Prophetic vs Pathetic Imagination
In reading Jason Clark’s Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, I was immediately taken back to September 11, 2001 when after the shock of the terrorist attacks I found myself sitting in a seminary class taught by Dr. Walter Brueggemann. While he frequently ranted about the woes of a capitalistic culture, on this day he was particularly poignant. I wish I could remember his entire lecture but the one thing I do remember is that like the prophets of the Hebrew Testament, we preachers have a responsibility to imagine a new world, God’s world, a new kin-dom, and our job is to continually present this world to the Church.
Two Kinds of Imagination
In an essay entitled, The End of Imagination, Brueggeman writes, “Imagination is the capacity to host a world other than the one that is in front of us. Such an act of hosting an alternative world is inherently subversive, as it serves to question and override the world in front of us that we too easily take as a given.”[1] He continues, “From this it follows that those who have an inordinate stake in the world immediately in front of us—whether that stake is socioeconomic, political, moral, theological—will do what they can to discourage or prevent imagination in order that we may settle into the present world as an immutable given.”[2]
In another essay, Pathetic Imagination, Brueggemann likens the inability to host another world from the one right in front of us as “pathetic imagination.” On the other hand, “prophetic imagination” offers a world in which Christ presides, a world outrageous, incredible and threatening to those bent on upholding the status quo.[3]
Capitalism is the Water We Swim In
I would argue the status quo culture of the western world is built upon capitalism in which the driving force for most companies, institutions, organizations and even individuals is to make a profit, to come out on top, to be able to provide for their own comforts. Some of us who live in the western world may want to live differently, we may even strategize against a capitalist culture but as Martyn Percy said in his lecture to the DLPG students in Oxford, “culture eats strategy for breakfast”[4] and as David Wallace is credited as saying, “culture is to humans as water is to fish.”[5] Capitalism is woven deeply into the American and western world culture and the Church, though it may try to live otherwise, is not immune to its effects.
Anxiety as a Response to a Capitalistic Culture
In Jason Clark’s Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, he makes the claim that life in developing capitalist markets interacted with the beliefs and practices of Evangelicals in assurance, to supplant a Christian imagination for life with a market imagination.”[6] According to Clark, Bebbington claims most developments in Evangelism “were possible because of the commercial growth of the eighteenth century.”[7] Clark then goes on to explain how before the industrial revolution “there was a paucity to life where salvation was a compensation for the sufferings of life” but once the Reformers left behind doctrines of assurance, anxiety about their personal salvation arose generating activism as a way of insuring salvation.[8]
Anxiety in response to not being able to host a world of abundance or salvation is seen in the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus calls the disciples people of “little faith.” According to Brueggemann, “Jesus chides his disciples for being anxious about food and clothing when they are able to observe the bounty of God’s creation in even more transient things (Matthew 6:30). Their anxiety is an outcome of ‘little faith,’ that is, pathetic imagination that cannot host a world of God’s abundance when they are fixed on their own needs and deficiencies.”[9] The alternative to anxiety would be to focus instead on God’s abundant provision.
In an address to Synod School attendees in Storm Lake, Iowa, the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, told them, “The evidence is scarce that the Christian voice in this country is on the side of the poor. The goal of capitalism is, of course, to make money. The goal of Christianity, Hawkins pointed out, is to enhance people’s lives. One calls for acquisition while the other calls for sacrifice.”[10] It has been said by many (though I cannot reference who the “many” are), that the Church gets so focused on sex when Jesus never said anything about it! However, in the parables and in other teachings, Jesus talked about money and wealth more than almost any other subject.
It’s not just the Evangelical church that has been affected by capitalistic anxieties. I have seen and experienced first-hand how the Presbyterian Church (USA) has also been affected. The PC(USA) has been one of the wealthiest denominations in the world. With billions spent on church buildings alone, I have to wonder what it would look like for some of our wealthier congregations to use their buildings to house the houseless (many already do this) or use their sanctuary to provide sanctuary to immigrants (again, some congregations do this). Often though, an argument breaks out amongst congregants about their own safety, or upkeep of their facilities, or about the convenience of being able to use their buildings when they have need. It becomes about the comfort of the congregation rather than care of the “other.”
