The View from 1908 (by Tony Jones)
This summer, two friends and I are doing something that seems a bit outlandish (especially for 40-year-old guys). We've borrowed a friend's RV, and we're touring the country to talk about our books. Doug Pagitt (A Christianity Worth Believing), Mark Scandrette (Soul Graffiti), and I (The New Christians) are in the midst of a 32-city tour that we've dubbed, "The Church Basement Roadshow: A Rollin' Gospel Revival." We've completed our West Coast leg, and now we're about to roll down the center of the country (click here for dates)
What's a bit more outlandish is that we wanted to make this unlike any other book tour, so we conceived of and wrote a 90-minute show to highlight the core message in each of our books. And in that show, we each play our fictional great-grandfathers, two-bit revivalists from 1908.
Honestly, we stumbled on 1908 because it's 100 years ago, but then we started doing research and discovered what an incredible year it really was. (On the RV we've been reading the book, America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T and the Making of a Modern Nation by Jim Rasenberger.) At the dawn of 1908 almost no one had heard of the Wright Brothers; by the end of the year they were household names. The race to the North Pole was on, and an automobile race from New York City to Paris (via the Bering Straight!) had captured the American imagination.
But while most Americans were extremely optimistic about the technological advances of the telephone, the automobile, and the airplane; all was not well. That winter, President Teddy Roosevelt (whom many in the country consider deranged for his fluctuations of temper) sent the U.S. Navy's Great White Fleet around the world, most probably to intimidate Japan. And that spring, New York and Chicago experienced frequent terrorist bombings by anarchist groups.
Over two million children worked in factories and mines. And sixty percent of the wealth in America was controlled by a hyper-wealthy two percent of the population (think Carnegie, Morgan, et al).
Things have changed in America in the last century, to be sure, but I keep thinking about a summer 100 years ago when our nation was sending Olympic atheletes overseas (to London) and preparing for a presidential election between a Republican insider (Secretary of War William Howard Taft) and a midwestern Democrat known for his scintillating oratory (William Jennings Bryan).
And the more I think about it, the more kinship I feel with my great-grandfather (the non-fiction one).
Tony Jones is the national coordinator of Emergent Village.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Comments
Tony:
You forgot to mention the Chicago Cubs! They won the World Series in 1908 and haven't won it since.
But maybe they can do it this year, for their 100th anniversary.
D
Posted by: Don | July 10, 2008 1:02 PM
Yeah, Don, we do make note of that in the show!
Posted by: Tony Jones | July 10, 2008 1:07 PM
Don - great minds stink alike!! My first thot when I saw Tony's post was "The Cubs! What about the Cubs?" Prophecy: people will remember the summer of 2008 because of:
a)The Church Basement Road Show
b)The Cubs
c)all of the above
Posted by: canucklehead | July 10, 2008 1:13 PM
And J. Gresham Machen was battling modernism as we disciples are not battling postmodernism. May God raise up another Machen who will stand against the emergent church and for the orthodox faith.
Posted by: Roy | July 10, 2008 4:54 PM
So, like the fundamentalists battled the modernists, you now want a modernist fundamentalist to battle the postmodernists? I think if you look around you probably have plenty of heroes to choose from.
Posted by: toddh | July 10, 2008 5:23 PM
I suppose, toddh, if one thinks this emergent church thing is such a serious threat to Christian orthodoxy, one must find someone somewhere, even if it be a modernist, who can do battle.
As for me, though I don't identify with the emergent movement, I find little cause for concern, and even some areas of hope, within it.
But it was a lot more fun talking about the Cubs.
Peace,
Posted by: Don | July 10, 2008 5:41 PM
Women competed in the modern Olympics for the first time, in July 1908. No word on what the Apostle Paul, a great lover of athletics, thought.
Posted by: carl copas | July 10, 2008 6:07 PM
We could call it, (J. Gresham) Machen (Francis) Bacon.
Posted by: N.M. Rod | July 10, 2008 6:23 PM
Great piece about a great year. I understand your close feelings for your great grandfather. Mine had gone West to be a cowboy and returned East to be a minister. I always wondered what caused him to so radically change course at midlife. Now I know. I was an archaeologist, am a writer, and have now been called at midlife by God into ministry. I only hope I'll be as successful as he was way back when. Congrats on the book as well! Have a great, and safe, tour!
