I’m sure it has much to do with my age (getting old!), but I’ve gotten more and more picky about the books I read; and then, once I read them, I am less apt to love them than I used to be. Even re-reading old favorites at times turns out to be a disappointing endeavor. And yet, when I go to Amazon.com and read reviews of some of the books I have enjoyed, I’m often surprised at the harsh opinions expressed by others.
Well, today, I was the harsh one. Except that, for some reason (“Could it be….Satan????”) my review vanished when I tried to post it. Oh, what a disappointment! And I’d thought it so well-worded, too!
Never mind. I’d already planned to discuss the matter here on my blog. You know how nothing comes out right when you try to recreate it. But I’ll do my best.
At issue is the novel Winter is Past, by Ruth Axtell Morren. I love this author; she writes beautiful Christian historical romance novels that are (usually) a joy to read. Winter is Past is an excellent novel…..with one exception.
Throughout the book, Ms. Morren repeatedly asserts, through the words of the Christian heroine to the hero, what must be her own prejudice: that Judaism and the Church of England are “dead religions” of “meaningless ritual,” wherein their adherents attempt to earn salvation through “good works” rather than through a personal relationship with the Lord.
The hero of the story is a non-practicing Jew who has grown exceedingly skeptical of any religion, though he pretends to convert to the Church of England in order to gain a seat in Parliament. Because this is a Christian novel, read by a Christian audience, it is understandable that he would come to recognize the Messiah of his people in Christ and become a “true” Christian.
The problem is that the author does not allow him to do this and remain part of the Church of England. Instead, he must become a Methodist.
It seems rather obvious from this and other books by Ruth Axtell Morren that she is a Methodist of strong faith. That is fine; to each his or her own. But by her clear suggestion that the Church of England is devoid of any honest followers of Christ, she implicates all the liturgical and sacramental churches as being utterly corrupt and full of “meaningless ritual.”
Christian rituals only seem meaningless if the people participating in them do not understand them and are failing to engage their hearts—and even in such a deficit, the Holy Spirit is always there, that regardless of less-than-ideal circumstances, the sacraments never fail to pour out grace. I am sure that in the early 1800s, the setting for the novel, there were (as there always are) folks who went to church on Sunday only to see and be seen. But that does not mean that one couldn’t find men and women of strong faith, who loved Jesus with all their being, in those same churches—and that includes the clergy.
(Wonderful examples of novels featuring strong Christian characters who are members of the 19th-century Church of England include Lawana Blackwell’s “Gresham Chronicles” and “Tales of London” series and Lori Wick’s “English Garden” series.)
It grieves me to think that this amazing Christian author can have such a sorry view of so many of our churches. If only she knew the truth! One need not belong to a non-liturgical, non-sacramental church in order to have a deep love of God, to know and love the Bible, and to seek to help the less fortunate.
One can only hope that the anti-Catholic/Anglican/Episcopalian/Lutheran/Orthodox undertones of this novel will not completely alienate fans of Ruth Axtell Morren’s books. After all, there are people from those churches (alive, vibrant, faith-filled churches!) who do read her work; we prefer not to be offended.
The Body of Christ (we Christians) are meant to be unified, not split into factions. It would serve every writer well to bear this in mind when writing novels for the general Christian market. (Were Ms. Morren writing for a specifically Methodist publisher, that would be a whole different matter.)
In the meantime, for now, I plan to give Ruth Axtell Morren the benefit of the doubt; I have two more of her novels sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read. Oh, how I hope she will not disappoint me again!
Posted by Ruth Axtell Morren on March 12, 2008 at 5:05 am
Hi (I can’t address you by name, since I don’t see any name or profile anywhere on your blog)!
and understand that the issue of doctrines and denominations is not as simple as I once thought. I am living in the Netherlands right now and attending an “international church.” These kinds of churches are set up to attract all types of Christians from difft denominations, as well as non-Christians, so they are much less judgmental in character than many demoninational churches. I recently read “A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN” by Brian Maclaren. It also helped me understand where I’m at right now in the way I view other Christians (ie, there’s a lot to be learned from each other and our church history). I’m still very much a charismatic Christian, but I hope I’m less dogmatic about it and more understanding of how others worship.
I couldn’t help responding when I saw your comments about my book Winter Is Past. I just happened to spot your blog this morning on a Google search.
Anyway, first of all, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my other books! I cringe in shame now as I read some of your comments, because Winter Is Past was my FIRST published book. So much of what you say about there being genuine, on fire Christians within liturgical churches is undoubtedly true, but at the time of writing Winter Is Past, (1999-2000), I was an on fire pentecostal (not a Methodist)! The closest thing I could find to a Spirit-filled pentescostal in regency times were the methodists, since they were just coming out of the great Wesleyan revival of the 1700’s. So, forgive me if my novel sounded like I only thought Methodists knew how to worship God.
I was raised in both the Episcopal and Catholic churches (father an Episcopal; mother a South American Catholic). By college age, I found nothing relevant in either church so I stopped going to church. It wasn’t until the age of 23 that I had a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ in a Puerto Rican Assemblies of God church.
About 15 years after that, the Lord gave me the seed of the idea for Winter Is Past. It was from a dream I had one morning. In the intervening years I’d also attended some Messianic Jewish churches off and on, so that’s perhaps how I got inspired to make Simon, my hero, a Jew.