When I was a pastor in New York our sanctuary and “parlor” was in dire need of some updating and renovations. You can probably tell by my use of the word “parlor” how badly these rooms needed updating. Some of the newer members of the congregation hoped to update the facility so that we could host community events and eventually be a third space for those who wanted to create community. There was excitement about the possibilities this renovation could provide. However, the enthusiasm was thwarted by those long-time members who could not see a church in which the sanctuary carpet was not red nor the moldy curtains in the parlor removed. “What if we spend money on renovations and nobody comes?” “What if the roof leaks this winter and we need to replace part of it?” Pathetic imagination reigned curbing the prophetic imagination, limiting our possibilities, and strengthening the status quo.
In my work as a pastor and preacher I am encouraged by the words of Dr. Brueggemann to imagine an alternate world for my congregation, to “line out what the world is like as Christ presides over it” to break through our world of fear to “witness to a more excellent way beyond scorekeeping and vengeance, and to show that we may alternatively practice a world of hospitality, generosity, forgiveness, and abundance.” [11]
This kind of work, of course, got Jesus killed. After all, he was upending the status quo, the comfort of the powers that be. This, however, is the work for all who try to follow Jesus.
[1] Walter Brueggemann, The End of Imagination, https://churchanew.org/brueggemann/the-end-of-imagination, accessed September 28, 2023.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Walter Brueggemann, Pathetic Imagination, February 2023, https://churchanew.org/brueggemann/pathetic-imagination, accessed October 1, 2023.
[4] Martyn Percy, lecture to DLPG students, September 23, 2003.
[5] https://www.prosci.com/blog/culture-and-change-management-the-water-we-swim-in#:~:text=%22Culture%20is%20to%20humans%20as,without%20knowing%20what%20water%20is. Accessed September 28, 2003.
[6] Dr. Jason Clark, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, 75, https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=gfes, accessed September 28, 2023.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid, 58.
[9] Walter Brueggeman, Pathetic Imagination..
[10] Mike Ferguson, Synod School keynoter: Christianity and capitalism don’t get us to the same place, July 27,2023, https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/synod-school-keynoter-christianity-and-capitalism-dont-get-us-to-the-same-place/, accessed September 28, 2023.
[11] Dr. Walter Brueggemann, The End of Imagination.
About the Author
Kally Elliott
Mom of four. Wanna-be Broadway star. PC(USA) pastor. Wife. Friend. Sometimes a hot mess. Sometimes somewhat together. Is this supposed to be a professional bio?8 responses to “Prophetic vs Pathetic Imagination”
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Great post, Kally. The drive to make a profit and appease shareholders is also part of what seems to bifurcate Christian faith into spiritual and secular categories. Our socio-economic water and the pervasive culture associated with it has affected congregants in churches throughout our Western world in so many ways. I have seen a few rays of hope countering this sacred-secular split in the works of authors like Jeff Van Duzer, Katherine Leary Alsdorf and Tim Keller, and Amy Sherman, to name a few. Van Duzer wrote “Why Business Matters to God,” re-thinking/re-envisioning the purpose of business. I believe Van Duzer attends a PCUSA church in the Seattle area, in addition to having served as the dean for the business school at Seattle Pacific University. Leary Alsdorf and Keller wrote a helpful book a few years ago titled “Every Good Endeavor” which captured both a theological framework for work and the practices of their church’s “Center for Faith and Work.” Sherman wrote “Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good,” in addition to her other works emphasizing ministry with/among the poor. I have not yet read Walter Brueggemann’s “The Prophetic Imagination,” but I would love to!
Thanks for the author and book suggestions! I’d be interested to read each of them – in all my spare time hahaha – but seriously, I will look for them! Thanks!
Walter Brueggmann’s work sounds intriguing… I am glad you were able to take classes from him!
I like what you pulled out of Dr Clarks’ work something that I had missed: “Clark then goes on to explain how before the industrial revolution “there was a paucity to life where salvation was a compensation for the sufferings of life” but once the Reformers left behind doctrines of assurance, anxiety about their personal salvation arose generating activism as a way of insuring salvation.”