Posted by: J.S. Brooks | July 10, 2008 6:33 PM
J.S.:
I just remembered that my grandfather--maternal--was born in August 1908. He would be having his 100th birthday next month.
He never did anything as radical as your great-grandfather, though. He was an oil driller.
It really was quite a year.
D
Posted by: Don | July 10, 2008 6:41 PM
I will give away my "hobby" by saying this, but in 1908, the first U.S. cent to be struck by the San Francisco mint (the 1908 S) was made. Today, a genuine uncirculated one will put my kid through a year or so of a good state school. And, no, I don't have one!!
Posted by: joekc | July 10, 2008 8:58 PM
The White Fleet was sent around the world for two reasons. First because it was the one way Teddy could be sure that Congress would appropriate the money for the navy that he wanted and second, to intimidate Germany.
In 1908, the US and Japan were actually very close, almost de facto allies against German expansion in the South Pacific.
Posted by: Charles Cosimano | July 10, 2008 10:19 PM
Charles: Not according to Rasenberger. Most in Congress though Roosevelt crazy for sending out the Great White Fleet, if for no other reason than because it left the Atlantic coast unguarded. And he says that things were quite tense with Japan...
EP: They're our fictional great-grandfathers. Get it?
Posted by: Tony Jones | July 11, 2008 8:58 AM
first, let me say that joekc is a nerd! coin collecting... really?! (just kidding with you joe... :) )
second, my 100 year old grandmother was born in march of 1908. even though she is not really "with it" today, i remember learning so much from her telling stories as i grew up. it is what has fed my love for history so much that i have now gone back to school to pursue a desire to teach it at the collegiate level.
third, while i wouldn't put myself within the "emergent movement" (whatever that means as it seems to mean different things to different people which is kind of the point right?), i get worried when people start using war rhetoric ("battle" or "fight" this heresy) when speaking of the attempts other Christians are making to know God and make Him known.
-dave
Posted by: dave | July 11, 2008 9:06 AM
Tony:
also, the public and political frustration that was left over from the spanish-american war and america's perceived "colonial" or "imperial" expansion was still prevalent. one of the leading voices was william jennings byran.
i think it is a decent comparison to obama in some ways. in others they are very different. for one, did you know they were of different races??? it seems that in 1908, wealthy white men held all of the power. who knew?
Posted by: dave | July 11, 2008 9:10 AM
Don - I hope Grandpa left you an oil well or two! Almost $150/barrel today!
Posted by: canucklehead | July 11, 2008 11:49 AM
emergent pillage: "And oh, yes, with the Olympics being ever 4 years, that means that every 25 Olympics there will be a 100 year span. Not really much of a coincidence there."
A trenchant comment, if anyone had said it was much of a coincidence.
"Is Jones seriously trying to compare Obama to William Jennings Bryan???
I call "foul!!" on that one."
The better comparison would be with Bryan's first presidential campaign in 1896. "The Boy Orator of the Platte" came out of nowhere and electrified the Democratic National Convention with his famous "Cross of Gold" speech.
Richard Bland of Missouri ("Silver Dick"--they did know how to nickname politicians in those days!!) had been the odds-on favorite for the nomination. But the reaction to Bryan's speech carried him to the nomination. Oh, and he was defeated in the general election by William McKinley of Ohio.
Posted by: carl copas | July 11, 2008 12:36 PM
I hope Grandpa left you an oil well or two! Almost $150/barrel today!
Canucklehead: Well actually, he did. Sort of. He had purchased a producing well in one of the places where he and his company had drilled. When he died in 1995, none of us grandkids knew he was sitting on a rather nice pile of money that he had saved up from his oil well revenue. We knew about the well, of course, but he had never told any of us he had never spent the receipts. Since his daughter--our mother--had pre-deceased him, the cash was divided among us siblings. No, it didn't make us filthy rich by a long shot, but the money, along with an assistantship, helped put me through graduate school.
The well was sold when the estate was settled, so of course someone else is cashing in on the current high prices; that is, if the well is still producing.
... I get worried when people start using war rhetoric ("battle" or "fight" this heresy) when speaking of the attempts other Christians are making to know God and make Him known.
Dave: I fully agree with you re. the use of war rhetoric in the church for stamping out "heresy." Even if the emergents are heretical (and nobody has demonstrated that to my satisfaction; rather the contrary in my estimation), I'm not sure talk about "battling" them is appropriate. And even though I know the war imagery in certain hymns is metaphorical, I still am rather uncomfortable singing them.