To make a long story short, I have matured somewhat since then
I hope you enjoy the other two books of mine you have!
Blessings,
Ruth
Posted by Kimberly at Echowood on March 13, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Dear Ruth,
Oh, what a surprise to receive your comment! I am honored that you would take the time to respond.
Thank you for your explanation of where you were coming from when you wrote “Winter is Past.” That does help, so much. Though I have yet to write a complete novel myself (God and I are still hashing out this matter of “whether or not Kim should write”
), I imagine it would be the difference between what one of my partially-finished books looked like when I first started it 14 years ago and what it would look like were I to finish writing it today—I am in a completely different place, spiritually speaking.
Like you, I have been here and there in my faith journey. When you’re muddling through the “here and there,” it certainly isn’t simple. Though I can understand where he’s coming from, I feel sorry for that fellow who wrote the super-long-titled book you mentioned! He sounds rather a bit conflicted (though perhaps content in his conflictedness?)!
My journey has led me to the Catholic church (the church of my baptism, though I was not raised Catholic in any way, shape, or form). It grieves my heart to know that you found nothing relevant there in your youth. The experience has been the same for many Catholics, sad to say.
I came to the Catholic church by way of the Lutheran church (which I joined solely for the sake of my husband, who cannot be happy anyplace else). Once there (in the Lutheran church), I found myself questioning so many of the things I was learning in our “new member” class. So much of what it means to be a Lutheran is to reject or alter certain Catholic doctrines. Long story short: I began to study Catholicism on my own—visiting reliable Catholic websites, studying the Catechism, reading entire Bible, watching programs on EWTN. The more I learned, the more I fell in love with the Church. I was ready to convert without ever having even been to a Mass (except once when I was 14 and some Catholic relatives were visiting). The process turned out to take much longer than I thought it would, but I finally received the Sacrament of Confirmation this past October; it was one of the happiest days of my life. (I still attend the Lutheran church with my husband and children on Sunday mornings—I write about this fairly often on this blog; it is not an easy thing, but I have to say that it demonstrates the point that one need not be in perfect agreement with the politics or doctrine of a church to be able to worship the Lord in love at one of that church’s services.
I wish I could bring you to a Mass at my parish! The church I attend is incredible—people of huge faith, active and vibrant; their love of Jesus amazes and inspires me constantly. Our priests are patient, kind, intelligent, and humble. I attend a women’s apologetics class filled with beautiful, godly women. I am so, so blessed to belong to this Catholic parish.
Whatever church you’re attending, Ruth, your love of Christ most certainly radiates from your books; having such a faith is definitely the most important thing of all.
I have read all your books (all that I know exist, anyway), except for “Dawn in My Heart” and “The Rogue’s Redemption,” which are the two the await me on my bookshelf. The first book I read was “The Healing Season,” which caught my eye one day last summer as I was heading empty-handed out of the Christian fiction row at Border’s Bookshop. It was the small size (most Christian fiction are trade-paperbacks) and “Historical Romance” on the spine that caught my attention. Oh, how I loved that novel! My favorite, though, I think, was “Wild Rose.” Such a beautiful love story. *sigh*
My mom always accuses me of writing “Gone with the Wind” every time I sit down to type a note, and I’m sure I’ve done just that here tonight.
But truly, I thank you again for responding to my remarks about “Winter is Past.” I’m glad you found my blog post, so that you’d have the opportunity to defend yourself.
May God continue to richly bless you, your family, and your writing.
Your sister in Christ,
Kimberly
Posted by Ruth Axtell Morren on March 14, 2008 at 5:53 am
Hi Kimberly,
It was great to hear from you. I grew up half in the Catholic Church, half in the Episcopal. It was an ongoing tug-of-war between my Latin American Catholic mother and my New England Episcopalian paternal grandmother, my mother usually on the losing end. It’s quite ironic, really, since the two churches are very similar in their liturgy (and share a common past). I was not entirely accurate to say I found nothing relevant in the Catholic Chuch in my youth. Actually, by the time I was in high school, I attended a youth group for a while and had quite a good time there, even though I couldn’t take the sacrament of communion. There was a really young, cute priest, which I think all we teenage girls had a crush on. Unfortunately, soon afterwards he left the priesthood and headed up to Alaska!
I’m glad you have found a fulfilling experience in the Catholic church–and have been able to continue worshipping with the rest of your family in the Lutheran (I attended some of those services, too, for a while in my childhood). One of my editors is Jewish converted to Catholicism, the other is Jewish. Both loved Winter Is Past, when they first read it and offered me my first writing contract. I was very unsure of it passing muster! It was both my first regency (a demanding era to write about) as well as dealing with Jewish culture back then. Although, as I said in my foreword, it’s possible there is Sephardic Jewish blood somewhere in my veins (as well as Puritan. My ancestor who first came to the American colonies was Daniel Axtell, one of the roundhead signees giving the order to hand King Charles I. That’s why he had to flee afterwards).
Anyway, I’m glad my other books haven’t disappointed you. I suggest reading Dawn in my Heart before The Rogue’s Redemption, since it comes first in the loosely based series.
Writing is a hard business, but if the Lord puts a story on your heart, go for it!
God bless you,
Ruth