Ben Daniel - Thoughtful Christianity: Faith and Action in the Way of Jesus

ALSO BY BEN DANIEL

FROM WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX PRESS

Neighbor: Christian Encounters with Illegal Immigration

The Search for Truth about Islam:
A Christian Pastor Separates Fact from Fiction

2015 Ben Daniel

First edition

Published by Westminster John Knox Press Louisville, Kentucky

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396. Or contact us online at www.wjkbooks.com.

Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission.

Book design by Drew Stevens

Cover design by designpointinc.com

Cover photo iStock.com/Rozaliya

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Daniel, Ben.

Thoughtful Christianity : faith and action in the way of Jesus / Ben Daniel. First edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-664-26064-4 (alk. paper)

1. Thought and thinkingReligious aspectsChristianity. 2. ChristianityPhilosophy. I. Title.

BV4598.4.D36 2015

230dc23

2015012607

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

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For Karen and Michael Moreland,
with gratitude and love

Journeys are the midwives of thought.
Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel

Contents

The title of this book, Thoughtful Christianity, connects whats written in these pages to a website with a similar name that, like Westminster John Knox Press, belongs to the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. TheThoughtfulChristian.com is an online retail space and a great resource for those of any denomination who are looking for books, Christian education curricula for all ages, study guides, and liturgical resources. When the good folks at Westminster John Knox invited me to write a book that would explore what it means to be a Thoughtful Christian, it was a profound honorand it scared me a little bit. At my ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament (what we now call a Teaching Elder) I took a vow to further the peace, unity, and purity of the Church. The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, by trusting me with their brand, has given me ample opportunity to break that particular vow. However, they also gave me the opportunity to write this book under the gentle guidance of my editor, Jessica Miller Kelley. Sometimes a coconspirator, sometimes a referee, always wise, Jessica has been great. I am grateful for the trust of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation and for Jessicas editorial excellence.

I am aware of no well-written book that sprang forth from the ether of its authors mind without the help of others. This book is no exception. Im grateful to Professor Jim Bennett of Santa Clara University who, besides being a kind and supportive friend, also introduced me to his colleague, David Pleins, a Darwin scholar who was exceptionally generous with his time and his insights as I tried to wrap my head around Darwins religious views. The Rev. Winnie Gordon of Shrewsburys Unitarian church also was generous with her time and with her knowledge of the history of Unitarianism. Im grateful to Professor John Eby of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, who has helped me understand the medieval mind and the history of the Crusades; to Dr. Cynthia Cudeback, an oceanographer who helped me think through the importance of empiricism (and who acted as a spiritual director in the process); and to Tyler Grinberg, who helped reassure me when I started to doubt the validity of some of my scientific claims. (Tyler, who teaches high school science, is married to my niece; its always good for a pastor to have a scientist in the family.)

As I wrote this book I borrowed stories from friends and relatives. Sometimes this has been outright appropriation and sometimes I have written about times when my story has intersected with theirs. I am grateful to Job and his family; to my brother Morgan Daniel; to Patrick Rickon; to my mother-in-law, Patricia Sheffey; to Christine Letcher and Julia McDonald; and to members of the Faith Trio in Oakland, California, a group I am late to join but whose Presbyterian, Reform Jewish, and Shiite Muslim members have been coming together for conversation and fellowship since the dark days following September 11, 2001.

Once, in the face of intractable writers block, I also borrowed a few paragraphs from something Id written for another publisher. In 2013 I wrote the study guide for The Jesus Fatwa, a series of videos that addresses Islamophobia in the United States. David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy of Living the Questions were kind enough to allow me to put some of what I had written for them into this book (for more information on The Jesus Fatwa and Living the Questions other fine video curricula, please visit www.livingthequestions.com).

For much of this book I drew inspiration from various travels Ive made over the years. I am particularly grateful to my brother Patrick Moreland, who joined me on a trip to Switzerland and France in the winter of 2013. In Scotland, my friends Craig Smith and Michelle Thomson-Smith welcomed me into their home and offered me incomparable hospitality and a friendship filled with laughter and a shared desire to heal a broken world. Thank you, dear friends, and saor Alba! In Scotland I also enjoyed the hospitality of the Iona Community, who welcomed me to their Abbey and gave me a place of quiet where I could write the final words of this books first draft.

I wrote this book in lots of different places, but some of the best writing happened on the shores of Monterey Bay at a beach house my friends Glenda Parmentier and Jane Wallace lent to my family during the summer of 2014. Sand that lingers in the pages of my copy of Niebuhrs Christ and Culture reminds me of the magical time we spent at Pajaro Dunes.

During the development and writing of this book I served as pastor to two congregations. In the early stages of planning the book I was the pastor of Foothill Presbyterian Church in San Jos, California, a post I held for more than sixteen years; just before I started writing the book I changed jobs and started working as the pastor of Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland. I am grateful to the sessions, congregations, and staffs of both churches for their kind and enthusiastic support. They have given me space to write and have allowed me to make creative and unorthodox use of study-leave funds to finance my travels.

My deepest thanks goes to those I love most. I am grateful to my children, Mimi, Nellie and William, who, on top of being pastors kids, also have a dad who on occasion disappears to write; and more than anything I owe a debt of love and gratitude to my wife, Anne Marie, who is my first editor, my kindest and most trustworthy critic, my staunchest supporter, and my truest friend. Everything in my life that is marked by beauty, tenderness, and joy comes as a result of the good fortune that is mine because I share my life with her.