Robin Meyers is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ in the USA, a columnist, media commentator and lecturer in the philosophy department of Oklahoma City University. His progressive critique of Christian faith and the institutional Church will surprise few people who are already acquainted with other American writers such as Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, Marcus Borg and Bishop Jack Spong. Taken together, these writers and others represent a considerable influence on both sides of the Atlantic among liberal Christians and those seeking a faith and Church 'fit' for this third millennium. Meyers is an attractive wordsmith, whose 2010 book, Saving Jesus from the Church (HarperOne), immediately revealed its radical credentials through its chapter titles, such as 'Faith as Being, Not Belief', 'Jesus the Teacher, Not the Savior', 'Original Blessing, Not Original Sin', 'Religion as Relationship, Not Righteousness'. You get the drift. The Underground Church covers the ground rather more comprehensively in rehearsing again the story of how the radically subversive way of Jesus, over the centuries, became lost in the enforcing Church of orthodox belief. Meyers writes: What began as communities of radical inclusiveness, voluntary redistribution of wealth, a rejection of violence as the tool of injustice, and a joyful egalitarianism that welcomed a 'nobody' to worship elbow-toelbow with a 'somebody' devolved into a top heavy edifice defined by obligatory beliefs enforced by a hierarchy. (p. 59) Meyers desires to see the followers of Jesus, untrammelled by the accretions of church tradition and institutional baggage, set free as an underground movement to be the kind of counter-cultural, anti-imperial, diverse and inclusive community which is Meyers's idealisation of the early church. There seems to me to be little evidence of the early Christian communities coming anywhere near this ideal state of radical subversion and inclusivity, but it does provide a platform for Meyers, like many others, to inveigh against the Constantinian 'takeover' of the Jesus movement. Meyers describes Constantine's fusing of church and state as 'the moment when the drive to standardize the Christian product fundamentally transformed The Way into the Belief System - when orthopraxy was replaced with orthodoxy' (p. 66). And so the author goes on to 'reimagine' the Church in the context of North America and this is where some caution is needed by UK readership. It seems to me that his harsh criticism of mainstream American religion cannot be so easily replicated in the UK, where despite the trappings of establishment, even the Church of England bishops have no hesitation in challenging many a government programme in the light of Christian teachings. Interestingly, Meyers quotes Chrysostom as defining perfect Christianity as 'seeking the common good' - parlance familiar to those in the UK. Common to progressive commentators on religion both in the UK and in the USA is of course the desire for an authentic and trustworthy re-presentation of Christian faith, which writers such as Marcus Borg were so skilled at achieving. Meyers's book deserves to be read for this desire alone. In the epilogue, Meyers catalogues the characteristics of the 'underground church'. Many of these 'marks' would earn a sincere 'Amen' from a broad spectrum of believers - a church where children are cherished, not just in theory; a church where the mission budget is as large as the operating budget; a church where learning is not subversive and science is not the enemy of faith; and much more. Does Meyers intend to create a new Church built around the changes which he pointedly advocates in the closing pages of the book? Or more hopefully and realistically can such changes occur within existing denominations and structures? Only time will tell. Here, then, is another contribution to a growing movement of those seeking to be true to the way of Jesus and wishful for a transformation of the Church. Put simply, Meyers imagines for us a Church whose members 'share the conviction that it is more important to be loving than to be right' (p. 254). Amen to that! -- Adrian Alker * Modern Believing *
