Just Read "Schizophrenic Christianity"

Many may have read the recently released book entitled "UnChristian", by David Kinnaman which addressed how Christianity is broadly viewed by both saved and unsaved in society, with emphasis on the unsaved. Backed by studies by the Barna Group, it provided some interesting insights into what those surveyed think and it is probably fair to say its conclusions leaned in the direction of the emergent church movement. The work has not been without its critics who point out that judging the Christian message and methods by views of the unsaved is like polling PETA on how hunters could better hunt. But I thought the read was worth it if for no other reason than to have a better understanding of how the message is being interpreted. Now another book is on the scene which will probably cause no small stir in the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) community.

I don't do this often, but I preempted my current reading/writing projects and read the just released book by Jeri Massi entitled "Schizophrenic Christianity." Rather than analyzing Christianity as a whole from the outside, Massi's work looks at a specific sect from the perspective of another protestant group. In summary, she uses actual case studies of pastors accused, indicted or convicted of inappropriate sexual behavior to provide practical examples of how the IFB movement is not self policing itself to ensure those guilty are removed from their positions, and not providing for mechanisms to track these individuals as they move from church to church. She explores the patterns of behavior these individuals use to gain trust, move into positions of leadership and create for themselves environments where little or no accountability or redress for grievances exists. She explains how fundamentalism today has drifted theologically from its beginnings consistant with historic Christian belief.

Having been a part of an IFB church for many years and seen first hand the disastrous consequences of an abuse situation unfold, I found much of her research is pretty accurate as far as how she described the actions of leadership and laity both prior to and during a situation such as that. From previous course work, I understood the group dynamics involved with authoritarian leadership styles often found in the IFB movement, but I found her work provided more in depth information as to why the dynamics happened as they did.

She did a good job overall of providing opposing viewpoints for given behaviors, but in a few area her criticisms of the IFB movement are clearly impacted by her knowledge of organizational structures within her own branch of protestantism. She is now a member of a Reformed Presbyterian church, an organization with a hierarchical structure that extends beyond the local church body. As such it would clearly have processes and procedures to exert influence over a local church body that fundamental independent local churches would not have. Her contention is that a better job could still be done, and I think she is right, but as she points out in her work, it is not something that can be readily done in the current hyper-independent environment.

This work is also not without its critics who voice their opinions often at www.fundamentalforums.com (FFF), with some saying she is overly critical of the IFB movement and does not apply the same veracity to problems in other branches of protestantism. For more on these and other objections, the FFF is the place to go.

Overall, I found it to be an informative book and an easy read considering the breadth of material. Some subject matter, while tastily done, may not be appropriate for school age readers.