Richard Bland of Missouri ("Silver Dick"--they did know how to nickname politicians in those days!!)...
Carl: I suppose a politician with a name like Bland would have needed some kind of nickname!
:-)
Posted by: Don | July 11, 2008 12:53 PM
--A trenchant comment, if anyone had said it was much of a coincidence.--
From the OP.
--Things have changed in America in the last century, to be sure, but I keep thinking about a summer 100 years ago when our nation was sending Olympic atheletes overseas (to London)...--
Posted by: emergent pillage | July 11, 2008 3:03 PM
"came out of nowhere and electrified the Democratic National Convention with his famous "Cross of Gold" speech. '
I defy you to point to anything that has come out of Obama's mouth that could hold a candle to even the penultimate paragraph of that speech.
Posted by: kevin s. | July 12, 2008 3:27 PM
kevin s.:
"I defy you to point to anything that has come out of Obama's mouth that could hold a candle to even the penultimate paragraph of that speech. "
"Yes we can!"
that's been pretty inspiring to many people. i'll give you that the "cross of gold" speech was fantastic for its day and in light of the issue at hand and that byan was a near perfect orator, but obama has been just as inspiring to those who seek change and listen to him.
and for those who are frightened over the comparison of obama and bryan just remember, bryan (i believe it was 4 attempts) never won the white house and went down in history most known for his tired and over the hill prosecution in the scopes trial.
Posted by: dave | July 12, 2008 10:07 PM
Just to add an international flavour; 1908 was famous in Australian history, not just for the Great White Fleet visit (racism aside; still a hot topic in this country!!).
Not only were Aussies the first to map the previously unknown half of the Antarctic coastline, but Mawson, Shackleton and Edgeworth David (our most famous geologist) climbed Mt Erebus.
The Australian coat of arms replaced Britain's, and Aussie republicans (started by Irish Catholics and Presbyterian John Dunmore Lang) launched its first attempt to include a republican referendum to the Australian people. As women were the enfranchised to vote from 1902, more women came to leadership in political debate, and Australia was seen as the home country, not Britain.
It was even the beginning of debate over aboriginal land rights (We of the never never) though also of jingoistic poetry (My Country by Dorothy MacKellar).
An exciting year all round!!!
Posted by: Feargal | July 13, 2008 9:08 PM
"that's been pretty inspiring to many people. "
So is Dr. Phil, but I wouldn't call him scintillating.
Posted by: kevin s. | July 14, 2008 9:50 AM
Dave:
We have to accept the fact that Kevin S. and moderatelad can't resist making disparaging remarks about anything that hints at liberalism. Nothing can convince them that Conservatives are no better at solving problems. The powers that be are only interested in absolute power, and they will employ anyone and anything in the way of political philosophy, religious dogma, and—whenever it is profitable (and it usually is for them)—military might. As Christians, we should forgive them for their tunnel-vision (really, a lack of vision) and pray for the day when they will see that God is neither liberal or conservative in the political sense—even as He is both in the spiritual sense.
God is quite liberal in His Grace and Mercy toward our limited human understanding of His Will. He is quite Conservative in meting out the punishment we all deserve. As Christians, we should try to do no less. However, too many that profess to be "good" Christians try to outdo Jesus through political positions—both Liberal and Conservative—that negate the Gospel of Christ and render the Word of God to no effect in their lives.
Posted by: Hermes | July 14, 2008 11:21 AM
kevin s: "I defy you to point to anything that has come out of Obama's mouth that could hold a candle to even the penultimate paragraph of that speech."
Uh, yeah . . . I'll uh . . . get right on that. As soon as I go to the bathroom. Or maybe after I watch "Family Guy."
Oh, which is the penultimate and which is the ultimate paragraph?
Posted by: carl copas | July 14, 2008 12:23 PM
"The powers that be are only interested in absolute power, and they will employ anyone and anything in the way of political philosophy,"
William Jennings Bryan was a Democrat, and I can't say that I have a strong opinion w/r/t the issue of bimetallism.
"As Christians, we should forgive them for their tunnel-vision (really, a lack of vision) "
Forgiveness by way of condescending parenthetical. How magnanimous.
