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 PrintableVersion Black MassApocalyptic religion and the death of UtopiaHow the Puritans have messed up the world? BLACK MASS Utopia, of course, stands for an imaginary place with a perfect social and political system, and its adjectival expression ‘utopian’ carries the connotation of an impractical and innately unreachable ideal. The main thesis of this powerful book by the Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics is that much of world history in the last few hundred years has been driven by utopian projects which have actually ended up causing mayhem. People have visions of an ideal state they would like to see and are so sure their vision is right that they are prepared even to use violence, terrorism and war, with the end justifying the means, in order to achieve this greater good. Religions have done this and so have secular ideologies, such as those of the Communists and the Nazis. This has been a disaster for the world and we are seeing the same disaster played out in Iraq as president Bush has sought, by means of war, to impose liberal democracy on a land which is not ready for it and may never want it. Blaming the saintsThe book is of particular interest to Christians because John Gray seeks to blame Christianity as being the source of all utopian ideas for this world, whether religious or secular. He says that, from the 12th to the 16th century, millenarian movements thrived in Europe among groups who found themselves in changing societies with which they could no longer identify. The core feature of these movements was the idea of some last apocalyptic battle which would nevertheless finally resolve all problems and bring ‘the millennium’ and ultimate harmony to the world. For religious people this involved an expectation of divine intervention in some form. The secular versions believed that their Utopia could be brought about by human efforts alone. The truth is that these movements bring the ugly reality of war, genocide, gulags and suicide bombers. ‘For the Utopian mind the defects of every known society are not signs of flaws in human nature. They are marks of universal repression — which, however, will soon be ended.’ How does he come to place this at the door of Christianity? He says, ‘A belief in moral progress was always part of Christianity, but it remained dormant until the Reformation. Puritans served as a vehicle for the idea — often called post-millennialism — that human effort could hasten the arrival of the new world.’ Enlightenment versionsAs the Puritans faded into history and with the onset of the 18th century, it was not long before post-millennialism mutated into the (secular) Enlightenment belief that humanity is an inherently progressive species. The Jacobins of the French Revolution saw Utopia within reach, and were the first to believe that the world could be perfected through the use of terror; hence the introduction of the guillotine. And, if you believe in a Utopia which it is legitimate to bring about by force, you end up with a totalitarian view of the state. With the advent of the 20th century and Nazism and Communism, even science was utilised to pursue the dream of the perfect society and force it upon people. The ‘evolution’ of the species might require a scientific helping hand to produce the ubermensch. Genetic engineering waited in the wings. Meanwhile, we have George Bush and Iraq. There has been a shift in the thinking of the political Right. It used to have a realistic outlook. But now it seems to have abandoned its old belief in the imperfectability of mankind. It believes, and perhaps Francis Fukuyama’s book The End of History has something to answer for here, that the American-style society of democratic capitalism is the ultimate society to which all the world aspires and which must, therefore, be brought about. The secular monolithGray is basically pessimistic. He encourages us to put away all Utopian ideas of world peace and harmony. We need much more ‘realism’. Fundamental human needs and aspirations are not ultimately reconcilable. He attacks many movements and ideas along the way (from Christians through to Dawkins) but, in particular, he says that the secular attempt to put the world to rights by marginalising religion will not work (militant Islam, etc.) and should be abandoned. ‘If religion is a primary human need it should not be suppressed or relegated to the netherworld of private life…It is time the diversity of religions was accepted and the attempt to build a secular monolith abandoned.’ He tells us that, with the rise of China, India and Muslim lands controlling the oil, ‘the US is losing its economic primacy, and its status as “the last superpower” is bound to follow’. With the advent of radical climate change and the fast disappearance of many natural resources, if the scientific consensus is accurate, the earth may soon become very different from the earth we have known throughout history. This is bound to lead to the rise of more apocalyptic cults and movements. What to make of it?Gray, of course, treats all religions as ‘myths’. But, as a Christian, the book stirred me to reflect on a number of matters. However, I think my first concern was with accuracy. Though John Gray obviously has a mind of genius proportions, he does tend to make rather sweeping statements, especially concerning biblical truths, which leave one puzzled basically because they seem just plain wrong. Referring to his thesis that it is Christianity which has spawned Utopian thinking, there seems confusion. Of course, we believe that Christ will return and we can look forward to a better world. But where, as Gray intimates, does the Bible teach that there will ever be general moral progress in this world? Rather Paul and the Lord Jesus teach that the last days will morally be ‘terrible times’, and that there will be an increase of wickedness (2 Timothy 3.1; Matthew 24.12). And see what you make of this quote. ‘For Jesus and his disciples the new kingdom could come about only through the will of God; but God’s will was resisted by the power of evil, which they personified as Belial, or Satan….Nothing like this can be found in the Hebrew Bible. …A view of the world as a battleground between good and evil forces developed only in later Jewish apocalyptic traditions.’ Yet we meet the serpent in chapter 3 of Genesis which declares that all history can be understood in terms of enmity between the serpent and the woman and between the serpent’s offspring and hers. Although we understand that in tackling such big subjects authors have to use broad brush strokes and make generalisations, when one considers the way biblical Christianity gets distorted, one wonders what other areas get similar treatment. Jesus and the beastsTo give him his due, Gray does confess that to have aspirations for a better world need not always lead to disaster. ‘The pursuit of Utopia need not end in totalitarianism. So long as it is confined to voluntary communities it tends to be self-limiting…’ Two things occur here. First, the church does aspire to a better world. But we need to take Gray’s point and see that the church should never become a ‘state church’ or in any way coercive in society. The New Testament church was a voluntary, servant church which never looked for worldly power. At this point (please forgive me) I have to say ‘Hurrah’ for the ecclesiology of believer’s baptism, the gathered church and independency! It is surely this note which makes the kingdom of Christ so different from the kingdoms of this world. He rules our hearts by love. So as empires and kingdoms of this world appear in Daniel 7 as ruled by brute beasts threatening others, God’s kingdom is ruled in true humanity by ‘the Son of Man’. Secondly, although the book attacks Christianity, its thesis actually is an admission of the failure of secular ideologies and of other religions with their use of force to be a blessing to the world. It is evidence that Christ alone and his kingdom rule of love is the only hope of the nations. Immediate future?Even apart from environmental disaster, Gray sees America (and the West?) as in decline. He quotes the French analyst Emmanuel Todd: ‘The United States is unable to live on its own economic activity and must be subsidised to maintain its current level of consumption — at present cruising speed that subsidy amounts to $1.4 billion a day (as of April 2003)’. Will the bubble of wealth burst in the West? Is Britain about to suffer a time of difficulty and poverty? (The recent troubles over the US house market come to mind here.) Will the spiritually closed people of our nation finally be brought to acknowledge that their idol of materialism is a lie and think again about Christ? And will loving, faithful, servant-like local churches be there to care and share the gospel of God’s love? Is this the way the longed for and much prayed for revival in our land will begin? John Benton© Evangelicals Now - November 2007 |
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