It may be that the author is well-intentioned and simply following a well established convention in writing fiction, but putting words in Jesus' mouth is, to say the least, in extreme bad taste. Sure, there might be a class of exceptions, for instance : "We might take the view that what Jesus meant in chapter 11 of Matthew was something like, __________." In a case like that, speculation is clearly indicated and rests upon carefully explained evidence. But this is not what Sarah Young has been doing, essentially senitmentalizing Jesus and, in the process, as much as I can tell anyway, making a mess of all relevant theology and ignoring all relevant historical scholarship. Billy ------------------------------------ NY Times A First-Person Defense of Writing in Jesus’ Voice By MARK OPPENHEIMER Published: October 25, 2013
Sarah Young may be hard to find, but her books are everywhere. Since its 2004 release, Ms. Young’s “Jesus Calling,” a collection of 365 short daily “devotionals” interlaced with Bible passages, has sold nine million copies in 26 languages. In the first half of 2013, it outsold “Fifty Shades of Grey.” She has written two follow-up devotionals, as well as tie-in books for children and teenagers and a “Jesus Calling"-themed Bible. Most impressive is that Ms. Young has become a lucrative brand while granting almost no interviews and making no author appearances. Hobbled by Lyme disease and other health problems, she mostly sticks close to home. There are almost no public photographs of her, and she will not talk by telephone. So if a reporter has questions about her work — which has caused some controversy for being written in Jesus’ first-person voice, as if he were giving new revelation to her personally — they must be e-mailed, and she will answer and defend herself. The October issue of Christianity Today, which is like the People magazine for evangelical Christians, contains a long article that seems to float _the possibility that Ms. Young’s writings are heretical_ (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/october/sarah-young-still-hears-jesus-calling.html) , and quotes several theologians who have concerns. “Critical readers want to know: Does Young really think Jesus is speaking directly to her?” writes the author, Melissa Steffan. To answer that question, we might consider an excerpt from “Jesus Calling” : “Try to imagine what I gave up when I came into your world as a baby,” Ms. Young writes, in the voice of Jesus. “I set aside My Glory so that I could identify with mankind. I accepted the limitations of infancy under the most appalling conditions — a filthy stable.” That is from the devotional for Dec. 25, Christmas. And if it is not Jesus talking — and sounding rather annoyed at us — then what in heaven’s name is going on? “I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed He was saying,” Ms. Young writes in the book’s introduction. She qualifies her project by writing, later, “The Bible is, of course, the only inerrant Word of God; my writings must be consistent with that unchanging standard.” But then she tacks back the other way: “I have written from Jesus’ point of view; that is, the first person singular (‘I,’ ‘Me,’ ‘Mine’) always refers to Christ. ‘You’ refers to you, the reader, so the perspective is that of Jesus speaking to you.” Ms. Young, who graduated from Wellesley College in 1968, is married to a Presbyterian missionary and has two children and two grandchildren. She is in the process of moving to Tennessee from Australia. When asked why she would not speak on the phone, Ms. Young wrote that her many ailments, including chronic dizziness, made it hard to predict when she could think clearly. “With a written interview I can work when I am able and rest when I need to,” she wrote in her e-mail. Kris Bearss, who edits Ms. Young’s books for the publisher Thomas Nelson, said she had met her reclusive author several times and considered her a friend. And she defended Ms. Young against heresy charges. “First of all, she doesn’t say that Jesus speaks to her,” Ms. Bearss said. “I feel like she’s tried to be pretty clear about that in her book introductions. In no way does she believe her own writing is sacred or that she has new revelations.” Ms. Young’s critics just do not understand the nuances of her project, Ms. Bearss said. “It’s one thing for a person to relay what they feel that they have learned or gained through reading Scripture and prayer, and through time with the Holy Spirit,” Ms. Bearss said. “It’s another thing for people to turn that into her saying that she is writing a new version of Scripture or that she is speaking for the Lord. That’s not the case.” In traditional Protestant theology, God’s revelation ceased after biblical times; people who claimed to have new teachings straight from God would be declaring themselves prophets. For a Presbyterian like Ms. Young, that is a no-no. But Ms. Young said she was doing something different. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
