Volume 48 Number 3 Article 6

March 2020

Different Accents in the Story: An Autobiographical Exploration

Susan VanZanten

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege

Part of the Christianity Commons

Recommended Citation VanZanten, Susan (2020) "Different Accents in the Story: An Autobiographical Exploration," Pro Rege: Vol. 48: No. 3, 37 - 43. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol48/iss3/6

This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Editor’s Note: Dr. Susan VanZanten presented this paper at the Prodigal Love of God Conference, April 2019, sponsored by Dordt University and co-sponsored by the Lilly Fellowship Program as a regional conference.

Different Accents in the Story: An Autobiographical Exploration

My talk today will consider the value of incor- porating the gifts of other Christian traditions into one’s own life and work. It is a personal account in support of what has been called “receptive ecu- menism,” which emphasizes learning from a differ- ent Christian tradition rather than arguing for the superiority of one’s own tradition or attempting to work out compromise positions (the opposite ap- proach from the rhetorical situation of the Canons of Dort). Receptive ecumenism considers how we can include new practices and ways of thought into our Christian life without abandoning our own theological identities or distinctives. For example, by Susan VanZanten we are increasingly finding some liturgical prac- tices, such as Taize worship or a Maundy Thursday service, occurring in a wide variety of ecclesial bodies. I’ve sung the Taize song “Ubi Caritas” at Susan Emily VanZanten is Dean of Christ College, the Christian Reformed, Presbyterian, Methodist, Honors College of Valparaiso University, and Professor of Southern Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran Humanities and Literature. She has taught at Covenant College, Baylor University, Calvin College, and Seattle worship services. But I’ve also experienced ecumen- Pacific University. Her recent books include a memoir, ical gift reception through a number of friendships Reading a Different Story: A Christian Scholar’s Journey and encounters. from America to Africa (2013), Joining the Mission: A Guide I myself am deeply rooted in the Reformed tra- for (Mainly) New College Faculty (2011), and Mending a dition.1 Growing up in the small Dutch farming Tattered Faith: Devotions with Dickinson (2011). VanZanten community of Lynden, Washington, in the 1960s, became the Dean of Christ College in July 2018, the first female dean in the college’s 50+ year history. She previously I was baptized in the Christian Reformed Church served at Seattle Pacific University, where she founded the as an infant. I went to a CSI (Christian Schools Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development, direct- International) school for twelve years, took Ref Doc ed the University Scholars (Honors) Program, and was a (Reformed Doctrine) in high school, and spent Professor of English. VanZanten is a frequent speaker on years studying the Heidelberg Catechism in weekly Christian higher education across the country and has pub- classes. I was married and made profession of faith lished extensively in areas such as vocation, faculty develop- ment, American Literature, and African Literature. She is in a CRC church, and I even taught and received the author or editor of seven books. tenure at Calvin College, what many in my sub-

