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WORK TITLE: Disruptive Witness
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Noble, O. Alan
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.oalannoble.com
CITY: Shawnee
STATE: OK
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2018018619
Descriptive conventions:
rda
Personal name heading:
Noble, Alan, 1981-
Birth date: 1981-11-23
Found in: Disruptive witness, 2018: E-CIP t.p. (Alan Noble) data view
(b. Nov. 23, 1981 ; assistant professor of English at
Oklahoma Baptist University)
================================================================================
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PERSONAL
Born November 23, 1981; married; wife’s name Brittany; children: Eleanor, Quentin, Frances.
EDUCATION:Attended Antelope Valley College. California State University, Bakersfield, B.A., 2004, M.A., 2007; Baylor University, Ph.D., 2013.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author. Baylor University, Waco, TX, teacher of record, 2008-2014; Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, OK, assistant professor, 2014—.
Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, CA, adjunct composition professor, 2006-2008; Public Faith, co-founder, 2016; The AND Campaign, leadership council, 2016—.
RELIGION: Christian.WRITINGS
Christ and Pop Culture, managing editor, 2007-2015, editor-in-chief, 2015—. Also contributor to periodicals, including Gospel Coalition, Atlantic, Buzzfeed, First Things, VOX, Christianity Today, InTouch Magazine, Modern Reformation, South Atlantic Review, Western American Literature, and Cormac McCarthy Journal.
SIDELIGHTS
Alan Noble, also known as Dr. O. Alan Noble, works predominantly within the world of academia. He has studied at California State University, Bakersfield and Baylor University, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the first university and his doctorate at the second. Just before attending Baylor, Noble took an editing and writing position with Christ and Pop Culture, an online Christian publication; over time, he became the site’s Managing Editor, then editor-in-chief. Noble has contributed writing to numerous periodicals, including The Atlantic, Modern Reformation, BuzzFeed, and InTouch Magazine. Noble is also affiliated with The AND Campaign and Public Faith.
Noble made his debut within the publishing world with the release of Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age. On the Christian Post website, interviewer Napp Nazworth asked Noble about his intentions in creating the book. Noble explained: “It began with the question, would Francis Schaeffer’s approach to bearing witness to the faith be as effective today as it was in the 1970s, or has there been a substantial change in the way people think about meaning, purpose, and God?” He went on: “I concluded that a change had taken place, one driven primarily by two forces: secularism and technology of distraction.” In conclusion, Noble said: “Disruptive Witness is an attempt to explore what those barriers to belief are and how we should adapt our framework for bearing witness accordingly.”
Disruptive Witness serves as Noble’s analysis of Christianity and its relationship with modern culture. Noble asserts that two aspects of today’s society—secularism and numerous forms of distraction, to be specific—pose a major obstacle for the modern Christian. Noble delves into further detail on this argument, using the writings of Charles Taylor as a major basis for his research. Noble launches his argument by stating that society has become too ingrained with secular thought. Individuals have become increasingly open to each and every new idea, to the point that it disrupts their ability to form their own inferences; and social media and other forms of technology keep people perpetually engaged, yet not in any meaningful ways. Rather, the average person’s reliance on technology inhibits their ability to choose things for themselves instead of taking whatever path is most convenient. In turn, the church itself has suffered. Noble remarks that traditions and even the average service have given way to modern ideals that damage their original intents and meanings. When it comes to leadership decisions, Christian leaders are attempting to appeal too much to modern interests. In creating his arguments, Noble seeks to offer readers a solution as far as how to more effectively live and worship in the face of technological temptation. Noble sets up the book so that the first section is spent establishing his points, while the second poses suggestions for Christian readers looking to escape from the issues he illuminates. He uses his research, as well as several quotations thereof, to explain the harmful ways people use technology within the modern world and what can be done to combat these habits. A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote that Disruptive Witness “provides concrete strategies for individuals and churches desiring a robust ‘disruptive’ Christian witness in a distracted, secular age.” Jake Meador, a writer on the Mere Orthodoxy website, remarked: “Noble’s book helps us to regain our bearings and figure out where to go from here.” He continued: “We need to understand the world we live in. We also need to know how to live faithfully in it. Finally, we need to know how to commend our faith to others.” Meador concluded: “On all three of those points, Noble’s book is a great success.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Christianity Today, November, 2017, Alan Noble, “Professor’s Perspective: Why Christian Colleges Emphasize Mentorship,” p. 73.
Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2018, review of Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age, p. 91.
ONLINE
Alan Noble website, https://www.oalannoble.com (October 23, 2018), author profile.
Christian Post, https://www.christianpost.com/ (July 17, 2018), Napp Nazworth, “Sharing Christ in a Distracting and Secular Age: Author Alan Noble on Being a ‘Disruptive Witness,'” author interview.
InterVarsity Press website, https://www.ivpress.com/ (October 23, 2018), author profile.
Mere Orthodoxy, https://mereorthodoxy.com/ (September 5, 2018), Jake Meador, review of Disruptive Witness.
Oklahoma Baptist University website, https://www.okbu.edu/ (October 23, 2018), author profile.
Dr. O. Alan Noble is Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and author of numerous articles.
In his youth, Alan lived in Lancaster, CA, where he was very homeschooled by his mother. At 16, he finished high school and began attending Antelope Valley College, pursuing a certificate in music which he earned but never filled out the paperwork for, so it probably doesn't count. He did, however, meet his wife, Brittany, at AVC, which definitely counts. Alan continued his undergraduate work at the Cal State Bakersfield satellite campus at AVC, earning his degree in English. Then he earned his Master's in English at CSUB-AV, writing his thesis on Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian under the supervision of Dr. Steven Frye.
Other things Alan did while in Southern California: tutored high school felons at a probation camp; substituted at various high schools; helped produce, write, rap, engineer, and record two hip-hop albums; taught composition and literature at Antelope Valley College; went bald; got married.
In 2007, Richard Clark contacted Alan about joining a new venture he was starting called Christ and Pop Culture. That November, Alan began writing and then editing for the site. Brittany and Alan moved to Waco, TX to pursue graduate degrees at Baylor University in 2008. While at Baylor, Alan studied under Ralph Wood, David Lyle Jeffrey, Luke Ferretter, and Richard Russell. His dissertation was written under the supervision of Dr. Ferretter and was titled Manifestations of transcendence in twentieth-century American fiction : F. Scott Fitzgerald, Carson McCullers, J.D. Salinger, and Cormac McCarthy. Charles Taylor's work on secularism and the self formed the theoretical basis for the dissertation and much of Alan's later writing. While in Waco, Brittany and Alan had two children, Eleanor and Quentin, and they attended Redeemer Presbyterian Church. At nights, Alan continued to write and edit for Christ and Pop Culture, now with the title Managing Editor.