"pray for the day when they will see that God is neither liberal or conservative in the political sense"
I don't think God is liberal or conservative in the political sense and nothing I have said here supports this contention.
Posted by: kevin s. | July 14, 2008 12:26 PM
"Oh, which is the penultimate and which is the ultimate paragraph?"
I'd just stick with "Yes we can." Why burden politics with petty sophistry about policy and whatnot, when we can merely assert whether the whole enterprise can or cannot be accomplished?
This election is "yes we can" versus "no we cannot". Unless you want to throw your vote away on "maybe we should", or "let's pretend we didn't" in the case of the Constitution party.
Posted by: kevin s. | July 14, 2008 3:44 PM
kevin s: "This election is "yes we can" versus "no we cannot". Unless you want to throw your vote away on "maybe we should", or "let's pretend we didn't" in the case of the Constitution party."
C'mon Kevin, even you can hardly blame Obama for the infantilization of American politics. Reagan had "It's morning again in America." Or how about "Keep cool with Coolidge"? Or "Tippecanoe and Tyler too"? And "We Like Ike"--now there's some sophistication. Right up there with "Goldwater--In your heart you know he's right," to which Democrats responded, "In your guts you know he's nuts." A dozen years later some Republicans modified that to "Jimmy Carter--in his heart he knows your wife."
Surely you're not contending that Obama lacks intelligence? In fact I would argue that, in terms of sheer brainpower, the campaign this year pits two of the smartest candidates in a long time. Before that I'd go back to maybe Clinton and Dole in '96, or maybe even to Nixon (law degree from Duke) and McGovern (a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern) in '72.
Of course, intelligence and intellect doth not leadership or statesmanship make. If it did, Reagan couldn't have been elected to dogcatcher.
Posted by: carl copas | July 14, 2008 5:23 PM
"C'mon Kevin, even you can hardly blame Obama for the infantilization of American politics. "
YES I CAN!!!!!
I actually thought of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too. No, I do not blame Obama for infantilizing politics. Neither am I going to credit him for exploiting its infantilization. And Eisienhower, for all his perceived irrelevance, gave some very good speeches.
I wouldn't put Obama in the same sphere as Bill Clinton. Clinton's achievements came without any shepherding or kingmaking. For all his faults, he is a brilliant man (with a brilliant wife, who should have been your party's nominee, but that's neither here nor there, hence the parenthetical).
"If it did, Reagan couldn't have been elected to dogcatcher."
While were on the subject of rhetoric, and (at least obliquely) the power of simplicity "tear down this wall" was pretty potent. Reagan crafted it and insisted upon its inclusion.
Posted by: kevin s. | July 14, 2008 5:46 PM
"YES I CAN!!!!!"
LOL. Touche.
"Neither am I going to credit him for exploiting its infantilization."
Well, to his credit, I think Obama tried not to exploit it for awhile, or at least hold back a bit. In return, he was attacked for not wearing a flag lapel pin and for being too coolly cerebral. And, it must be said, Obama's not always very good at exploiting it: think of the gutter ball when he tried to bowl. Thank goodness he didn't try to knock a shot back like Hilary did; I have a feeling he would recalled Radar O'Reilly.
Can you imagine a current presidential candidate not simply smoking, but using a cigarette holder a la FDR?
"While we're on the subject of rhetoric, and (at least obliquely) the power of simplicity 'tear down this wall' was pretty potent. Reagan crafted it and insisted upon its inclusion."
Agreed. Reagan's ability to inspire rarely moved me, but it's irrefutable that he had it. I did think he was brilliant the day after the Challenger explosion--just as I thought Clinton was brilliant the day after the Oklahoma City bombing.
"And Eisenhower, for all his perceived irrelevance, gave some very good speeches."
True. Most notably his "farewell address" of Jan. 1961, in which he warned of the danger of "the military-industrial complex." Apparently, he gave some very good ones as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during WWII.
"who [Hilary] should have been your party's nominee"
I'm actually registered as an independent. With the exception of a few very local officeholders, Obama is the first Dem. politician to whom I've given $$$ in quite a long time. But it won't surprise you that I vote Dem. far more often than Rep, with an occasional Green and even a Libertarian vote thrown in.
I believe you're a baseball fan--enjoy the All Star game tomorrow evening.
Posted by: carl copas | July 14, 2008 7:01 PM
Post a Comment
Are you aware of our Rules of Conduct?