Pro Rege—March 2020 37 culture regard as the Dutch-American Jerusalem. mainline. The LFP’s efforts to strengthen the re- My son was baptized as an infant in a CRC church ligious nature of church-related institutions is de- and attended a CSI school for eight years. However, liberately an ecumenical one. Within the Graduate these life experiences provided little contact with Fellows Program this is manifested by having two faithful Christians from different traditions. With mentors for each cohort—one Roman Catholic and the exception of four years at Westmont College, one Protestant—as well as by attempting to achieve where I met many evangelical Christians, and four a rough balance of theological traditions within the years at Emory University, where I found only a cohort itself. I say a “rough” balance, as the relative few friends who were thoughtful and practicing strengths of each year’s applicant pool play a sig- Christians, I essentially lived within a theologically nificant role in this process. During the three years Reformed bubble for a long time. of the program, in addition to one-on-one personal However, after teaching at Calvin for seven mentoring conversations, we participated in an years, I moved to Seattle Pacific University (SPU), on-line colloquium, with a different topic each se- where I spent twenty-five years working in an in- mester. One semester’s topic, following the lead of stitution whose mission includes a commitment to an earlier cohort, was “Protestants and Catholics being “distinctively Wesleyan…by standing within in Conversation.” This topic arose from a conversa- the Wesleyan holiness branch of historic and evan- tion in June 2008 that took place among the men- gelical Christianity.” But SPU also defines itself tors for all the cohorts. “I really didn’t know much as “genuinely ecumenical,” affirming, “as heirs about Protestants until I became part of the LFP of ’s catholic-spirited Christianity, Network a number of years ago,” one Catholic men- we seek to gather persons from many theological tor commented, sparking similar memories and and ecclesial traditions who have experienced the confessions from Protestants and Catholics alike. transforming power of Jesus Christ. We believe The group soon arrived at the consensus that get- that theological diversity, when grounded in his- ting to know colleagues and campuses from across toric orthodoxy and a common and vital faith in the spectrum of Christian traditions is one of the Christ, enriches learning and bears witness to our best aspects of participating in the Lilly Network Lord’s call for unity within the church” (Mission events, like the conference we are currently attend- Statement). I have come to agree wholeheartedly ing. Consequently, we decided to make such delib- with that statement. At SPU I had my first deep en- erately ecumenical conversations a central part of counters with Wesleyan thinkers as I participated our colloquium. The experience of working closely in book discussion groups and faculty workshops, with a Catholic colleague, Professor Patrick Byrne attended lectures on the Wesleyan tradition, and of Boston College; participating in the “Protestants frequently interacted with faculty from the SPU and Catholics in Conversation” colloquium; and School of Theology, many of whom were life-long becoming part of an ecumenical community of in- Methodists. One of my fondest memories involves tellectual thought, spiritual and emotional support, an informal weekly Friday afternoon faculty gath- and shared worship opened my eyes to the many ering at which we drank beer and discussed theol- strengths and gifts of the Catholic tradition. ogy (and campus politics). Thus, my years at SPU and working as an LFP During my time at SPU, I also served as a men- mentor have taught me much about two traditions tor for the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program, work- very different from my own. In a recent issue of ing with two cohorts of graduate students enrolled The Christian Century,Barbara Brown Taylor in Ph.D. programs in the humanities at major re- writes about the “holy envy” that she occasionally search institutions across the US. The Graduate experiences when studying other religious faiths, Fellows Program, as most of you probably know, and that phrase, which she traces back to bibli- is deliberately ecumenical, just as the Lilly Fellows cal scholar Krister Stendahl, nicely captures my Program (LFP) is—representing a diversity of de- own frame of mind, as my religious horizons grew nominational traditions and institutional types broader. However, the older I grow, the more I also both Protestant and Catholic, evangelical and recognize the myriad ways in which my thought

38 Pro Rege—March 2020 patterns are deeply Reformed, even though I no at a time. So, sovereignty, sin, and stewardship are longer currently worship in a Christian Reformed key strands of my understanding and practice of or even Presbyterian church. If asked, I still de- the Christian life. And the neo-Calvinist tradition, fine myself theologically as Reformed, although I with its affirmation of the life of the mind as one of might quickly add, “with a deep regard for liturgi- those aspects of our creaturely existence formed by cal worship and spiritual formation.” In retrospect, God and its call to transform and reform a fallen I can see that I only discovered the depth of my world, taught me the responsibilities generated by Reformed formation and commitments when I had my own intellectual gifts and inclinations. serious encounters with other forms of Christianity. The Wesleyan tradition, I initially assumed ig- My ecclesial friendships have thus clarified and norantly, advocated for a mindless and rule-bound strengthened my own theological commitments. piety in which heart trumped head. In such edu- Such friendships extend beyond the Wesleyan cational institutions, chapel attendance was more and Roman Catholic tradi- important than disciplined tions, but these are the two Combining the Reformed academic thought. Mark in which I have spent the responsibility to think carefully Noll’s account of “the most time in conversation scandal of the evangelical and that have had the great- and work toward shalom in mind” clearly identified the est impact on me. (I should this world with the Wesleyan Wesleyan holiness’s “stress note I’ve encountered a vari- idea of spiritual growth and on the dangers of the world” ety of forms, practices, and and “the comfort of sepa- charismas within each of devout practice brought head rated piety” as contributing these traditions, for neither and heart together in new to the dearth of Christian one is monolithic.) From the ways for me. scholarship. And the iden- Wesleyan tradition, I have tity of many evangelical learned much about genu- colleges appeared to be de- ine piety and the importance of spiritual formation; termined primarily by expressions of overt piety, from my Roman Catholic friends, I have learned such as strict lifestyle requirements, mandatory much about the value of tradition and an apprecia- chapel attendance, and required opening prayer tion for sacramentalism. for class sessions or committee meetings. However, In what follows, I’m going to put some complex my time at SPU taught me much about the posi- issues fairly simply for the sake of succinct commu- tive role of spiritual development in Christian edu- nication. (You all know how hard it is for an aca- cation, about the need to involve both heart and demic to do this.) For me, embracing a Reformed mind in one’s vocational pursuits, and about the theology means that my starting position or initial value of the spiritual disciplines. Despite the some- thoughts about any issue are grounded in God’s times strong pietistic and legalistic elements of sovereignty. God’s wholly-encompassing being American , Wesley himself was a well- produces creation and redemption, love and anger, read eighteenth-century scholar who advocated grace and law, mercy and judgement. God’s cre- “plundering the Egyptians” for intellectual gold. ation of everything, and assessment of its goodness, He stressed lay education, compiled a fifty-volume means we live in a world brimming with possibility; Christian Library that included Eastern Orthodox, nothing, conceptually, is off-limits. Yet God’s sov- Roman Catholic, German Pietists, and Reformed ereignty stands in vivid juxtaposition with human- authors, and designed extensive reading programs ity’s weaknesses, exposing the reality and extent of in literature and science for his followers. What be- human sin. God‘s good creation has been sullied, came known as his Aldersgate experience—feeling and the undeniable evidence of human depravity his heart touched, strangely warmed by God one surrounds us every day. As creatures made in the evening at a service, years after his head endorsed image of God and charged with a stewardship role, Christian faith—caused Wesley to resolve, “[Let we must strive to clean creation’s house, one inch us] unite the pair so long disjoined, Knowledge