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In the fall of 2014, the Nobles moved to Shawnee, OK, where Alan accepted a position as Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University. After Richard Clark left Christ and Pop Culture for Christianity Today, Alan became editor-in-chief at the site. At this time, Alan began writing for The Atlantic, Christianity Today, and First Things, particularly on issues related to pluralism and secularism. The Nobles' third child, Frances, was born in 2015. As the 2016 election ramped up, Alan launched the group Public Faith with Michael Wear to offer an alternative evangelical political voice. He also joined The AND Campaign as an advisor.
Alan has written articles for Christian publications such as Modern Reformation, InTouch Magazine, and Christianity Today and for secular publications like VOX, Buzzfeed, and The Atlantic. He has been interviewed, quoted, or cited in a number of major publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, MTV News, MSNBC, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Politico, Village Voice, Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, The Blaze, WORLD Magazine, and Slate. And he has spoken at colleges, churches, and youth groups on a range of topics related to the church and culture.
About
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CONTACT INFO
m.me/oalannoble
https://www.oalannoble.com
MORE INFO
Affiliation
*Editor-in-Chief, Christ and Pop Culture
*Author, InterVarsity Press ('17)
*Co-founder, Public Faith,
*Assistant Professor of English, Oklahoma Baptist University
*Member, the And Campaign
About
Articles, news, events, talks, projects, and books from Dr. O. Alan Noble.
Biography
ALAN NOBLE, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the web magazine, Christ and Pop Culture. Alan's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Vox, First Things, Christianity Today, and The Gospel Coalition, and he has been quoted in MSNBC, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Politico, Yahoo! News, Washington Post, Slate, World Magazine, USA Today, Think Progress, and Mediate. InterVarsity Press is publishing his first book, tentatively titled Disruptive Witness, due 2017. He received his Ph.D. from Baylor in 2013. He and his family attend City Presbyterian in OKC.
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Author
Alan Noble (PhD, Baylor University) is assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and cofounder and editor in chief of Christ and Pop Culture. He has written for The Atlantic, Vox, BuzzFeed, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and First Things. He is also an advisor for the AND Campaign.
Sharing Christ in a Distracting and Secular Age: Author Alan Noble on Being a 'Disruptive Witness'
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By Napp Nazworth , Christian Post Reporter | Jul 17, 2018 8:04 AM
(Photo: REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich)Julia Vitora (L), 11, Barry Vitora, Sabrina McKenna, 11, and Gianni Vitora, 11, play Pokemon Go in Central Park as they enjoy the mild weather at the start of the Labor Day weekend ahead of potential storms on the east coast of the United States caused by Tropical Storm Hermine in New York, U.S., September 3, 2016.
The twin forces of secularism and distracting technologies present challenges to sharing the Gospel, Alan Noble writes in Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age.
Embracing the Gospel requires thought — reflection and meditation on our own life and how that relates to God's message in the Bible — yet, we are easily distracted from this life-giving task by a multitude of apps available on our smartphones, explains Noble, professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture.
"Humans are tremendously gifted at hypocrisy and inconsistency, but a ubiquitous, powerful stream of information and interaction driven by technology enables these gifts to flourish. And that is precisely the problem," he writes in the introduction.
Meeting this challenge is necessary, Noble writes, if the Church in the United States is to flourish.
"Failure to reassess how we bear witness to our faith in the twenty-first century, and failure to take these societal changes into account, has had and will continue to have serious effects on the life of the church and our ability to have a prophetic voice in the world. ... If these trends continue, we can expect the church to dramatically weaken in the United States as Christianity as an identity becomes increasingly intolerable," he says in the conclusion.
The book has two parts. Part one, the first three chapters, describes the problem. Part two offers ways to deal with the problem through personal habits (Chapter 4), church practices (Chapter 5), and cultural participation (Chapter 6).
In this interview with The Christian Post, Noble says the idea for the book came while thinking about popular evangelical author and speaker Francis Schaeffer. Would his approach be effective if he were alive today? He also spoke about phone apps he uses to help him deal with the challenges of modern distractions, the influence of Charles Taylor, what it means to be a disruptive witness, and saying grace in public.
Disruptive Witness was published Tuesday by Intervarsity Press. It's available on Amazon here.
Here is the full interview, conducted last week via email:
CP: Why did you want to write this book?
Expand | Collapse
Alan Noble is professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture.
Noble: It began with the question, would Francis Schaeffer's approach to bearing witness to the faith be as effective today as it was in the 1970s, or has there been a substantial change in the way people think about meaning, purpose, and God? I concluded that a change had taken place, one driven primarily by two forces: secularism and technology of distraction. Disruptive Witness is an attempt to explore what those barriers to belief are and how we should adapt our framework for bearing witness accordingly.
CP: You write that the many distractions we have today are a hindrance to sharing the Gospel. But trying to infect those distractions with the Gospel, such as "Gospel apps," isn't effective. Why is that?
Noble: It is the nature of smartphone applications to not hold our attention very long. We move from one app to another. While playing a game, a text message pops up. While answering email, a notification announces a breaking news story. Cognitively, our minds have become accustomed to conceiving of content on apps as ephemeral. But, as I say in the book, the Gospel is "cognitively taxing," which means that you need the mental space, focus, and time to internalize it in order to feel your need for Christ.
CP: In much of the book you lean upon Charles Taylor's A Secular Age. I've noticed many recent Christian authors are making use of Taylor's work. What accounts for that trend?
Expand | Collapse
(Photo: Intervarsity Press)Cover art for Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Alan Noble, July 17, 2018.
Noble: Taylor's book came out in 2007 and I encountered it working on my dissertation a few years later. It is a rich, difficult, and important work for understanding what it is like to live in a secular age and how we got here. I think the increase in Christian authors using Taylor's work recently reflects the last 11 years of Christian scholars and authors slowly digesting and interpreting his tome. Of course, James K.A. Smith's How (Not) to Be Secular did a tremendous job of making Taylor more accessible.
