Ed Anton on Repentance

Our church entered in a Sunday series based on Ed Anton's new book, Repentance: A Cosmic Shift of Mind and Heart. The church began the series while we were slacking off (!) in Chicago, so I just started the book tonight. I have to admit, I'm never fond of these kind of church wide reading projects, and wasn't looking forward to this one. However, I've read through the first two chapters and I am really impressed with this so far, and eager to keep reading. Let me share some tidbits:

Chapter 1 lays bare how our consumer culture has invaded our churches and how we view churches. People now 'church shop' much like they 'car shop' or shop for anything else. Now churches, in the honorable desire to get more folks in the pews, market themselves much like you'd market anything else. Of course, the traditional understanding of repentance ("Your wrong, so change.") doesn't sell well. This market driven approach (Ed spent 10 years in marketing at P&G and Coca-Cola) leads to pushing the message of Biblical repentance further into the background. We emphasize the 'attractive' parts of Jesus' message, the parts that appeal to the emotions. Just like the marketers:

The distillation of our lifetime exposure to ad copy leaves us with this common sentiment: "You are so terribly misunderstood. We understand this better than anyone else. We have listened to you, and we know what you need. You need our product; everything's going to be alright. Thank you for allowing us to serve you."

pg. 19

Sounds like a lot of churches, no? And, frankly, it's not a 'bad' message, except that once you begin there, it's hard to bring in repentance later. And, Ed points out, both John the Baptist and Jesus began their message with "Repent!"

In chapter 2 he delves into a history of the translation of the Greek word metanoia which is known in English as 'repentance' and how that has colored our view of it for the worse. He lays out the story of hundreds of years of mis-translaton both accidental and quite deliberate, that turns the idea of metanoia, akin to 'transformation' or 'metamorphosis', into 'penance' or 'sorrow'. Jesus did not come calling men to 'Be sorry' or 'do penance for the kingdom of heaven is near.' Jesus called us to transform our mind, not by looking back in regret but looking forward with hope:

metanoia does not rue the past so much as it pursues the future. Lamenting fault does not foment change. At the same time, metanoia does not ignore past transgressions; in fact we abhor sin - and sinfulness - through metanoia. ... Metanoia results in a rejection of sinfulness, because its fierce pursuit of a righteous future abandons sin to an obsolete past.

pg. 32

Our understanding of repentance is a victim of the necessary evil of translation. He says

As the Jewish poet Haim Nachum Bialik put it, "Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your bride through a veil." ... but through translation, we should always strive to render the veil so sheer that we may sense the softness and sweetness of our bride's lips.

He claims that our familiar English word 'repentance' is simply a thinner veil, still obscuring true metanoia behind our own preconceived notions of sorrow, regret and penance.

Chapter 3 promises illustrations to further illuminate metanoia. I already feel as though a certain thickness of the veil has been removed, if the remaining chapters are as enlightening this book will be well worth the $15. I don't plan on blogging each reading of the book, I suggest you go to DPI and order a copy of your own and discover what Jesus really meant when he said "Repent!". ICOCinfo has a couple of links today to study resources to use with the book as well.