Wendell Berry against the Gnostics

There is a form of religion that attempts to assert power over the natural world by condemning it. Reveling in a denial of the created order, the clerics of this unnatural religion preach a heavenly righteousness that is defined more by the earthliness it denies than the heavenliness it affirms. This religion is well known to us. It is present in the hideous architecture of our churches, in the guilt-driven sermons of our clergy, and in the clear and certain Christian morality that is preached as an alternative to faith. This religion is accepted and celebrated trans-denominationally, yet it is that same religion that was so victoriously defeated by our holy Fathers in the great ecumenical councils of the Nicene age. Gnosticism is as alive today as it was in the time of the Apostles, in the time of Athanasius, and throughout the life of the church. 

Gnosticism comes in many forms and has been more or less developed throughout history, but what is so pernicious about it is that it denies this world and offers a salvation that is inherently nihilistic. The gospel of Gnosticism is a denial of this good creation. Wendell Berry makes the case in his novel Jayber Crow, that preachers have been making a living pedaling this "bad news" up and down the countryside for a long time. He goes on by remarking that he's pretty sure that nobody who preaches that kind of religion actually does believe it. After preaching for an hour on the evils of the pleasures of this world, what preacher refuses an invitation to a free meal at one of his parishioners' homes afterward, and then, promptly swallows down with gusto whatever is put in front of him? The love of good crops, good workmanship, good food, and good company are loves that are known and cherished by most folk, regardless of their alleged doctrinal opinions. How could it be that the gospel of Christ is a message about knowing a God by the means of denying his works?

Of course, what Berry is pointing towards through the derisive and sarcastic reckonings of the character Jayber, is the affirmation of this good world made manifest in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Lord created for 6 days, and on that sixth day he proclaimed it very good and entered into his rest. Lest anyone forget that proclamation, the Lord himself became incarnate in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; thereby confirming in deed what he had proclaimed in Word. The gospel of Christianity necessarily affirms this earth, for if materiality is to be despised, than Jesus cannot be worshiped. It is precisely by becoming material, that we creatures who live, and work, and have our being among material things, recognize and come to know God.

The "thou shalt nots" of gnostic religion are a denial of all that is good and pleasant about this world that God has wagered everything on. Wendell Berry rightly points us towards the pleasantness of the world, to the peace of wild things and wild places, reminding us that it is into this rugged, untamed wilderness that God became man in order that we might become God.

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