CP: The second half of the book is your "how to" section, how to be a disruptive witness, personally, in the church, and in the culture. You write, "The best strategy for addressing our society's condition is to offer a disruptive witness at every level of life." Give us the short version: What's a disruptive witness?
Noble: A disruptive witness creates the conditions in which our neighbor is invited to contemplate the reality of a living, loving, self-revealing God. It pushes back against the technology of distraction that allow modern people to ignore anxiety, guilt, dread, and hard life questions, and it upsets notions of Christianity as a lifestyle or personal preference.
CP: In Chapter 4 you write about something many Christians experience: that awkward feeling when saying grace while dining out and feeling like you might inconvenience your server. How is (or isn't) saying grace in public an example of disruptive witness?
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Noble: Saying grace, when not done ostentatiously, is a disruptive witness in two ways. First, you are verbally proclaiming that your meal is a provision from God — not human ingenuity, not your labor, not your wealthy, not modern farming practices, but in an ultimate sense, God's common grace is the reason you have this meal.
Such an act of prayer forms our hearts toward gratitude for God, pushing back against our default belief that whatever we have is the result of our labor, the work of other humans, or natural forces. There is someone beyond all of these. Second, it is a public proclamation.
Secularism tends to push our beliefs toward privacy. We are comfortable with people being religious so long as they don't act religious around us. Because if they do, that suggests that maybe their belief is something we ought to consider as well. Saying grace in public cultivates your gratitude to a loving God and challenges the notion that faith is individual.
CP: After I read your Chapter 1, I picked up my phone to check Facebook and Twitter. I understood the irony as I was doing it. What are some things you've worked on in your own life to keep yourself undistracted in our distracted age?
Noble: I have been telling people that I am not a guru, by which I mean that I don't have this perfected in my own life, even though I have spent a lot of time working through the ideas. And I don't know many people who do. My own bad habits helped inspire this book.
Practically, I have an app called "Moment" that monitors my app usage and time and can lock my phone for certain periods of time. In my web browser I use an extension called "WasteNoTime" that can block certain sites for certain periods. Both of these help.
My general advice is to show grace to others and yourself while encouraging one another to have healthy boundaries with technology. We shouldn't expect everyone to use smartphones in the same way or for the same amount of time, but all of us need to be reflective, honest, and disciplined. This is a long process because new technology will provide new challenges for our habits.
Dr. Alan Noble
Assistant Professor of English
Office Location Owens Hall, 201
Phone (Office) 405.585.4202
OBU Mailbox # 61307
Email alan.noble@okbu.edu
@TheAlanNoble LinkedIn Profile
The writings and opinions expressed on social media platforms are those of the authors, and may not necessarily reflect those of OBU.
Biography
Dr. Noble has been teaching composition and literature for over a decade, beginning at Antelope Valley College in his home town of Lancaster, California, and then at Baylor University. He has contributed scholarship on Cormac McCarthy and has published a book with InterVarsity Press titled, Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age.
In addition, Dr. Noble is Editor-in-Chief of the online magazine, Christ and Pop Culture; co-founder of the evangelical political organization, Public Faith; a member of the Leadership Council of the AND Campaign; and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Vox, Buzzfeed, First Things, Christianity Today, and The Gospel Coalition.
Dr. Noble has given talks on literature, popular culture, technology, secularism, and related issues at a number of colleges, churches, and organizations.
His wife, Brittany, holds a Master's Degree in Mathematics (CSUN) and Economics (Baylor). They live with three small children and attend Shawnee Pres.
Visit Dr. Noble's Website
Education
B.A., 2004, Cal State University, Bakersfield
M.A., 2007, Cal State University, Bakersfield
Ph.D., 2013, Baylor University
Dissertation: Manifestations of Transcendence in Twentieth Century American Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Carson McCullers, J.D. Salinger, and Cormac McCarthy
Courses Taught
ENGL 1153: English Composition
ENGL 1163: English Composition and Classical Literature
ENGL 2013: Western Civ I
ENGL 2023: Western Civ II
ENGL 2043: Lit of the Western World I
ENGL 2053: Lit of the Western World II
ENGL 3773: Professional Editing
Eng 4403 Transatlantic Modernism
Eng 4413 Contemporary Literature
ENGL 4633 Topics in Drama and Film: Film Noir
Publications and Presentations
Presentations:
“Editors as Stewards of Culture,” panel member, Southwest Conference on Christianity
and Literature, Tulsa, Ok. 2016.
“Making the Outer Darkness Flesh: Outer Dark as Parable.” 25th Anniversary of Blood
Meridian Conference. The Cormac McCarthy Society. San Marcos, TX. 2010.
“Discontinuity and Dialogue: The Problem of Discourse and Language in McCarthy’s
The Crossing,” South Central Modern Language Association, Baton Rouge, LA. 2009.
“A World Sublime and Horrible: An Analysis of the Imagery and Symbolism in Blood
Meridian.” American Literature Association Conference, San Francisco, CA. 2006.
Publications:
“‘It Took Me a While to Find That One’: McCarthy and the Bible.” Cormac McCarthy
in Context, edited by Steven Frye, Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming.
Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age, 2018, InterVarsity Press.
Review of Cormac McCarthy and the Writing of American Spaces by Estes, Andrew
Keller. Cormac McCarthy Journal 12.1(2014): 99-102.
“Narrative, Being, and the Dialogic Novel: The Problem of Discourse and Language in
Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing.” Western American Literature 47.3 (Fall 2012): 237-257.
“The Absurdity of Hope in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road,” South Atlantic Review 76.3
(Summer 2011): 93-109.
O. Alan Noble
Professor, Author, Speaker, Freelance Writer, Editor, Bald Advocate
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Area
Higher Education
Current
Christ and Pop Culture, Oklahoma Baptist University, Freelance Writer
Previous
Christ and Pop Culture, Baylor University, Christ and Pop Culture at Patheos, Inc.
Education
Baylor University
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Summary
My goal is to help believers better understand how to interact with culture, appreciate art, participate in politics, and live in a secular world to the glory of God.
Specialties: Teaching literature and composition, editing, administrating a web magazine, developing a vibrant social media presence, writing and speaking on issues related to culture and the Church.
Experience
Christ and Pop Culture
Editor in Chief
Christ and Pop Culture
April 2015 – Present 3 years 7 months
www.christandpopculture.com
Edit articles, manage writers and associate editors, run the new site, make decisions about content and direction of the site, write columns, develop and improve brand, manage social media presence.
