The name of this book may be a little misleading. Unlike Howard Zinn with his People's Story of the USA, Diana Butler Bass doesn't provide a history of Christianity from the point of view of the oppressed (or suppressed). This is much more like a primer to Church history in the form of a series of vignettes -- blog entries, really -- on the lives of the saints.
"This history is less a magisterial narrative and more like a collection of campfire tales--discrete stories that embody Christian character, virtue, suffering and commitment as people 'go and do likewise.' Friends swapping stories."
The goal of the book is not to establish an alternative history, but to fight what she sees as historical amnesia in modern Christians, which leads to a truncated pseudo-history of triumphalim: the Big Cs - Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America. More often than not, it succeeds.
If you are having trouble seeing the good in the Christian community and its history, this book will help you, and perhaps will point you in the direction of hope.
Quotes:
"Jesus?" she questioned. I don't have any trouble with Jesus. It's all the stuff that happened after Jesus that makes me mad."
[This] should give progressive Christians pause, always remembering progress is a journey, not a destination.
Hospitality is the practice that keeps the church from becoming a club, a members-only society.
To Bushnell, right harmony--not right opinion--sounded God's truth.
"When someone asks me what kind of Christian I am, I say I'm a bad one. I've got the belief part down pretty well, I think. It's in the practice of my belief in everyday life where I often miss the mark. I see myself as a pilgrim--traveling the faith path to the destination of being a good Christian--and into the eternal presence of God." Brent Bill, Quaker writer.
A.A. teaches addicts to "fake it until you make it." Translating this insigth into Christian spirituality, if you act like a Christian, you might just become one.
Justice is not a metaphor.
"Three days ago your country bombed our hospital. But we will take care of you. Tell the world what happened in Rutba." (Iraqui doctor in the town of Rutba, to injured American "Christian Peacemaker" team)
Thus Christianity becomes a story of accumulated human experience of God that reveals a certain kind of wisdom in the world: To love God and love one's neighbor constitutes the good life.
A People's History of Christianity is ultimately a history of hope--that regular people often "get it" better than the rich, the famous, and the powerful. We can practice God's love and universal hospitality in a world of strangers. That is the tradition of the church--faith, hope, and love entwined, and the greatest of these is love.
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