They also criticized my "null hypothesis"-that since God can't be found scientifically, any reason to
believe in God is nullified. I'm not sure what the problem is. It seems simple to me. Can you explain
something better using God than using natural science? Have a good day.
Sincerely,
Greg
Dear Greg:
All the best to you as you return to the land of the Apocalypse. Mudslides soon to follow. I have saved
our correspondence, going back to the first note. You'd probably be amazed at the thick stack that's grown.
Everyone's gone to the store, so I have some quiet time to work with.
I'm listening to Handel's Messiah right now-one of the great Christian works, written by a person who
was, at best, nominally religious. That reminds me that an atheist punk singer has spurred me to think more
about Christianity than any preacher I've heard. Ain't life strange? That's something you can ask the
Cornell Christian Faculty Fellowship: Why do American churches mimic the general culture-
brainlessness and emotionalism on one hand, a mildly Christianized political correctness on the other?
Now to Brideshead. Your question-how is Brideshead Revisited supposed to initiate a sense of
compassion for religious people?-is a good one. And in a way I suppose it answers itself. Jesus and St.
Paul (the latter wrote most of the New Testament) said repeatedly that the normal status of the Christian is
to be scorned, persecuted, held in contempt, pitied and so on. "Woe unto you if the world loves you," says
Jesus.
Their point is that, as a matter of course, being a Christian means precisely not eliciting the compassion
of others. Instead, expect persecution and scorn. This is the norm for Christians in much of the world-e.g.,
China, Pakistan and the Sudan. But "here in the land of the free time" (to quote you), Christians think they
should run everything-and they're just as fat, unhealthy and ignorant as everyone else. "Christianity" is a
cultural commodity.
Yesterday I told my students that America's Christians could effect a revolution immediately if every
one of them chucked their TVs in the garbage. But the Christians are just as addicted to brainless
entertainment, and just as afraid of silence, as everyone else. There will be no revolution. The Sudanese
Christians get snuffed and sold into slavery, but they're just Africans.
We justified the world, and condemned as heretics those who tried to follow Christ. The result was a
nation that became Christian ... but at the cost of true discipleship.... Our humanitarian sentiment made us
give that which was holy to the scornful and unbelieving. We poured forth unending streams of grace. But
the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly ever heard.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian killed by Nazis (1937)
In Brideshead Revisited, who is the one seemingly genuine Christian from beginning to end? Cordelia.
And though she's goofy, she's endearing and is, as they say, the real deal. She gives her life in service to
others. She likes the agnostic, Charles Ryder; she doesn't find him threatening; she loves Sebastian,
despite his self-destructiveness; she's always hopeful.