I do this all at our new location: ChristandPopCulture.com
Oklahoma Baptist University
Assistant Professor
Oklahoma Baptist University
August 2014 – Present 4 years 3 months
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
August 2014 – Present 4 years 3 months
I have written articles for Vox, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, First Things, Christianity Today, and others.
My writing has been quoted or cited in:
New York Times
MTV News
MSNBC
The Guardian
DTS Magazine
National Post
Newsweek
Buzzfeed
Village Voice
Haaretz
Politico
Yahoo News
Think Progress
NPR
Washington Post
The Blaze
The Stream
The Atlantic
Christian Post
Raw Story
Newsmax
DailyKos
The Tennessean
Kansas City Star
National Catholic Reporter
World Magazine
Inlander
Nooga
Huffington Post
Slate
Business Insider
USA Today
Mediate
Hermeneutics
Deseret News
World Religion News
Religious Dispatches
Baptist News
Baptist Press
Religious News Service
PJMedia
Facts and Trends Magazine
InTouch Magazine
Ethics Daily
The Pulse 2016
Think Christian
Providence Journal
Concordia Journal
Church Leaders
IRD
Journal of American Studies
CBN News
Christ and Pop Culture
Managing Editor
Christ and Pop Culture
November 2007 – March 2015 7 years 5 months
Waco, Texas Area
Edit articles, manage writers and associate editors, run the new site, make decisions about content and direction of the site, write columns, develop and improve brand, manage social media presence.
I do this all at our new location: ChristandPopCulture.com
I also am the Managing Editor of our iOS App, Christ and Pop Culture Magazine, with 29th Street Publishing.
Baylor University
Teacher of Record
Baylor University
August 2008 – May 2014 5 years 10 months
Waco, TX
English 1302: Thinking, Reading, and Writing,
English 1304: Thinking, Writing, and Research
English 2304: American Literature
Christ and Pop Culture at Patheos, Inc.
Managing Editor
Christ and Pop Culture at Patheos, Inc.
November 2007 – February 2014 6 years 4 months
Edit articles, manage writers and associate editors, run the site, make decisions about content and direction of the site, write columns, develop and improve brand, manage social media presence.
I also am the managing editor of our iOS App, Christ and Pop Culture Magazine, with 29th Street Publishing.
Antelope Valley College
Adjunct Composition Instructor
Antelope Valley College
June 2006 – August 2008 2 years 3 months
Lancaster, CA
Eng 099 Intermediate Composition
Eng 101 Freshman Composition
Eng 102 Freshman Composition II, Introduction to Literature
Education
Baylor University
Baylor University
Ph.d, English
2008 – 2013
Activities and Societies: Contemporary American Literature, Cormac McCarthy, Literary Aesthetics, Literary Theory, Christian Aesthetics
California State University, Bakersfield
California State University, Bakersfield
MA, English
2002 – 2007
Volunteer Experience & Causes
Leadership Council
The AND Campaign
August 2016 – Present 2 years 3 monthsPolitics
Co-Founder
Public Faith
August 2016Politics
Co-founded Public Faith with Michael Wear. The project is currently being worked on by Wear.
Causes O. Alan cares about:
Arts and Culture
Civil Rights and Social Action
Economic Empowerment
Education
Human Rights
Politics
Social Services
Skills & Endorsements
Join LinkedIn to see O. Alan’s skills, endorsements, and full profile
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Languages
Spanish
German
English, Old (ca.450-1100)
Projects
Christ and Pop Culture Magazine
Starting April 2013
Every other week, Christ and Pop Culture delivers six or seven pieces that will help you identify crucial trends, events, and cultural artifacts and examine them purposefully. Every issue will feature two in-depth features, a handful of shorter articles, and recommendations of movies, music, games, and other cultural items that interest us.
Team members:
O. Alan Noble, Richard Clark
Publications
Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age
InterVarsity Press
July 2018
We live in a distracted, secular age.
These two trends define life in Western society today. We are increasingly addicted to habits―and devices―that distract and "buffer" us from substantive reflection and deep engagement with the world. And we live in what Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor calls "a secular age"―an age in which all beliefs are equally viable and real transcendence is less and less plausible. Drawing on Taylor's work, Alan Noble describes how these realities shape our thinking and affect our daily lives. Too often Christians have acquiesced to these trends, and the result has been a church that struggles to disrupt the ingrained patterns of people's lives. But the gospel of Jesus is inherently disruptive: like a plow, it breaks up the hardened surface to expose the fertile earth below. In this book Noble lays out individual, ecclesial, and cultural practices that disrupt our society's deep-rooted assumptions and point beyond them to the transcendent grace and beauty of Jesus. Disruptive Witness casts a new vision for the evangelical imagination, calling us away from abstraction and cliché to a more faithful embodiment of the gospel for our day.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
I'LL WRITE TIL I'M RIGHT WITH GOD
First Things
August 2015
A longform feature on the subversive genius of Kendrick Lamar.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
Original Sin is Problematic
First Things
January 2015
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
Why Evangelicals Are Wary of the Government
The Atlantic
November 2014
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
The Evangelical Persecution Complex
The Atlantic
August 2014
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
Is Evangelical Morality Still Acceptable in America?
The Atlantic
July 2014
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
The Knockout Game Myth and its Racist Roots
Christ and Pop Culture
November 2013
A critical analysis of news coverage and commentary on the "knockout game" "trend" and its history. Quoted, cited, or linked to by Slate, Business Insider, The Sidney Hillman Foundation, Inlander, Philadelphia City Paper, CBS St. Louis, and USA Today.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
Becoming a Slave Again to Edifying Habits
Christ and Pop Culture Magazine
May 2013
Evangelicals are beginning to care less about discerning good cultural objects and care more about discerning good cultural practices. But is this trend, despite its signaling a cultural maturation, still susceptible to legalism?
