text: Suggested Reading, And Some Thoughts And Reflections - tribunedigital-chicagotribune
  September 01, 1995|By Paul Galloway.
  Antsy to leave work early, and not eager to struggle through a column on sin or salvation or some such heavy going? Your prayers have been answered. Only briefs today, sisters and brothers.
  - Your slothful religion writer planned early in the summer to tout a few religious books for the beach. Read fast, and you'll be able to finish any of the following this weekend, except maybe the first, which is mainly for show.
  "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (Doubleday), dense, dull, devout and billed as the first new summary in 400 years of what Catholics believe. Impress fellow sunbathers (or cause them to peg you for a holier-than-thou fanatic) by perusing the $7.99 paperback edition.
  A banner bleats: "The International Bestseller." The cover blurb: "A sure norm for teaching the faith"-Pope John Paul II. The title is in gold letters. Also gracing the front is a 13th Century painting, "Jesus Washing the Disciples' Feet."
  Says Doubleday's Tom Cahill: "We wanted to compete visually with Danielle Steele, John Grisham and Tom Clancy. After all, it's displayed in drugstores and airports. But we also wanted a dignity and richness worthy of the subject. It's eye-catching but not vulgar. It remains high-minded."
  Now some that are readable:
  "The Origin of Satan" (Random House), by Elaine Pagels.
  "Who Killed Jesus?" (HarperCollins), by DePaul University's John Dominic Crossan. Not for the faint-of-faith.
  "Catholics on the Edge" (Crossroad), by Chicago writer Tim Unsworth.
  "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind" (Eerdsmans), by Mark Noll of Wheaton College.
  A bit much for the beach but a must for everyone-Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, those of other religions, agnostics-is the $45, 1,345-page "Encyclopedia of Catholicism" (HarperCollins), whose editor is Rev. Richard McBrien of the University of Notre Dame.
  "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time" (HarperCollins), by Marcus Borg.
  - Speaking of Borg, who teaches religion at Oregon State University, here's an excerpt from a recent issue of BR (Bible Review) magazine in which he addresses our interest in apocalyptic scripture: "There is a close connection between how we view God and how we think we should live.
  "If God is seen as compassionate, then I should be compassionate; as forgiving, then I should be forgiving; as holy, then I should be holy.
  "Those who see God as righteous and wrathful (within the militias and elsewhere) are often filled with righteousness and wrath themselves. . . . The apocalyptic worldview of Revelation appeals to those in our day who see society as having fallen under the control of an evil totalitarian world power. Yet its use as legitimation of righteous violence in the name of God involves a profound misreading of the book and of biblical tradition as a whole.
  "Revelation's picture of a warrior God must be placed within the context of the larger collection of biblical images of God: as lover, mother, father, shepherd, savior, liberator, companion, etc. . . .
  "Moreover, though (author) John of Patmos saw Rome as the enemy, he did not counsel violence against Rome: his audience was not to resist with the sword (Revelation 13:10).
  "John shared the pacifism of early Christianity, which was to last until the 4th Century. Though John proclaimed God's judgment against Rome, he did not enlist warriors for a holy war, but left judgment to God. Addressed to a persecuted community, John's message of God's impending judgment was intended to comfort innocent Christian victims of Roman violence.
  "In subsequent centuries its proclamation of the lordship of Christ over the lordship of Caesar has comforted Christians whenever the world has seemed out of control. It's thus a terrible irony when Revelation is used in our time not to comfort innocent victims, but to justify violence against the innocent."
  - Several atheists wrote to condemn last week's column, which suggested some true non-believers can be as self-righteous as true believers and put in a good word for Christianity done right.
  One came from a University of Chicago student who demanded a public apology. If you've never had a letter from an earnest, humorless, U. of C. student, you don't know what hell is. God forgive him for his arrogance and yours truly for wishing he'd gone to a party school.
  - Finally, the concerned reader who a few weeks ago faxed the article about "Born-Again Christian Street Gangs" sends another from the same dubious source, the Weekly World News. The headline is "Dead Sea Squirrels." They're described as a "menace in the Holy Land" because of a ravenous appetite for ancient religious documents discovered in Israel. "They're chewing up scrolls and artifacts faster than we can find them," complains "a leading world authority on antiquities."