpottowhistle’,readsthecartooninmy(Zoë’s)study.‘Buthecan’t
whistle!’‘Ididn’tsayhe’dlearned, Isaid Itaughthim.’ Bycontrast, fromthe
Study Day for Anglican Lay Readers at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, in the late
1980swhenIfirstencounteredChris—tohissupervisionofmyMPhildisser-
tation—and his later colleagueship and collaboration in academic projects,
Chris has been unfailingly more interested in what I—and a thousand
others—have learnt, than in his own self-aggrandizement as a teacher. What
wehavelearnthasoftenchangedourlives.ThroughhimIhavediscoveredthe
liberating power of the radical gospel to the marginalized; and through him
Ihaveexperiencedtheexhilaratingfreedomofimaginationengagedwiththe
Bible. These things have shaped and transformed my teaching, my research,
andmypracticeoffaith.
I (David) remember standing nervously outside Chris’s office door for the
firsttimeatJesusCollege,Cambridge,inOctober1987.Thatdoorwaywasto
beaportalformeinmanyways—averylongwayfrommymiddle-classroots
inruralIllinoisintheUnitedStates.Theworkduringmyfewmonthsstudying
withChriseventuallywaspublished,aptlyenough,inmybookthatfocusedon
hospitality.WhatbetterwaytodescribehowChrisimmediatelymademefeel
Preface ix
athomeandhowheembodiedwhatitmeanttobeateacher,notonlyduring
ourtutorialsbutalsointhewayhehostedtheweeklylunchesforhisdoctoral
students.ACambridgedonmakingandservingmeteaandofferingmepartof
hislunch?Hetaught,andIindeedlearnedfromhisintellectualbrillianceand
from his kind and generous heart. In the years since our first meeting, Chris
hasbecomemorethanateacherandmentortome;hehasbecomeacolleague;
andhe,aswellasCatherine,dearfriends.
We thank you, Chris, for your generous friendship. May this book, which
comes with love and honour from all who have contributed, be a source of
delightandhopetoyou,always.