The interconnectedness between religion and secular interest’s me; do think the industrial revolution was impacted by Evangelicalism, or was it the other way around?
I’m guessing they impacted each other just as these days religion impacts culture and culture impacts religion. As I’m sitting here thinking about the ways culture and religion impact each other today I find it more and more important that religion is not used as a weapon but as a way to bring people together.
I so appreciate your analysis and your heart for the wealthier (congregations or people) to share generously. Unfortunately we often (sinfully, dare I say?) focus on comfort rather than care of the “other.” You sum it up beautifully when you say, “The alternative to anxiety [even anxiety about a maybe-leaky roof in the coming winter] would be to focus instead on God’s abundant provision.” I don’t have a question to ask you, just a Yes and Amen!
Kalli, what a clear, well written, thought-provoking compelling post!!! And I’m super jealous that you got to study under Brueggeman.
I’m going to ask what feels like a really dumb and unimportant technical question.
You say “It’s not just the Evangelical church that has been affected by capitalistic anxieties. I have seen and experienced first-hand how the Presbyterian Church (USA) has also been affected”
Is the PCUSA not considered Evangelical or not subscribe to one or more of Bebbington’s quadrilateral? I don’t know a lot about that tribe, but thought they were.
Thanks for the clarity.
Well, now you have me wondering if I have misspoken.
But I don’t *think* I have. (But I could be wrong!)
I have never known those in the PC(USA) nor anyone talking about the denomination to refer to it as “evangelical.” Instead, we talk about how we are reformed and always being reformed (by the Holy Spirit or the Word of God.) Often, people leave out the ‘being reformed’ part of the phrase but that is a mistake and usually done when they are trying to use the phrase to explain why they want to make a sudden change in a congregation.
We also talk about how we are a “confessional church” as we rely heavily on the book of confessions, trusting that even as confessions evolve and change throughout the centuries they are doing so by work of the holy spirit. That said, for better or worse, the congregation I currently serve rarely if ever has recited a confession as part of worship – I think this developed before I got there as a way of trying to be inclusive of newcomers or those that don’t share the same beliefs…not really sure though as most congregations will recite either the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, or a Brief Statement of Faith as part of the worship liturgy.
While we do mostly subscribe to Bebbington’s quadrilateral, I think perhaps we interpret the language a bit differently. For example, the Confession of 1967 states:
The one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears unique and authoritative witness through the Holy Scriptures, which are received and obeyed as the word of God written. The Scriptures are not a witness among others, but the witness without parallel.
and…
The Bible is to be interpreted in the light of its witness to God’s work of reconciliation in Christ. The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless words of human beings,69 conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written. They reflect views of life, history, and the cosmos which were then current. The church, therefore, has an obligation to approach the Scriptures with literary and histor- ical understanding. As God has spoken the divine word70 in diverse cultural situations, the church is confident that God71 will continue to speak through the Scriptures in a changing world and in every form of human culture.
In other words: Jesus is the Word of God while biblical scripture is the word of God (big W vs little w). And yet there is no parallel to scripture. AND we have to read it in light of its historical context. We would not say it is without error because it is written by humans.
Another biggie I think is that because of our emphasis on the sovereignty of God “evangelism” isn’t done to convert anyone. Actually, the word “conversion” is kind of a dirty word in PC(USA) circles – mostly because it comes with baggage for a lot of people. Evangelism is a response to the euangelion or good news, a response to grace, done out of thanksgiving. (Or so we say.)
I believe there are other such nuances to our differences while we also share many similarities. Sadly, in my circles, the words, “evangelical” or “progressive” are being used to define and separate.
Didn’t mean to go on for so long but am trying to sort this out myself and am outward processing with you – and anyone who has stuck around this long! Whew!
Kally, may you continue to upset the status quo! I love your prophetic voice and how you move in the world. You are an amazing Leader in this world and those who follow and are mentored and taught and journey with you are blessed for it! Keep speaking to the world we need! Be prophetic!! You got this!