Copyright: 1963

Publisher: The Westminster Press

Honest to God was a recommendation from a talented and insightful acquaintance.  When she heard that I was going through a spiritual rediscovery in my life, she immediately recommended this book.  I suspect she may have been referring to the book written by Bill Hybels by the same name but the Robinson book was a fascinating read for me!  John A T Robinson was a Bishop in the Anglican church who began to question some of the religious activities of the church.  Many of the stately and ornate traditions of the Anglican church seemed far removed from modernity and he wondered out loud if perhaps the church was stuck in traditions that had little or nothing to do with true worship of God.  Robinson's questioning of the long standing traditions of his church is where my own journey intersects with his work and at times in reading the book I felt he was writing directly for me (though for the record, the book was written well before I was even born!)

From "Up There" to "Out There"

Robinson starts his exploration of the religious question by looking at the question of "where is God?"  In the New Testament numerous references were made to God being "up in the heavens."  Of course in that day, the world was still flat and the notion of "up there" and "down there" (for the Devil) were quite convenient. 

Christianity hit a bit of a bump in the road though when we found out that the world was actually a sphere.  This made it so that God might be "up" for some of us but not for those on the other side of the world.  We cleverly got around this by referring to God as being "out there" as opposed to "here on earth."  This worked quite well because there was no way to get "out there."

Back in the 60's however we started going one step farther than Babel when we started making rockets that were quite literally capable of reaching the heavens.  At the time of Robinson's writing, the Church was facing an existential crisis because we were exploring space... and not finding God "up there."

Robinson's approach seemed (indeed seems!) blasphemous.  He posited that perhaps God wasn't any particular place in the Physical Realm.  Perhaps the idea that God exists as a separate Being simply isn't true.  Perhaps God needed to be experienced as a "depth of being" rather than as a "separate Being." 

He puts it this way: "The question of God is the question whether this depth is a reality or an illusion, not whether a Being exists beyond the bright blue sky or anywhere else.  Belief in God is a matter of 'what you take seriously without any reservation', of what for your is ultimate reality."

Robinson at times flirts with Pantheism but he always brings his conception of God back to relationships. 

"God, the unconditional, is to be found only in, with and under the conditioned relationships of this life: for he is their depth and ultimate significance."

He then points out:

"Our contention has been that God is to be met not by a 'religious' turning away from the world but in unconditional concern for 'the other' seen through to its ultimate depths,  that God is... 'The personal ground of all that we experience.'"

Grace

Robinson quotes Paul Tillich at length and I wanted to be able to find this quote again so bear with the lengthy quote:

"It happens; or it does not happen. And certainly it does not happen if we try to force it upon ourselves, just as it shall not happen so long as we think, in our self-complacency, that we have no need of it. Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!" If that happens to us, we experience grace After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed. In that moment, grace conquers sin, and reconciliation bridges the gulf of estrangement. And nothing is demanded of this experience, no religious or moral or intellectual presupposition, nothing but acceptance.

In the light of this grace we perceive the power of grace in our relation to others and to ourselves. We experience the grace of being able to look frankly into the eyes of another, the miraculous grace of reunion of life with life. We experience the grace of understanding each other's words. We understand not merely the literal meaning of the words, but also that which lies behind them, even when they are harsh or angry. For even then there is a longing to break through the walls of separation. We experience the grace of being able to accept the life of another, even if it be hostile and harmful to us, for, through grace, we know that it belongs to the same Ground to which we belong, and by which we have been accepted. We experience the grace which is able to overcome the tragic separation of the sexes, of the generations, of the nations, of the races, and even the utter strangeness between man and nature. Sometimes grace appears in all these separations to reunite us with those to whom we belong. For life belong to life.

And in the light of this grace we perceive the power of grace in our relation to ourselves. We experience moments in which we accept ourselves, because we feel that we have been accepted by that which is greater than we. If only more such moments were given to us! For it is such moments that make us love our life, that make us accept ourselves, not in our goodness and self- complacency, but in our certainty of the eternal meaning of our life. We cannot force ourselves to accept ourselves. We cannot compel anyone to accept himself. But sometimes it happens that we receive the power to say "yes" to ourselves, that peace enters into us and makes us whole, that self-hate and self-contempt disappear, and that our self is reunited with itself. Then w can say that grace has come upon us."

Christianity without Religion

Robinson does not equivocate regarding his view of modern religion.  It is out of touch with reality and is designed to make us feel better about worshiping God rather than make God feel anything regarding our worship.  He points out that worship has become a realm into which we withdraw from the world in order to "be with God."  Why though when God is right here with us? 

The real function of worship should be to focus, sharpen and deepen our response to the world in which we live.  When Jesus walked the earth He was actutely aware of the needs, physical, emotional and spiritual, of all around Him.  Why then should we strive to separate ourselves from the world in such a way as to be wholly disconnected?

The real test of worship then is how far it makes us more sensitive to Christ, not "up there" or "out there" but rather in the naked, the homeless and the prisoner. 

Legalism

In my own journey I have left behind a movement steeped in a desire to prove themselves to God through holy living.  These are good people who love God but in my estimation they are unaware of just how deep our sin nature lives within us.  The idea that I can, of my own volition, do anything that is pleasing to God is to forget His assessment of my righteousness as filthy rags. 

That said, I have wondered lately how I can best be a help to those from my past.  Robinson seemed to be speaking directly to me when he said regarding his own Anglican church, "one must have a realistic assessment of one's revolutionary capacity."  I have come to the conclusion that my past is my past and while many good people are in my past, they are wholly uninterested in my ideas or opinions.  Rather than try to revolutionize them, my time is better spent engaging in the work of Christ in my own community. 

Recently I have had some interesting discussions regarding the Sermon on the Mount and the role that Christ played in fulfilling the Old Testament Law.  Robinson addresses the Sermon on the Mount by saying that it "is not 'do this for all time' but rather 'at any moment, if you are unconditionally open to God, this will be demanded of you.'" 

At times I find myself disagreeing with Robinson's theology but his view of sin, or more specifically what many Christians regard as "sin actions" is interesting.  He argues that actions are not intrinsically right or wrong but rather a lack of love in any action is what makes it wrong.  This is a very relativistic view of morality and while I am not sure to what level I agree, I suspect he is closer than those who extract rightness or wrongness from even the punctuation of the Bible. 

Conclusion

This book was a fascinating read for me.  For anyone looking for a theology with which they agree, I doubt you will enjoy this book.  On the other hand if you are looking for a book with which you may not agree but will definitely make you think, pick up a copy of this book and dive in!