When Faith Turns Ugly: Understanding Toxic Faith and How to Avoid It

Professor Brian Harris (BSocSc, BTh (Hons), MTh, PhD (Uni of Auckland)) is Principal of Vose Seminary, a Baptist theological college in Perth, WA. Brian has lived in both South Africa and New Zealand and has successfully been the senior pastor of three churches, each of which grew dramatically. His PhD interacts with the thought of Stanley Grenz and explores the nature and future of evangelical theology. In 2009, he commenced as senior pastor of Carey Baptist Church in conjunction with his role at Vose, giving him valuable practical pastoral insight. Brian is married to Rosemary, and has three children - Nick, Amy and Jett.

• 1 Jekyll or Hyde: More Than a Minor Dilemma 1A Perplexing Problem 1Intra- and Inter-Faith Differences 7Faith as an Opiate 10Faith as Illusion 10Faith as Poisonous 11Some Ways Forward 12On Not Defending Fundamentalism 12In Conversation with Victor Owuor 14To Ponder and Discuss 172 What about Other Religions? 18Getting Going 18When Faiths Encounter Each Other 20But the Bible Is Not Sympathetic to Other Faiths . . . 25But I Believe My Faith Is True . . . 28What about Different Versions of Our Own Faith? 31In Conversation with Lloyd Porter 32To Ponder and Discuss 353 Marx: Faith as Escapism 36Religion, the Opiate of the Masses? 36Is Worship Escapism? 37Is a Contemplative Lifestyle Escapism? 40Seven Risks to Watch Out For 42In Conversation with Travis Fitch 52To Ponder and Discuss 56viii Contents4 Freud: Faith as Illusion 57A Father Christmas Faith? 57Extrinsic, Intrinsic and Quest Religious Orientations 59The Explanatory Power of the Christian Metanarrative 62What Does This Mean? 68In Conversation with Yvonne Kilpatrick 70To Ponder and Discuss 725 Hitchens: Faith as Poisonous 74An Encouraging Story 74Attitudes to Avoid 77Systemic Risks 83Regaining the Right to Be Prophetic 86In Conversation with Deborah Hurn 87To Ponder and Discuss 906 And What About . . . ? Some Other Temptations 92A Worrying Story 92Leadership Traps 94Forgetting That People Matter 99Cultivating Burnout 102Muddled Thinking 106In Conversation with Dianne Tidball 107To Ponder and Discuss 1107 Contours for a Transforming Christian World View 111The Link between Belief and Lifestyle 111Six Common Problem Areas 112Piecing This Together 123In Conversation with Stephen O'Doherty 124To Ponder and Discuss 1298 Life-Serving Faith: Transformed Individuals 130The Big Picture 130What 'Whole in Christ' Might Look Like:An Orthopathy Filter 134Contents ixWhen Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy and OrthopathyMeet: Ten Signs 136Putting It Together 148In Conversation with Rob Furlong 149To Ponder and Discuss 1519 Life-Serving Faith: The Global Impact 152A Heartening Claim 152Snapshots from the Early Church 153Contemporary Options 159In Conversation with Phillip Nash 166To Ponder and Discuss 16810 Theology Matters: The Case for a Core Conviction 170Some Background 170Why This Topic? 171Discovering Grenz 175The Case for a Core Conviction 183In Conversation with Becky Oates 186To Ponder and Discuss 18911 A Closing Portrait: The Jesus Question 191The Jesus Question 191The 'I Am' Claims 192In Conversation with Peter Christofides 196To Ponder and Discuss 200Bibliography 201Endnotes 207