Robin Meyers is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ inthe USA, a columnist, media commentator and lecturer in the philosophydepartment of Oklahoma City University. His progressive critique ofChristian faith and the institutional Church will surprise few peoplewho are already acquainted with other American writers such as BrianMcLaren, Diana Butler Bass, Marcus Borg and Bishop Jack Spong. Takentogether, 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 Jesusfrom the Church (HarperOne), immediately revealed its radical credentialsthrough its chapter titles, such as ‘Faith as Being, Not Belief’, ‘Jesus theTeacher, Not the Savior’, ‘Original Blessing, Not Original Sin’, ‘Religion asRelationship, Not Righteousness’. You get the drift.The Underground Church covers the ground rather more comprehensivelyin rehearsing again the story of how the radically subversiveway of Jesus, over the centuries, became lost in the enforcing Church oforthodox belief. Meyers writes:What began as communities of radical inclusiveness, voluntary redistributionof wealth, a rejection of violence as the tool of injustice, and ajoyful egalitarianism that welcomed a ‘nobody’ to worship elbow-toelbowwith a ‘somebody’ devolved into a top heavy edifice defined byobligatory beliefs enforced by a hierarchy. (p. 59)Meyers desires to see the followers of Jesus, untrammelled by theaccretions of church tradition and institutional baggage, set free as anunderground movement to be the kind of counter-cultural, anti-imperial,diverse and inclusive community which is Meyers’s idealisation of theearly church. There seems to me to be little evidence of the earlyChristian communities coming anywhere near this ideal state of radicalsubversion and inclusivity, but it does provide a platform for Meyers, likemany others, to inveigh against the Constantinian ‘takeover’ of the Jesusmovement. Meyers describes Constantine’s fusing of church and stateas ‘the moment when the drive to "standardize" the Christian productfundamentally transformed The Way into the Belief System – whenorthopraxy was replaced with orthodoxy’ (p. 66).And so the author goes on to ‘reimagine’ the Church in the contextof North America and this is where some caution is needed by UKreadership. It seems to me that his harsh criticism of mainstreamAmerican religion cannot be so easily replicated in the UK, where despitethe trappings of establishment, even the Church of England bishopshave no hesitation in challenging many a government programme in thelight of Christian teachings. Interestingly, Meyers quotes Chrysostom asdefining perfect Christianity as ‘seeking the common good’ – parlancefamiliar to those in the UK. Common to progressive commentators on religion both in the UKand in the USA is of course the desire for an authentic and trustworthyre-presentation of Christian faith, which writers such as Marcus Borgwere so skilled at achieving. Meyers’s book deserves to be read for thisdesire 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 childrenare cherished, not just in theory; a church where the mission budgetis as large as the operating budget; a church where learning is notsubversive and science is not the enemy of faith; and much more. DoesMeyers intend to create a new Church built around the changes which hepointedly advocates in the closing pages of the book? Or more hopefullyand realistically can such changes occur within existing denominationsand structures? Only time will tell.Here, then, is another contribution to a growing movement of thoseseeking to be true to the way of Jesus and wishful for a transformation ofthe Church. Put simply, Meyers imagines for us a Church whose members‘share the conviction that it is more important to be loving than to beright’ (p. 254). Amen to that!