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
The Coming Class Crisis: Why the US Church Should Invest in Early Childhood Education
Christ and Pop Culture Magazine, Issue 4
2013
By investing in and running early childhood intervention programs with in-home visits, the Church in the United States could dramatically affect some of the most crippling problems facing our country while simultaneously fulfilling our duty to care for the poor and needy and to share the Gospel. And we could do all this by working to promote traditionally conservative and Christian ideals.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
Narrative, Being, and the Dialogic Novel: The Problem of Discourse and Language in Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing
Western American Literature 47.3
October 2012
Two defining features of Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing are the vatic speeches given by characters with very different worldviews and cultures and the polyphonic narrative. A challenge of this novel is how to relate these features. According to Mikhail Bakhtin, a truly polyphonic novel allows for “diversity of social speech types,” but many of the most significant speeches in The Crossing share the same voice: the vatic style identified with the narrator. This paper explores how the repeated intrusion of the narrator’s voice upon the speeches of various characters affects a Bakhtinian reading of The Crossing. Specifically, it argues that these intrusions, which alter the words and therefore the worldviews of the characters, represent the narrator’s voice entering into the discourse of the novel on being and narrative. Thus, the narrator stifles the heteroglossia of the language of certain characters even as he contributes to the novel’s dialogic nature.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
The Third Policeman in The Third Policeman: A Question of Titles in Flann O’Brien’s Novel
ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews 25.4
2012
One of the most perplexing characters in Flann O’Brien’s strange and nonsensical novel The Third Policeman is the titular character, Policeman Fox. Given that Fox seems to play a very minor role in the novel, it is odd that O’Brien would title his novel after the policeman. This essay argues that Fox is the titular character because of his central role in the resolution of the novel’s main conflicts. First it establishes that one of the main conflicts in the text is the narrator’s lack of remorse or punishment over Mathers’s death. Then, it shows how Fox is instrumental in guiding the narrator to an inchoate acknowledgment of his crime, revealing the location of the blackbox, and initiating the eternal cycle of punishment.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
The Absurdity of Hope in Cormac McCarthy's The Road
South Atlantic Review. 76.3.
August 2011
At the heart of McCarthy's novel resides a tremendous interpretive challenge: how can we reconcile the ending, which is hopeful about the future, with the fatalism that dominates the text? This paper explores how Søren Kierkegaard's treatment of Abraham and Isaac, found in his work, Fear and Trembling, can help elucidate the tension between hope and nihilism in The Road. Based on a note referring to Kierkegaard found in an early draft of McCarthy’s novel, this paper argues that the father in The Road displays an absurd faith in goodness and the future which can be best explained in relation to Kierkegaard's depiction of Abraham’s faith in Fear and Trembling.
Authors:
O. Alan Noble
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Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age
Publishers Weekly. 265.22 (May 28, 2018): p91+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age
Alan Noble. InterVarsity, $16 trade paper (192p) ISBN 978-0-8308-4483-8
Noble, editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture, offers thoughtful insights into practices and ideologies that have become cultural barriers for Christians. Noble identifies two major trends that interfere with Christian spiritual formation: constant distraction (exacerbated by technology's endless elevation of immediate gratification), and the growth of secularism. Drawing on Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor's work, Noble unpacks the experience of living in a secular age in which social media invites "superficial but constant engagement" and being "open-minded, refusing to draw conclusions" has become a virtue. Following an incisive critique of evangelical worship services that feel more like concerts and TED Talks than sacred events, Noble recommends that churches reclaim practices of "embodied worship" (singing, praying, communal silence) and encourages individuals to live aesthetically, which "defies pragmatism and utilitarianism," and engage in contemplative practices such as keeping the sabbath, "an act of spiritual defiance" against the notion that one "must always be working or self-improving." Through these practices Christians will be able to find "manifestations of God's goodness" and experiences of transcendence that many have become insulated from over time. This accessible, timely book provides concrete strategies for individuals and churches desiring a robust "disruptive" Christian witness in a distracted, secular age. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 91+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638866/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a64377d9. Accessed 1 Oct. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541638866
Professor's Perspective: Why Christian Colleges Emphasize Mentorship
Alan Noble
Christianity Today. 61.9 (Nov. 2017): p73+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Christianity Today, Inc.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/
Full Text:
THE BEST PART OF MY JOB AS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT OKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY IS HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO MENTOR AND LOVE STUDENTS DURING ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT AND EXCITING TRANSITIONS OF THEIR LIVES.
Christian colleges and universities are not unique in offering professor-student mentorship, but with their typically smaller class sizes, their close spiritual communities, and their integration of faith and learning, such mentorship takes on a unique character. The professor-student relationship at a Christian college or university differs from other relationships the student is likely to have had before. Professors are not pastors, but they are spiritual elders who seek to care for younger brothers and sisters in the faith. Professors are not high school teachers, so they interact with students directly, not through school administration. Professors are not employers, but they do evaluate students based on their work. Professors are not the students' parents, but they should love them and be concerned for their well-being. Professors are not peers with students, but they often engage with students in more casual settings outside the classroom.
A professor-student relationship can last one semester or four years, but in many cases, it continues long after the student graduates. And since a college is a community, it is common for students to see a professor several times a week for many semesters. I and my colleagues at various Christian colleges regularly interact with our students outside of class in a number of settings: trips to academic conferences, missions trips, study-abroad trips, dinners on campus, dinners in the professors' homes, game or movie nights, book clubs, social media interactions, intramural sports, Bible studies, and babysitting. Obviously not all students or professors elect to be so involved in the campus community, but a great many do.
These unique mentoring relationships are one of the greatest benefits of Christian higher education. They provide a special time for the cultivation of relationships just as students are entering the awkward and challenging first years of adulthood. When students think of higher education as something more than career training or credentialing, they have the opportunity to grow as whole persons through mentorship. are small, so they need some students to drop. In such an environment, teachers and students can easily fall into a hostile relationship.
I tell this story to each of my first-year composition classes to let them know what kind of teacher I will not be. My desire is for them to be successful, not just to
The Sacred Privilege of Mentorship
My own student experience taught me how relationships with professors can be formative. On the first day of the remedial English composition course I had to take at a community college, the instructor said something that would help determine my future as a professor: "My goal is to get as many of you to fail as possible." Not one to be daunted, I immediately rose to the occasion and dropped the class.
The story ends well. The next remedial English composition course I took was taught by an inspiring instructor who would go on to become a mentor and colleague when I returned to teach at the school. But my first instructor's words stuck with me. They represented a terrible economic reality of schools that rely heavily on adjunct teachers: to make a living, many adjuncts have to teach multiple classes at multiple schools. This is only humanly possible if class sizes pass the class or earn a good grade, but to master the course content and grow as people.
