Hermeneutics of Suspicion

"Hermeneutics of Suspicion
'Before we seek to score points against the genetic fallacies and ad hominem arguments of modern atheists, before we 'turn suspicion against the suspicious,' perhaps we ought to adopt self-suspicion 'as the hermeneutics of Lent.' We ought to consider the possibility that in our own religion, 'what presents itself as an altruistic virtue may be, in terms of motive and function, only an egoistic vice dressed up in its Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes.' (Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, referencing Westphal, 'Taking Suspicion Seriously' - Eerdmans, 1995, p. 111)

In the summer of 2009, Rob Bell hosted Poets, Prophets, Preachers, a conference on reclaiming the art of the sermon. One presenter at the event, Peter Rollins, convenes an 'iconic' collective that offers experiments in transformance art, sometimes also called theodramatic events. The collective, called Ikon, defies easy or simple definition. However, it is fair to say that what they are up to, at least in part, is to offer a radical, postmodern form of worship for those on the margins of faith and the church. To learn more about Ikon, visit http://www.ikon.org.uk or http://faithasawayoflife.typepad.com/blog/2009/02/atheism-for-lent-practicing-music-video-divina.html.

For our purposes, we consider one exercise Ikon engages in that can inform our Lenten worship preparations. They call it 'Atheism for Lent.' Each year, they read a book influenced by, or about, the prominent hermeneuts of suspicion: Feuerbach, Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche. This practice, though radical, resonates with Cornelius Plantinga's idea in Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, quoted above, and may be a fruitful approach to Lent in 2011.

Why? Because our own religion can easily become an egoistic vice dressed up in Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes, and our own people, and especially our neighbors, know this. Pastors and church leaders are not unfamiliar with the critique that the church is full of hypocrites who act one way on Sunday and another way the rest of the week. And truthfully, even the leaders of the churches - are guilty of this. So Lent, the season of repentance, begins with a reminder of our profound sin and mortality (Ash Wednesday), and walks us all the way to a cross which, if we are honest, we recognize as the place where we crucified the Son of God. It is not at all out of place, during this time, to listen to those suspicious of religion, and suspicious of the church, precisely in order to encourage and develop our own self-suspicion.

There are other ways to exercise self-suspicion during Lent. One is to recommit to the practice of confession. Encourage regular corporate confession. Encourage regular corporate confession in the assembly, but also exercise the rite of individual confession and forgiveness. Being with yourself and your leadership. Do not encourage the members of the congregation to schedule time for individual confession and forgiveness if you have not first confessed yourself. Remember also to take small steps in this, because individual confession and forgiveness is a rite that has fallen into disuse in most of our churches, and so can be intimidating in even small doses. Teach it and discuss it in small groups and with key leaders. Ask a neighboring pastor to hear your confession if you are the sole pastor in a congregation. Find a monastic community or religious order that practices individual confession and find out whether opportunity is available to learn about and make use of the confessional. Seek out a neighboring pastor also if you feel uncomfortable confessing to your own pastor. And remember that all the baptized are welcome to hear confession and speak words of forgiveness."

- from Sundays and Seasons, Augsburg Fortress, 2010.