|
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 also 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. |
 Image from https://botanwang.com/articles/202109/〖微历史〗是谓“民主革命的伟大胜利”.html One of my Chinese friends recently sent me this image. He knew I loved hockey and thought - quite correctly - that I would enjoy the image. The caption reads "In 1929, the hockey team of Yenching University had a friendly competition with that of an American university." (The name of the other university is not identified.)
Yenching University was founded by American Presbyterian missionary Stuart Leighton, one of the most important and influential missionaries in China during the first half of the twentieth century. And it looks like the western missionary effort included the introduction of the great game of hockey. Like many Canadians, I look forward to Canada displaying its hockey prowess in the upcoming Winter Olympics. Sadly, this year we will not be able to send NHL players. But we still hope that our male and female hockey teams bring back Gold! We have read much about the readiness of the Chinese Olympic team, but, based on this picture, the Chinese have been preparing for almost 100 years.
2 Comments
 R. A. Fyfe, Photo from the Canadian Baptist Archives “Who are some heroes among the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ)”?
That was a question asked at a recent presentation I was making on the subject of Baptist history and polity. I was not happy with my weak answer, and since that time I wondered how I could redeem myself. Lo and behold, the other day I came across an image of “Baptist Heroes of Canada” and thought my moment of redemption had come!  Declining attendance. Rising disbelief. Vacant churches. Deficit spending. Lack of leaders. Harsh divisions. Loss of power. Increasing hostility. Those descriptions fit the experience of many in the post-Christendom western world. And for some, the future of the western church looks grim with no hope of returning to the glory days of the past.
I just finished my World and Writings of John Wesley course and submitted final grades. But even though I am formally done with teaching the course, I can’t stop thinking about a sermon John Wesley preached entitled “Of Former Times” based on Ecclesiastes 7:10.: “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.” (NIV) I recently found this prayer in the Observer, the United Church's bi-weekly periodical. While it is published in the 1 August 1942 issue - right in the middle of the Second World War - I think it is still a prayer that could be used today (perhaps without the King James language).   This semester I am writing a book chapter on the Canadian churches and the Second World War. As I recently scrolled through the United Church’s bi-weekly periodical entitled the Observer I found a book review for Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”).
The context for the review was the opening months of the war, with Canadians adjusting to a conflict that they had hoped to avoid. The paper’s aim was to educate its readers on current issues, and so the editor thought it important to provide a review of the book in the January 1940 issue.
On the one hand, I was not surprised with the book review being in the paper. The churches at that time had a robust vision for social and political engagement, and to carry out their mission there was a need for a well-informed membership. And to be well informed in that day meant reading Hitler’s ideology and intentions as described so vividly in Mein Kampf. On the other hand, I was surprised to see it because we live in a cancel culture today that seeks to block people from reading anything distasteful, offensive, or dastardly. And to promote a knowledge of such works seems foreign to many. For the record, I agree with the paper’s editor on the issue of "knowing your enemies." As a general principle, I prefer knowing to not knowing, even if it means being informed about something as deeply offensive as Hitler’s racist tropes and hateful plans. 
 Government responses among Western democracies to the pandemic have been a rude awakening to what the rest of the world experiences on a daily basis. Civil and human rights that were assumed and believed in the West to be protected by law were quickly denied or run roughshod over.
Lockdowns, curfews, forced closure/loss of one’s livelihood, travel restrictions, violent suppression of protests, two-tiered citizenship, limits on how many people you can have visit your house, parameters on the number of worshippers in churches, temples, or mosques, coerced injections of experimental medication, threats of loss of job if one does not follow government mandates, and aggressive censorship is certainly not the usual experience of living in a democracy. Yet that has been the case for a while now. But we should not be surprised.  On October 29th at 7:30 pm I will be delivering a public lecture on the role of Queen Victoria and General Gordon in the formation of attitudes to imperialism in general, and to the British Empire in particular.
Two of the larger-than-life figures within the British empire’s late-nineteenth century panoply of heroes were Major-General Charles George Gordon (1833-1885), often referred to as Chinese Gordon for his involvement in suppressing a rebellion in China, and Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who reigned from 1837 to her death in 1901. Upon his death General Gordon was described as “the nearest approach to that one Man, Christ Jesus, of any man that ever lived.” Vying for accolades of divinity was Queen Victoria. Upon her death it was stated “were we in the habit of deifying monarchs, we would not, in Queen Victoria, have the worst example of history for such exaltation.” Both Gordon and Queen Victoria were heroic figures in the age of empires, a period coinciding with the New Imperialism, and it is that link with empire that is the focus of this research. More specifically, what role did those two heroes play in the imagination and discourse of Baptists living in the age of empires? The focus is on Baptists within the empire – with special attention to Canada. The event is free of charge, and everyone in welcome. However, you do need to register in advance. Here is the link: https://discoverheritage.ca/afc2021/  My father recently passed away in his sleep. He was a retired Baptist minister (although he was writing a sermon the week he died - that is what "retirement" means for pastors). I was asked to provide a few words for his funeral, and what follows is part of my eulogy. "I have a book coming out this fall, and it was dedicated to him. I was looking forward to surprising him with the dedication – but obviously that was not to be. Here is what it says in the acknowledgments: 'Finally, this book is dedicated to my father, the one who not only sparked my interest in politics, but also raised me to serve God, love life, live well, and think hard.' When I wrote that a year ago I had no idea I would be writing the outline of my eulogy. Dad’s love for God was obvious – and it was rooted in a genuine life-transforming conversion as a teenager. Jesus had changed his life, and he sought to live out his faith to the best of his abilities. I am especially proud that he maintained a life of faith even after a number of hammer blows of loss and grief. That is a testimony that I hope to live up to. Dad loved life. You could not keep him from wanting to go on one more trip, one more adventure, one more walk…his desire to travel and see new things was insatiable and infectious. My own desire to keep exploring and seeing new things can be directly traced to the Sunday afternoon hikes, family vacations (some would say marathons), and beachcombing on the shores of Nova Scotia that he loved so much. Dad lived well. He was not perfect (the coffee spills as he poured back and forth was always something to behold – and when I was younger found a little embarrassing), but he sought to be a godly man in the midst of the travails and temptations of modern life. I am proud that he did not conform to the easy way – but sought the narrow road. One marked by commitment to help others at any time and in any place. And one marked by seeking to live a life of fidelity to the gospel – even if that meant being ostracized. Dad thought hard. No one reads the great German theologian Karl Barth for pleasure reading – but my dad did. And, unlike many people who read Barth, he understood him! My dad was a man of books, and I know few professors who read as widely as my father. When we were kids rarely would we go anywhere without him lugging a book or two with him. And he could be lost in a book surrounded by twenty-five people talking all around him, with his ruler and pen making those trademark perfect underlined notes. However, his desire to study was infectious. What I learned from him was that there was so much to be discovered about the world, and about God. But what is so special was that he did not take on airs and talk down to people. He would engage everyone where they were at – in a kind, passionate, humble, yet inquisitive manner. In conclusion, my dad is now gone to meet Jesus, and perhaps get some answers to questions he formulated while reading the works of so many theological giants (or, I suppose, he could ask some of those giants themselves). Yet at the same time he is not gone, for I see his influence in my life, my children, his family, and his friends who continue to serve God, love life, live well, and think hard."
|
RSS Feed