I try to remind myself that this is a privilege, a sacred privilege--I have an opportunity to mentor young Christians at a challenging time in their lives. Speaking of leaders in the church, James said that not many should become teachers, "because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 3:1). And although James did not have professors in mind, his warning is generally applicable. It is no trivial thing to teach and mentor young people. The model of faith professors offer can have a profound effect on how students conceive of themselves, their futures, and Christianity.
The Multifaceted Nature of Mentorship
Naturally, most mentoring in college focuses on education. In my subject, students take advantage of the office hours to improve their writing, better understand a text, or get help with research. The emphasis on low teacher-student ratios in Christian higher education means teachers tend to have more time to hold office hours, and it is during this time students get the personalized teaching that can help them excel. As a professor, office hours help me better understand the challenges my students have and how I can adjust my classroom teaching to serve their needs.
But meetings about classwork are not merely opportunities for individual tutoring; they also enable professors to show students how to think about the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom as Christians. In private conversation with students, I can model for students how to delight in learning, how to pursue knowledge with integrity, and how a subject or skill is relevant to other aspects of life. So, even when students come in for help with an assignment, they are being mentored as Christian thinkers.
During these meetings, professors can ask students about their well-being, because when a student is struggling in class, the cause is often some conflict outside of the classroom. When students come to see me, I try to ask them how they are doing and not settle for a generic "good" or "fine." Of course, some students choose not to share their burdens with me, but for those who are willing to share, I want to be available and sympathetic because life is hard.
For instance, making the transition from living at home to living on their own is daunting. There are new, unexpected challenges, from setting their own bedtime to making a doctor's appointment. But college is also a time when people tend to reflect back on their lives. Away from home, doubts about their faith, memories of abuse, and questions of meaning can come up. Grandparents pass away, parents divorce, and the weight of adulthood hits. All of this may happen while the students are far from their support system. As their professor, I want students to feel that I am available to be a part of a new support system. Sometimes this means simply listening sympathetically and offering to pray for the student, or it can involve giving advice or recommending other professionals who can help.
The Purpose of Mentorship
When students come to me needing support, my primary job is to communicate Christ's love for them. This is part of the burden and privilege of Christian higher education. I have a job that allows me to mentor students and explicitly communicate the gospel to them. One way I share the gospel is by reorienting the way students conceive of grades. The pressure to achieve good grades, please parents, and earn scholarships can incline students to attach their self-worth to their GPA. I know because I was that student. And once you begin to think of your value in relation to your GPA, any threat to your GPA becomes an existential threat.
While some people like to write off millennials as lazy, my experience teaching millennials tells me that many of them have the opposite problem: they make an idol out of achievement and beat themselves up when they fail to meet their own expectations. As a believer and an academic, I make it a point to remind my students that their worth is found in Christ, that they are not their grades. Perhaps this sounds like a little thing, but in a culture that promotes individual success as the "Good Life," pushing back against that ideology with the gospel is important.
Other times, students need to hear tough words from a non-parental authority figure. The social distractions in college can sink some students. There's always another event to attend, club to join, organization to volunteer for, or friend to hang out with. It can be hard to balance school and a social life. For other students, the problem is not distraction but desire. For various reasons, they are apathetic about school. In these situations, my close relationships with students can allow me to speak tough words in love, to remind them that they can do better work, that they have greater potential, and that pursuing excellence in everything we put our hands to glorifies God.
The Benefits of Mentorship
According to Dr. Hunter Baker, associate professor of political science at Union University, some students have the desire for achievement but simply lack direction or opportunity: "While I have mentored students in areas like self-esteem or the lordship of Christ in terms of how they spend their time or their money, the biggest opportunity 1 find myself having is in the area of intellectual achievement. Because I'm a Christian professor who writes, speaks, and interacts with organizations such as think tanks and advocacy organizations, I find that I am able to help students with those kind of ambitions to get started professionally or find productive ways to spend their summers."
Sometimes professors can mentor students simply by being faithful Christians and allowing students to get to know them. In general, humans are limited by their imaginations. If we can't imagine reaching a goal, then we cannot take steps toward that goal. And when students cannot imagine someone like them being successful in school or life, it is hard for them to have the confidence to try. This is one reason why faculty diversity is so important. Students need to see that people like them can be successful Christian academics--that the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge is not constrained by race, sex, age, class, mental health, disability, or any other quality. I try to help students see this by being honest about my own struggles with anxiety and sharing my academic story, which began in that remedial English class in a community college.
Since many students meet their spouse (or try to meet a spouse) at a Christian college, part of mentoring involves encouraging healthy relationships. It has been important to talk to my students about marriage and parenting, not to present myself as a model husband and father but to show that both marriage and parenting are hard and yet beautiful. Students come from all kinds of backgrounds. Some have unreasonably high expectations of romance and families, while others are from broken homes and are cynical about the prospect of having a healthy marriage. Still others need to see what it looks like to be a faithful single Christian. A good friend of mine, who is now a professor at a Christian university, was deeply encouraged as a student by having a single female professor mentor her. This professor modeled for my friend what being a good Christian scholar and a single woman looked like. In my life, I have benefited tremendously from getting to know professors who were accomplished scholars and good fathers and husbands.
Another major way that professors can mentor students is by celebrating good scholarship. Unfortunately, for a number of historical and sociological reasons, Christians, especially evangelicals, continue to be perceived by the wider culture as anti-intellectual, arrogant, backward, and irrational. And at times, evangelicals have actually supported this stereotype by viewing education as an evil influence or a waste of time. Students may struggle to imagine being an intellectual or pursuing knowledge and being a Christian. It is important that my students see that my faith is clearly not secondary to my scholarly work; it shapes how I understand the human effort to explain the world through literature. Nor do I shy away from tough criticisms of Christianity. In my own life, the existence of great Christian thinkers has been an anchor, a reminder that my faith is not in conflict with the pursuit of knowledge. And I hope to continue that tradition for my students. Because the truth is that the church has always been filled with great thinkers. When we forget this, we lose our great history.
As students progress in their degree programs, my role as mentor shifts toward career advice. Having spent years getting to know a student, I am able to give personalized advice that takes into account his or her strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Agraduate of Wheaton College, Martyn Jones, told me how his mentor Dr. Mark Talbot took the time to give him specific career advice: "Late in the spring of my graduation year, he met with me and my parents and offered an assessment of my talents and potential that I continue to find useful when thinking about where and how to spend my time and energy. He also recommended pursuing opportunities for public writing and thinking, and suggested that I might be better suited to writing for an audience than doing isolated research."