Pro Rege—March 2020 39 and vital Piety.”2 In one sermon he warned, “We Christian character—both thought and practice— know that wrong opinions in religion usually lead was the product not only of the head but also of to wrong tempers, or wrong practices; and that it is the heart. Believers’ temperaments and practices, as our bonded duty to pray that we might have a right well as their ways of thought, are formed by nurtur- judgment in all things. But still a man [or woman] ing and shaping. Liturgies, hymnody, poetry, spiri- may judge as accurately as the devil, and yet be as tual biographies, devotional practices, and spiritual wicked as he.”3 Right knowing, while crucial, did exercises all work in our embodied, social, affective not necessarily carry over into right living or loving. lives to help us grow in faith and practice. My holy Salvation, Wesley held, involved more than envy of the Wesleyan affirmation of God’s healing simply forgiveness of sins. His favorite metaphor power exercised through the means of grace alerted for God was “Doctor,” one who worked through me to something that I had previously neglect- the Spirit to heal our warped lives spiritually, emo- ed. SPU’s mission statement affirms, “We share tionally, and physically. Although as a Calvinist I [the theological] conviction [of John and Charles remain skeptical of Wesley’s belief that complete Wesley] that God’s saving purpose is the renewal sanctification on earth is possible, Wesley’s un- of human hearts and lives in true holiness through wavering affirmation of God’s enormous power to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. We are heal reminded me of a crucial truth. Combining shaped by their emphasis on the importance of the Reformed responsibility to think carefully the human response to the Spirit’s renewing work, and work toward shalom in this world with the including the vital role of the spiritual disciplines Wesleyan idea of spiritual growth and devout prac- and practices—such as prayer, meditation, wor- tice brought head and heart together in new ways ship, Scripture study, charitable giving, public wit- for me. While the Reformed tradition stressed the ness to Christ’s saving love, and service to those in importance of identifying presuppositions and need—all of which serve as means of God’s grace.” foundational beliefs in an intellectual worldview, Few Reformed Christians would quarrel with this Wesley was concerned with the ways in which a affirmation (although they might add something to Christian worldview could be methodically devel- it), but it nonetheless powerfully expresses an em- oped through practices as well as ideas. phasis, an accent if you will, on a part of Christian I had previously struggled with some of the ap- life that can be overlooked, slighted, or even ig- parent contradictions in some Reformed accounts nored in an all-consuming attempt to think cor- of worldview, which is associated with propositional rectly and confess impeccable doctrinal statements. truths, theological foundations, and philosophical The tendency of my Reformed tradition as I had categories, but is also defined as a pre-theoretical experienced it was to emphasize doctrine over holi- basic human tendency found across cultures and ness, even as the Wesleyan tradition’s tendency is to throughout history. However, if worldviews are un- emphasize holiness over doctrine. reflective expressions of basic beliefs, why would we Attentive members of the audience will no try to teach someone a Christian worldview? And doubt see the similarity of my point of view to that how could we explain the human ability to hold in- of Jamie Smith, whose recent work asks us “to re-vi- consistent beliefs, or a professed Christian’s ability sion Christian education as a formative rather than to operate with assumptions at odds with Christian just an informative project” by attending to the faith? Charts outlining categorical differences be- education instilled through cultural liturgies and tween a Christian worldview and, say, theism or practices.4 Therefore, Smith calls Christian educa- naturalism implied that a Christian worldview tional institutions to give a central role to Christian could be instilled if one had the right philosophy, worship. He argues, “Our ultimate love/desire is that if one just looked in the right way, one would shaped by practices, not ideas that are merely com- act in the right way. municated to us.”5 Yes, but…. Our love and desire As Jonathan Edwards insists, however, the for- can also be shaped by ideas. We need both holiness mation of the will plays a crucial role in Christian and doctrine; heart and head; liturgies and lectures. identity. Like Edwards, Wesley believed that Let me also say a few words about some of the

