Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire

This book proves that ten thousand words can't make a picture.

I was captivated by the central thought, then perplexed when it got lost in ramblings and even outdated feminist rhetoric. Some of the tidbits are interesting, however.

I only recommend this book to readers who have sufficient time and willpower to dig through the chaff. I did. Nothing inspirational, though.

This is one of the most original and thought-provoking books I have ever read. The research is thorough,insightful and original. It raises some enormous questions for Christian theology, with special implications for Atonement theories. So much emphasis has been put on salvation through the death of Jesus, and the greater the torture, the higher the reward. Brock and Parker invite us to a radically different viewpoint, one that clearly has historical rationale, as their research highlights. Salvation through the life-engaging praxis of Jesus (paradise)is what we need to reclaim, and in doing so Christianity is likely to come alive in a whole new way, one which hopefully will contribute to peace and reconciliation in our world, rather than the redemptive violence it has too often generated in the past.

Normally, I read an entire book before posting about it. But, I am over halfway through reading a fascinating new book, Saving Paradise -- subtitled, How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker. You need to read this book. Brock and Parker offer some of the freshest, most exciting insights into the transformation of the Christian church over the past 2,000 years.

Paradise, the authors contend, was the focus of the early church. Paradise was where humanity was created in the image of God. Paradise was the destiny of the people of God -- the land flowing with milk and honey. The psalmists wrote of paradise; and the prophets described the renewed land as paradise restored. The church was the "portal to paradise" and baptism the rite that ushered new converts back into the paradise that sin had lost.

The book overflows with first-through-fourth century historical vignettes depicting how the early church spoke of and anticipated paradise here and in eternity. One of the most fascinating chapters titled, "So Great a Cloud" describes how the early church held sacred dinners at the entrance to the burial places of Christians who had died. They placed a single lit candle in an empty chair, signifying the presence of the deceased in their midst. Based on the Hebrews 12 image of "a great cloud of witnesses" the early church believed that the dead were present with and helped those Christians still in this life. They believed that the resurrection defeated death immediately, not just in the future, and that the veil between this world and the world to come was much thinner than we believe now.

The tone of the book is positive, hopeful, and points us back to a time when the church took seriously and practically the life-giving power of the resurrection. Paradise was the narrative that gave coherence to creation, even in all its sin and short-coming. Paradise, the garden of God, is not only the goal, but the present reality of followers of Christ.

I read a lot of books, as I am sure many of you do. Most books are rehashes of old ideas, maybe with some good stories or clever twists. But, Saving Paradise presents a unique perspective, a fresh encounter with the early church. If the second half of this thick volume (over 500 pages) is as good as the first, then I'm in for a treat for the next couple of days. I'll let you know. - Amicus Dei

It is a remarkable book! The scope and depth of the authors' research for the book and the clarity and richness of their expressions are impressive. It is not easy for me, as a Christian, to face the history of Christianity, at least part of it, which has wrought so much suffering and death to the world in the name of salvation. And yet, by the end of the book, the authors convince me of the true wonder and beauty of the world we live in as God intended. Let us rejoice in it and do our part to keep it and make it even better for all God's people.

This book cannot easily fit into any one category -- it is historical, theological, artistic, biographical, and a wonderful narrative at the same time. It probes deep into the heart of a once-vibrant, subversive faith that through time has been corrupted by Empire, thus turning from Christianity into Christendom. The core problem is really sacrificial atonement and the violence associated with this theological mistake. By reclaiming paradise and eros-love for our earth and for our generation, Brock and Parker instill hope that is not delusional, but is based (ironically enough), in "traditional" Christianity.