Sometimes career advice looks like continually pressing students to apply for certain internships or jobs; other times I use my relationships outside of the school to get the student opportunities to improve their resume. I make a point to talk to students about why they are pursuing their career and ask them questions about how that career will fit their skills, glorify God, provide for them financially, and help their community. My hope is that each student goes on to flourish, honoring God, loving his neighbor, and exercising his abilities. Taking the time to mentor students allows me to have these conversations.
Even after students graduate, it is common for professors to remain available to them for further advice or recommendations. Chelsea Willis found this to be true of her experience as a student at Spring Arbor University. She was mentored by Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro and says, "Even three years after graduating, he still invites graduates from my class to campus events (readings, author visits, etc.) and has made it clear that he is interested in being involved in his former students' lives." There is something special about the relationship between a professor and student after the student has graduated. Dr. Jennifer Walsh, dean and professor of political science at Azusa Pacific University, describes it this way: "Ultimately, the benefit of this kind of comprehensive mentoring is that the faculty-student relationship is one that is lifelong. I have followed my students through the ups and downs of graduate school, first jobs, mid-career changes, and personal joys and sorrows that happen along the way. The best reward is to see the 'memorial stones' that they collect that testify to God's faithfulness in their lives, too."
All of this mentorship is based on trust in the propriety and integrity of professors, which is why many Christian colleges and universities require professors to live consistent with biblical ethics. In the hiring process, schools look for academics who have a good reputation and are members in good standing in a local church. These rules help to ensure that professors cultivate healthy relationships with their students. In addition, some simple practices are used to set good boundaries, things like keeping the door open when meeting with a student and communicating with students via email rather than text messages. What this does is show students how to interact professionally with other adults. Modeling for students what healthy adult relationships look like is important, particularly in a culture that sexualizes relationships and objectifies women. The professor-student relationship is an opportunity to demonstrate the brotherly and sisterly love in Christ we are all called to.
The vision of mentorship in Christian higher education conveys the variety of experiences I have had or witnessed; it is not meant to imply that every student will experience something similar. Some students have no interest or time for building a relationship with a professor. Not all professors have the time or interpersonal skills to be good mentors. But for those students who desire a personal, relational, spiritual education, I am grateful that Christian colleges and universities can provide the space, time, and structure for such mentoring.
BY ALAN NOBLE
ALAN NOBLE is an assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, the Editor-in-Chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and author of Disruptive Witness (2018, IVP).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Noble, Alan. "Professor's Perspective: Why Christian Colleges Emphasize Mentorship." Christianity Today, Nov. 2017, p. 73+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515126119/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f14a04e3. Accessed 1 Oct. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515126119
Book Review: Disruptive Witness by Alan Noble
Jake Meador on September 5, 2018
To be a faithful evangelical in 2018 is to find yourself in a difficult, frustrating position. The two defining sub-groups in the American Protestant church since 1980 have been the religious right and the seeker-sensitive church growth movement. Their primary leaders were Jerry Falwell and Bill Hybels. Falwell is now deceased, succeeded by a son, Jerry Jr., who has been happily lighting incense to Donald Trump these past two years. Hybels, meanwhile, has been disgraced in the aftermath of many credible accusations of sexual abuse happening over a 25 year period.
Some evangelicals, desirous of a faith more serious and counter-cultural than that of either of the above movements, might look toward Rome. Yet to do that is simply to plunge yourself into another morass, one that seems to run even deeper and darker than ours–though whether that is because it really is darker or simply because our own worst secrets are yet to come to light remains an open (and frightening) question.
That said, the problem is not simply that the American church seems to be currently reckoning with the cost of decades of systemic failures and infidelity within the church. The surrounding world has not simply stopped to gawk at us as we stumble about like a drunk on an especially bad bender. It has, rather, continued going about its business, progressing down the path it was always likely to go down, given the way the post-war settlement in the western world played out.1
The sad result is that the American church now essentially finds itself hungover and utterly unprepared for the vastly changed world that now greets it. In such a context, the church needs maps to help orient them to the world as it is and to guide their response to that world. Alan Noble’s new book Disruptive Witness is one of the best maps I have so far encountered. The book’s virtues are many but I want to focus on two in particular.
The Fusion of Distraction and Secularism
One of the refrains that pops up throughout the book is that we live in a world that is both distracted and secular. The combination is important. It is not simply that we live in a world full of choices where Christian fidelity appears to us as simply one lifestyle option of many and often one of the less plausible ones. That’s true, but Noble does not stop there in his analysis. It’s that the nature of our world and particularly our technology leaves us radically unequipped to make make reasonable sound choices when presented with that variety of options.
By fusing a Neil Postman-style critique of visual and internet technology, both of which basically assume the distractibility of their users as a normal part of the experience of using the technology,2 with the increasingly familiar gloss on the work of Charles Taylor, Noble does a better job than anyone else I have read of capturing the feel of our age, viewed from a Christian angle.
Part of the triumph is in the fact that Noble’s own work implicitly offers to us an alternative to distraction and the ephemeral. He models how to patiently consider the way we use our technology and then walks the reader through careful readings of a number of key texts and authors, deftly moving between novelists like Cormac McCarthy and philosophers like Taylor. His treatment of Taylor is especially satisfying as he somehow offers an overview of the man’s work which seems both more complete and helpful than any similar reviews of his work that I have seen.3
What was particularly helpful is the discussion of Taylor’s work in the book’s final chapter in which Noble explains the ways in which Taylor thinks the “imminent frame” can be punctured or temporarily seen through, you might say. To lay my cards on the table a bit, I’ve not read as much Taylor as I’d like, but that is partly because from the things I have read about him I tended to think this critique at First Things is mostly correct. Certainly it fit well enough with other things I had read about Taylor. But in chapter six Noble had me thinking I need to take the time to read Taylor more slowly and carefully—if Noble’s presentation of him is accurate, then some of Rose’s critique in that linked piece are not reckoning with the fullness of Taylor’s work.
Against Fighting Fire with Fire
The other strong point is the second half of the book in which Noble offers ideas as to how Christians can live as disruptive witnesses in a distracted, secular world. I’ve seen some readers note that the first half feels stronger than the second, but that was not my experience. I actually think the second half is the most valuable part of the book. One of the unique challenges for Christians after the Religious Right, after the attractional movement, and after the mass discrediting of Rome is that we think the thing which we take up as an alternative should have the same sort of grand ambitions and structure as the things which have necessarily been set aside.