40 Pro Rege—March 2020 gifts I’ve received from the Catholic tradition, and Catholics in Conversation” colloquium was to something about which I was completely ignorant focus on the charisms that each tradition brings to for many years. I knew no Catholic believers per- our understanding of Christ’s church. I think it is sonally and had what I suspect is a fairly common important that we undertook this task only in our Reformed prejudice against what is essentially all third year together as a cohort, for genuine friend- Christians’ mother church. Lynden, Washington ships and deep trust needed to be established first was a predominantly Protestant town, and my before we could have such conversations with char- family, friends, and teachers all appeared to believe ity. As Paul Murray, one of the founders of receptive that Catholics were not really Christians. Many ecumenism, states, “receptive ecumenical awaken- CCCU institutions do not hire Catholic faculty, ing is properly a matter of the heart before it is a as Aquinas scholar Joshua Hochschild found matter of the head; a matter of falling in love with when he converted to Catholicism and was forced the experienced presence of God in the people, to leave Wheaton College practices, even structures of in 2009. Both Covenant I have come to believe that another tradition and being College, where I held my impelled thereby to search first teaching position, and different theological traditions for ways in which all im- then Calvin College re- tell the Christian story with pediments to closer relation- quired that tenure-track slightly different emphases, just ships will be overcome.”6 faculty hold Reformed the- as the synoptic Gospels do— One way to view the ology. At SPU I had my first changed landscape of post- sustained contact and con- and this is a good thing. Christianity is versation with Catholic col- to appreciate the particular leagues, for the University’s Mission Statement, as emphases of each tradition, not only in order to I noted earlier, affirmed hiring people “from many better understand that tradition—dispelling ig- theological and ecclesial traditions,” and some of norance and prejudice—but also in order to think the Catholic faculty were the most ardent defend- through how we might incorporate its gifts into our ers of the University’s mission. But my extensive own lives. Our stance in such conversations is cru- work with the Lilly Fellows Graduate Program ef- cial; we must enter expecting to find in “the other” fected a sea change in my views. Becoming close tradition, whatever that might be, a place of grace. friends with the extraordinary Patrick Byrne, Here are some places of grace that I have discov- among many others, mentoring Catholic graduate ered: students who came from very different parts of the 1. My intellectual and personal encounters Catholic tradition, wrestling with primary texts with Roman Catholic believers have given from sixteenth-century religious discourse, and me a new appreciation of the importance learning the ways in which the Christian family of tradition, of the rich resources from the tree has expanded in the subsequent five centuries past that speak powerfully into the troubles has provided numerous gifts. of today. Certainly in my own tradition, we Reading sixteenth-century texts may appear revere the contributions of Calvin, which problematic, since this was a period of division have become semi-authoritative in some and debate, violence and oppression, rancor and respects. But now I encountered the deep acrimony. From today’s perspective, we may won- faith, spiritual struggles, and rich wisdom der about the value of all the controversies over of the early church mothers and fathers, the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper, baptism, election from Paula to Metroma, from Macarius the and free will, church organization, and liturgy. Great to Anthony of Egypt. And my read- (Brad Gregory, among others, almost suggests the ing of and conversations about authors such Reformation was all a catastrophic mistake.) But as St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Theresa without seeking to downplay the sharpness of these of Avila, and Ignatius of Loyola, have given theological disputes, our goal in the “Protestants me a deeper knowledge of and respect for a

