Here is a conversation with Ryan Newson that is perfect grist for this week of Lent in which we hear of Jesus throwing a temple tantrum in John 2.
Show Notes
In this conversation, Ryan Newson discusses his book The End of Civility: Christ and Prophetic Division. He explores the concept of civility and its historical development, highlighting the different theories of civility put forward by philosophers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.
Newson also examines the role of Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus in challenging the status quo and the tendency to sanitize their messages. He critiques the idea of civility as a means to maintain the existing power structures and argues for a more nuanced understanding of when civility should be heeded or ignored. Newson also addresses the issue of Christians locating their primary identity in American civil life rather than the church and the challenges of political preaching. The conversation explores the themes of love, prophetic witness, communal discernment, and the avoidance of difficult conversations. It emphasizes the importance of following the character of Jesus and engaging in patient and discerning action. The discussion also delves into the fear of disruption and the need for balance in prophetic witness. It highlights the significance of processing emotions in public and the avoidance of living contingently. The conversation concludes with a reflection on white theology and the desire for control.
Takeaways
The concept of civility has a complex history and different theories of civility have been put forward by philosophers throughout time.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus both challenged the status quo and were not always seen as paragons of civility in their time.
The appeal to civility can be used to maintain existing power structures and silence prophetic critique.
The idea of separating theology and politics is problematic, as theology inherently has political implications.
Churches should be willing to engage in dialogue and discernment, even if it challenges the status quo and makes people uncomfortable.
Balancing law and gospel is important in preaching, as it allows for both prophetic critique and the message of grace and love. Love should be grounded in the character of Jesus as revealed in the gospels.
Prophetic witness requires complexity and communal discernment.
Patience and wisdom are essential in navigating difficult conversations and avoiding reactive activism.
Balancing love and disruption is crucial in prophetic action.
About the Book:
"I have come not to bring peace, but a sword." These words of Christ echo in our current times. In recent years, a growing number of commentators have decried a lack of civility in public discourse. Considered in isolation this concern is innocent enough, but no call for civility happens in a vacuum, and there is good reason to be suspicious of civility in our current political context. Calls for civility can encourage passivity and blunt prophetic action against injustice; truly heinous policies can be pursued under the guise of civility. And yet civility should not be dismissed outright, especially as presented by its more nuanced defenders―when it is presented as a limited good in a pluralist society.
In The End of Civility, Ryan Andrew Newson analyzes the development of the concept of "civility" as we know it in modern discourse and names some of the criteria Christians can use to judge between healthy and toxic appeals to civility. The challenge, Newson contends, is discerning when civility is called for and when its pursuit becomes vicious. Pleas for civility cannot be assessed without considering the context in which they are made. Some appeals to civility merely seek to lessen conflict, even conflict necessary in the struggle for a more just world. But when issued by people struggling for justice on the margins of society, calls for civility can name the types of conflict that might lead to liberation.
One must be attentive to what counts as "civil" in the first place and who gets to make that determination. Which bodies are considered civil and "ordered," and which people are under suspicion of being "uncivil" before they ever say a word? For Christians, civility can never be an ultimate good but remains subordinate to the call to follow Christ―in particular, the Christ who is not always "civil" but who calls people to an ethic of resistance to injustice and solidarity with people who are suffering.
The End of Civility: Christ and Prophetic Division