What both the religious right and the attractional movements offered us was a way of surveying a battlefield, spotting a hill, and enthusiastically mobilizing to take the hill. Yet many older Christians would say that even that basic approach is actually part of the problem. The answer according to these writers is found in simply taking up the ordinary disciplines of Christian piety, choosing to follow Christ in your ordinary life–even when it seems to demand of you quite unusual things–and trusting that God is at work in that and through that.
You can see this in literature, of course. If you read The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s heroes repeatedly consider whether or not the ring of power (a name not idly chosen) can be wielded to defeat Sauron. The verdict they come to every time is that to take up Sauron’s ring is to become like Sauron. The enemy and the enemy’s weapon cannot be understood apart from one another.
So it is, I think with the world we live in today. To chase political power as understood by the dominant parties is, I fear, to necessarily be compromised.4 Similarly, to chase a life of suburban affluence and respectability, as it seems to me the megachurch model eventually ends up doing is, likewise, to give in to the very idols that the prophets frequently warn us against in Scripture.
So many of the proposals that evangelicals have landed on in recent decades amount to answering one large-scale social program with a different one that, we promise!, has better content. (Narrator: It doesn’t.) But if that is not how we should respond, what is to be done? The answer I see more and more young evangelicals rallying to is that we must recover the ordinary practices of daily Christian fidelity. Noble’s work is focused on how simple liturgical practices in the church and social practices in our neighborhoods and communities can become disruptive witnesses that challenge the status quo not by fighting against it on its own terms and, perhaps, “winning” but rather by modeling an entirely different way of living.
The reason Sauron loses is not because he is defeated in a battle he understands; it is because his enemies answer his hostilities with what is an altogether unimaginable response. In a world of spectacle and distraction and life-as-theatre, we would do well to find our own version of that answer, an answer that the world regards not as competition, but that it does not regard at all because it cannot even fathom such a thing. Noble makes much of simple practices, like praying before meals in restaurants, singing in four-part harmony in church, and passing the peace between congregants. To his list we might add a number of other small, ordinary gestures. Noble’s point, it seems to me, is that these ordinary practices that many of us are already doing are themselves the disruptive witness. There is not another program, another scheme, another strategy. The people of God actually behaving as if they are the people of God is the strategy.
What about the antithesis?
Both Noble and I are admirers of Francis Schaeffer. Schaeffer’s name shows up in the acknowledgments of Noble’s book and if you know the weeping missionary’s work well you will see his influence in many parts of Noble’s book, particularly the final chapter. For that reason, one note that I did find odd about Noble’s book is that it largely neglects one of the chief themes in Schaeffer’s work, which is what Schaeffer called The Antithesis.
For Schaeffer, the Christian is not simply a member of the world alongside everyone else–an equal participant in the imminent frame, if we want to use Taylor’s framing. He is that in one sense, of course. But in another the Christian stands apart from the world and calls the world to repentance and to following Christ. Schaeffer sees the world after the fall of man as existing in a state of spiritual warfare between those who love God and those who hate him, those who submit their lives to him and those who attempt to embrace an autonomous human existence, self-defined and self-made.
The response this calls forth from Schaeffer is two-fold: First, it calls the Christian to compassion, to weep for the world. He was fond of saying that if he had an hour to share the gospel with a person he would spend 55 minutes listening, so that he could understand the person’s position relative to God and then relate the Gospel to them in an empathetic, sensible way that would make sense to that person, given where they stood at that moment. But second, it calls forth anger. Schaeffer makes this point in his sermon on the resurrection of Lazarus, noting that the Greek word used in John 11:35 (“Jesus wept”) does not simply denote sadness, but also anger. Jesus is not simply grieved by sin; he is angry about it.
If there is a dissonant note in Noble’s book, it is that I think the idea of antithesis and the various consequences that flow from it–which fit marvelously with his thesis–are largely neglected, such that the Christian’s position relative to the distracted, secular world looks less like a conflict with actual human entities and more like a negotiation of challenges presented by impersonal machines and forces. But part of existing as an alien in the world is living with an awareness of irresolvable conflict.
It is possible that the source of this criticism is that Noble and I have different assessments of our moment. Using Aaron Renn’s helpful idea of cultures having “positive,” “neutral,” or “negative,” relationships to Christianity, it is possible that Noble still sees our era as being neutral but tilting toward negative whereas I am more inclined to see it as being pervasively negative and having been that way for some time.
Much of your rhetorical approach to questions of evangelism, apologetics, and Christian fidelity will be shaped by what kind of world you think we’re living in. If you’re a neutral world-er, then you have good reasons to play down the antithesis because it creates an unnecessarily missiological barrier for your audience. In such a context, I think the case for a rhetorical posture like Noble’s is very strong.
On the other hand, if you’re a negative world person, you would want to play up the antithesis as a way of making sense of what you’re seeing and encouraging the faithful to see the conflicts they are living in as being normal and not a cause for alarm or a reason to cede ground.
Of course, the practices of Christian piety do not change when one moves from a neutral to a negative world. Nature is still what it was before. Christian virtues, the sacraments, the Gospel… none of these things change. And so in terms of offering positive prescriptive habits of disruption, you can find Noble’s prescriptive ideas enormously helpful (as I do) even if you also wish that the theme of conflict showed up a bit more.
Conclusion
We need good maps. Such maps are especially necessary today at a time when evangelical Christianity has, for so long, been defined by an ungodly chasing after power and respectability. We are not simply confronted with a world that is disorienting; we ourselves have also forgotten our rightful starting place beneath the cross of a crucified lord whose kingdom is not of this world.
Noble’s book helps us to regain our bearings and figure out where to go from here. We need to understand the world we live in. We also need to know how to live faithfully in it. Finally, we need to know how to commend our faith to others. On all three of those points, Noble’s book is a great success.
Disclaimer: I don’t know if this is necessary, but I’m erring on the side of caution: Alan’s book was published by InterVarsity Press. My forthcoming book, scheduled to be out next spring, is also being published with IVP. Alan and I also have the same literary agent. That being said, I purchased my copy of Alan’s book and was never asked by anyone at IVP or by Alan or by the agent we both work with to publish a review.