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My blog posts revolve around my interests and vocation as a historian: the intersection of history and contemporary church life, the intersection of history and contemporary politics, serendipitous discoveries in archives or on research trips, publications and research projects, upcoming conferences, and speaking engagements.
I sometimes blog for two other organizations, the Canadian Baptist Historical Society and the Centre for Post-Christendom Studies. The views expressed in these blogs represent the views of the authors, and not necessarily those of any organizations with which they are associated. |
 The comments made by President-Elect Trump about Canada becoming the 51st state may sound bizarre to some. But a quick journey back in time to the late-nineteenth century reveals that such rhetoric is not all that unique.
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 Just when does a protest become a pogrom? Increasingly the dividing line between the two has become blurred. And, if ongoing protests against Israel are any indication, Canada’s Jews face a fearful future in coming years.
Dissenting from the decisions of government is not a crime, nor should it be. Peaceful public protests are also a legitimate and necessary right in Canada, protected by law. Yet when does a legitimate protest descend into a pogrom?  Just over a year ago, my wife and I and another couple were out for a walk in Toronto and found ourselves having to escort a Jewish woman back to her office building. It was too dangerous to let her navigate her way back on her own through the large groups of people chanting for the genocide of Jews.
 Contrary to the old adage “look before you leap” is the sage advice of a friend and colleague from over twenty years ago. At that time, he was an established faculty member and I was a rookie faculty member still writing my dissertation.
One day he tracked me down and asked if I had anything I would like to publish. He was an editor of a journal tasked with finding a few more submissions, and he was doing me a favor by giving me an opportunity to get published. I was working crazy hours preparing lectures, grading papers, administering a program, not to mention writing a dissertation, being a husband and father, part-time pastoring a church, and doing home renovations. My initial response to my colleague was to decline the offer. I expected him to understand my busyness. His reaction was unexpected.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Jack-The_Taking_of_Vimy_Ridge_(CWM_19710261-0160).jpg 1917 was a critical year in the Great War. Despite the optimism surrounding the entrance of America into the war, it was a dark year for the Entente Powers; in that year Russia collapsed, France and Britain were exhausted, and Germany triumphed (in the East). In the midst of the seemingly endless carnage, Canadians continued their support for the war effort. However, on the home front tensions were boiling over as the nation debated the merits of conscription.
In the midst of all the uncertainty and unrest were the Canadian churches, which were trying to find a way forward that aided the nation's war effort, while also providing pastor care, physical and finance assistance for the needy, and hope for their congregants. What follows below are some images from a weekly Anglican periodical that provide glimpses of some of the issues through an Anglican lens. As you will see, the church took seriously its nation-building ethos, dealing with a host of issues in its pages. Of course, their discourse was shaped by early-twentieth century assumptions of race, empire, nation, religion, and so on. 1917 was a dark year, but thankfully the efforts of over 600,000 Canadian soldiers (60,000 deaths and 150,000 injured) contributed to a victory in the following year. It was a sacrifice that we remember now and into the future.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Ronald_Reagan_making_his_Berlin_Wall_speech.jpg “Nuclear war is inevitable in the next year!”
I can remember the very place and time when I heard that grim prediction of a disaster that was supposedly looming on the horizon. I was in grade eleven, driving down the road in rural Nova Scotia, listening to the radio in my 1972 blue Dodge Dart (with cool chrome rims on all 4 tires). The person who shared such a pessimistic and apocalyptic assessment was serious and strident. He was absolutely convinced that the election of US President Ronald Reagan on 20 January 1981 was the beginning of the end. Most certainly, he argued, Reagon’s heated cold war rhetoric would lead to a clash with the Soviets. And that, he concluded, would inevitably end up with a devastating nuclear exchange. And that, we all knew, would mean the end of life as we know it. I grew up in the cold war era, so I was used to hearing end times scenarios. But this seemed to be different, for it was not coming from a preacher waxing on about the book of Revelation, it was coming from a secular (and I assumed) somewhat informed political analyst. My initial (and admittedly shallow) response was disappointment, for I enjoyed my new car. At a deeper level, I drilled down into knowing about the world of great power politics. Surprisingly, the more I learned over the decades meant the less I listened to supposed “expert” talking heads (especially sycophantic party hacks). As we all know that grim pronouncement of the inevitability of nuclear war never came true. The 1980s were a time of great power tensions, but wiser heads prevailed, and we made it through to today. Which brings me to present. The election of US President Donald Trump has led to similar comments about the uniqueness of our situation, and how we are on a trajectory towards nuclear annihilation. Of course there are real threats in the world, and of course things could go wrong very quickly. But my point is that this is nothing new. My advice for those distressed over such pronouncements is to remember that this is not the first time such fear-mongering has circulated around the inauguration of a US President. Stated simply, today is not so unique. So perhaps find a car, go for a drive, and listen to a channel that is more realistic and hopeful.  This coming Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. There is a tremendous need for prayer on such matters, for there are hundreds of millions of Christians today who face various forms and degrees of persecution – some more subtle and insidious, other forms more public, violent, and horrific.
With the plight of contemporary Christians in mind, I thought it would be helpful to provide a summary of some basic details from the experience of the early church’s struggles. Hopefully it will spur on some further research into the past to think and act in a more informed manner today.  One of the best parts of my position at McMaster Divinity College is my access to the Canadian Baptist Archives – one of the largest Baptist archives in the Baptist family of churches. That said, some of my findings are sobering. One such account is that of Rev. John E. Davis, Canadian Baptist missionary to the Telugus in India. John died of leprosy that he contracted in India.
Here is a brief summary of his life as described in his autobiography entitled The Life Story of a Leper (1917).  In my recent reading of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan I discovered a brief bit of wisdom on parenting young children – especially at bedtime. I particularly found it compelling because it echoes what we tried to do with our children (my wife doing a better job of it than me).
 The temptation of every preacher is to find famous preachers and try to imitate their style. The assumption is that we can only be successful if we imitate that special someone else – in other words, who I am is not really enough so I must try to be someone else. Of course, imitation can be a positive thing. In fact, Christians are instructed to imitate those who are good and godly leaders (1 Corinthians 11:1; 3 John 11). Yet there is a danger to imitation, and that danger is trying to be like someone else to the point of not being yourself. Stated differently, the temptation is to imitate to such a degree that your own personality and giftedness is eclipsed or even lost. I recently stumbled across this quote from a famous Baptist preacher that reminds us of this danger. If there ever was a “rock star” preacher it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). He was world-renowned in his day and remains a vital role model for millions today. Yet, as the following quote indicates, Spurgeon urged preachers not to fall prey to the temptation of trying to be someone else. Interestingly, I found across these brief words of Spurgeon in an Anglican periodical. “Spurgeon quaintly characterizes great preaching, and warns against imitations in the following sentences: ‘A church with a Luther in every pulpit would be all fist; and with a Calvin to fill every pastorate she would be all skull. Blessed be God for one Robert Hall, but let the man be whipped who tries in his own person to make a second. Rowland Hill is admirable for once, but it is quite as well that the mould was broken. There is a great run just now for little Robertsons of Brighton, but there will soon be a glut in the market.’” Wise words from one who had many imitators. For the sake of the church, and for our own need to be faithful to God’s unique call upon each one of us (not us pretending to be someone else), let us heed Spurgeon on this point.
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