Pro Rege—March 2020 41 wide range of Christian resources. manity, and the power of visual and textual 2. I have also learned about the Catholic art. Church’s own reformation, now known These are a few of the gifts I have been given as the Counter-Reformation, a reforma- through ecumenical friendships, conversations, tion that had stirrings and roots well before and conferences, for which I am utterly grateful. Luther, something that I never learned in While I don’t think I will become either a Wesleyan my Protestant-biased church history classes or a Catholic (not the time to explain why), I have (or didn’t stick with me). received many treasures from these traditions, and 3. A third gift has been the blessed discovery I rejoice when I can worship with my sisters and that on one of the most fundamental is- brothers from other branches of the Christian fam- sues of Christian faith, the Roman Catholic ily tree. Church, and many Protestant traditions now I have come to believe that different theologi- profess agreement. The Joint Declaration on cal traditions tell the Christian story with slightly the Doctrine of Justification (1999), pro- different emphases, just as the synoptic Gospels duced by the Catholic Church’s Pontifical do—and this is a good thing. The heart of the story Council for Promoting Christian Unity and remains the same, but the details and the accents the Lutheran World Federation, states that differ. One group shouts triumphantly about sov- the churches now share “a common under- ereignty, while another sounds the constant note of standing of our justification by God’s grace sacramentalism. All orthodox Christian traditions through faith in Christ.” This statement affirm a triune God, but some spend more time resolves the 500-year-old conflict over the talking about the Holy Spirit than others, while nature of justification, which was at the root others seem to concentrate almost exclusively on of the Protestant Reformation. Since 1999, Jesus. My own tradition puts the accent on God both the (2006) the Father or Creator, and other forms of worship, and The World Communion of Reformed liturgy, and practice provide necessary reminders Churches (2017) have also adopted the of the truth of the Trinity. As an academic I have Declaration. been trained to be critical, to question, to doubt, 4. I now enjoy the pleasure of having many but I’ve come to believe that in matters of Christian Catholic friends, who are inspiring mod- practice, it is better to be receptive, optimistic, and els of spiritual discipline, persistent prayer, appreciative, whenever possible. faithful church attendance, a hunger for The theologian David Ford says that theology the Eucharist, and a commitment to so- is essentially about God’s extraordinarily bounti- cial justice. In the LFP cohorts, we have ful generosity, and that we, too, should practice studied four different books of the Bible such generosity. The diversity of our theological together, but we have also conducted perspectives and practices may well be a product Ignatian reflections and—one Lent— of that generosity. St. Catherine of Siena explains, jointly committed to praying the lit- “[Eternal Truth says:] I have distributed [the vir- urgy of the hours as compiled in Phyllis tues] in such a way that no one has all of them. Tickle’s The Divine Hours. Many tradi- Thus have I given you reason—necessity, in fact— tional Catholic devotional practices have to practice mutual charity. For I could well have proven meaningful and spiritually enrich- supplied each of you with all your needs, both spiri- ing for me. tual and material. But I wanted to make you de- 5. Finally, the sacramental worldview of post- pendent on one another so that each of you would Tridentine Catholicism and its incarna- be my minister, dispensing the graces and gifts you tional approach to body-spirit relationships have received from me. So whether you will it or have provided me with a new perspective not, you cannot escape the exercise of charity!”7 from which to view the value of the physical John Calvin says something similar in reflecting world of nature, the embodied nature of hu- on God’s providence: different people have differ-

42 Pro Rege—March 2020 ent gifts, and in exercising the gifts that we have (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983). to help others, we embody God’s providential care. 3. John Welsey’s Sermons: An Anthology, ed. Albert We are God’s arms and legs, hands and feet, head C. Outler and Richard Heitzenrater (Nashville: and heart. Perhaps the same can be said of the gifts Abingdon, 1991), 563. of ecumenical diversity. 4. James A.K. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Endnotes Liturgies) (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009), 27. 1. Some parts of this talk are adapted from Susan 5. Smith, 27. VanZanten, Reading a Different Story: A Christian Scholar’s Journey from America to Africa (Grand 6. Paul D. Murray, Receptive Ecumenism and Catholic Rapids: Baker, 2013). Learning: Exploring a Way for Contemporary Ecumenism. Edited by Paul D. Murray (Oxford: 2. Charles Wesley, “Hymn 461, for Children,” in Oxford University Press, 2008), 15. The Works of John Wesley, vol. 7, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists, 7. The Dialogue, 7. See http://www.vatican.va/spirit/ ed. Franz Hildebrandt and Oliver A. Beckerlegge documents/spirit_20010126_caterina_en.html.

Pro Rege—March 2020 43