WISH I WERE DANCING ALONE
Frank Schaeffer's book Dancing Alone: The Quest for Orthodox Faith in the Age of False Religion is the worst book I've read in a long time. To begin with, it claims, in the introduction, to be an account not of history or theology but of Schaeffer's personal journey, but there is nothing at all of his personal journey - it's all his claims about history and theology. The book is full of anger and little discernment; there is no real understanding of the complexities of history or the church; it reveals the most astounding ignorance of Augustinian and Reformation doctrine, particularly Calvinism; and it is full of factual errors (something no one of the many reviewers on Amazon.com seemed to catch), many of which have a material bearing on his argument. The rest of my objections would simply be arguments with the Orthodox position (for which I have a great deal more sympathy than this paragraph may show). Schaeffer goes at his theme with the subtlety of a piledriver and the scholarliness of Dr. Seuss. His case would have been much stronger if he actually knew something about Roman Catholic and Reformation history and doctrine, but if this book is any indication, he knows nothing about them except the most wild generalizations.
It seems to be characteristic of converts to any position to be more staunch and vehement than the long-term adherents. Perhaps the converts think the long-term adherents have lost their love or take things for granted; perhaps they think it takes a new convert with all the passion of first love to show the world what it's all about; but the new convert to something is also a new convert from something. And as C. S. Lewis said (paraphrased, since I can't remember where he said this), the most recent convert from a "heresy" is often the most vociferous in denouncing it. That's Schaeffer all over.
I'm often the enthusiastic newbie myself - when I learned something new or become enamoured of some new subject I can't shut up about it and am the eager evangelist to everyone's annoyance. But I don't think I spend time trashing previous positions I've held; I'm too excited about the new thing I've latched onto. And besides, I think most of the new things I've latched onto have been additions to my stock of knowledge, not rejections of previous things, and unless I convert to Orthodoxy (stop worrying, this is a conditional statement in the subjunctive mood) I have no major religious conversion experience wherein I abandon one thing for another. Everything in my life so far has been growth, not conversion. Well, ok, I converted to liking baseball but that was growth too....
These thoughts were prompted partly by reading Schaeffer and partly by thoughts about my own intellectual career, which I've been trying to write out for the benefit of anyone who can stand to read it. I shudder to think that I might write something like Schaeffer wrote. Heaven help me.
It seems to be characteristic of converts to any position to be more staunch and vehement than the long-term adherents. Perhaps the converts think the long-term adherents have lost their love or take things for granted; perhaps they think it takes a new convert with all the passion of first love to show the world what it's all about; but the new convert to something is also a new convert from something. And as C. S. Lewis said (paraphrased, since I can't remember where he said this), the most recent convert from a "heresy" is often the most vociferous in denouncing it. That's Schaeffer all over.
I'm often the enthusiastic newbie myself - when I learned something new or become enamoured of some new subject I can't shut up about it and am the eager evangelist to everyone's annoyance. But I don't think I spend time trashing previous positions I've held; I'm too excited about the new thing I've latched onto. And besides, I think most of the new things I've latched onto have been additions to my stock of knowledge, not rejections of previous things, and unless I convert to Orthodoxy (stop worrying, this is a conditional statement in the subjunctive mood) I have no major religious conversion experience wherein I abandon one thing for another. Everything in my life so far has been growth, not conversion. Well, ok, I converted to liking baseball but that was growth too....
These thoughts were prompted partly by reading Schaeffer and partly by thoughts about my own intellectual career, which I've been trying to write out for the benefit of anyone who can stand to read it. I shudder to think that I might write something like Schaeffer wrote. Heaven help me.
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