Every year, the library at Asbury Theological Seminary, where I am completing a graduate degree in Biblical Studies, does a purge of all their books that no one has checked out for awhile and has a massive book sale. They usually start at around $2-4, then after a week go down to $0.50-2.00, then eventually they offer "grab bags" for $1.00 for as many books as you can get into a bag. Anyway, I usually find at least a few good books or journals there.
This year was no exception. There are generally two kinds of books I get excited about in such sales: ones I've always wanted to read but never gotten around to (especially when they are out of print) and ones that I've never heard of, perhaps by an author I've never heard of, which turn out to be amazing. This year, the book that best fits the latter category is Christianity and History by Herbert Butterfield, a Cambridge historian I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of.
Written in ink on the inside cover is "Leslie A. Andrews 1963." Dr. Andrews is now the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Asbury. I'm not sure when she donated this book to the library or how long it's been since anyone read it, but I'm so thankful it fell into my hands, as this will be one I plan on returning to from time to time.
Published in 1949/50, the chapters are based on a series of lectures Dr. Butterfield (who died in 1979) gave in 1948, in which he weaves between the roles of an historian reflecting on Christianity on the one hand, and a Christian reflecting on history - both historical events and the philosophy of history - on the other. Here are a few worthwhile quotes:
"History must be a matter of considerable concern to Christians in so far as religion...represents the attempt to engage oneself with the whole problem of human destiny. Its importance is enlarged if now, as in Old Testament times, it is true that the real significances and values are not to be found by focusing our attention upon man in nature, but are to be sought rather by the contemplation of man - and the ways of God with man - in history." (pp. 2-3)
"Christianity is an historical religion in a particularly technical sense that the term possesses - it presents us with religious doctrines which are at the same time historical events or historical interpretations." (p. 3)
"A civilisation may be wrecked without any spectacular crimes or criminals but by constant petty breaches of faith and minor complicities on the part of men generally considered very nice people." (p. 37)
"The more human beings are lacking in imagination, the more incapable men are of any profound kind of self-analysis, the more we shall find that their self-righteousness hardens, so that it is just the thick-skinned who are more sure of being right than anybody else." (p. 41)
"It has been said that if a lamb should die in May, before it had reproduced itself, or contributed to the development of the species, or provided a fleece for the market, still the fact that it frisked and frolicked in the spring was in one sense an end in itself, and in another sense a thing that tended to the glory of God." (p. 6)
"An historical religion [i.e. Christianity] would be precariously rooted if it did not carry with it a fervent interest in an historical Jesus. If documents were to come to light showing beyond doubt that He had red hair or walked with a limp or had a curious trick with His hand when speaking in public, not only would the student of history be interested but any Christian ought to be; for it is the characteristic of an historical religion to be rooted in earthiness and to have a vivid apprehension of material things." (p. 129)
Evidently, the book is still in print and available from Amazon. Much of Butterfield's thoughts coincide with my own thoughts on the value of studying the Historical Jesus, some of which I hope to share in the future on this blog. I'm grateful to Dr. Andrews (whom I've never met) and the Asbury library for allowing this book to fall into my hands, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the intersection of Christian Faith and History.
