Case Study 4
By: Jonathan Chung
The medium
of media I choose to use was the newspaper (yet again). The article I choose
was from the religion section titled “Two Paths to Finding God”. It is taken
from the Toronto Star dated
I found
this article to be very encouraging because she is a person who takes faith to
such a personal and serious level. Her convictions really helped out with
forming some ideas for my essay. One issue that I found interesting was that
although her parent’s faiths were so alike and against divorce, they went
through with it. So I guess it’s true that marriage with a different religion
barely ever works out. The other issue was at the beginning of the article
which stated “it’s so easy to pick out the differences between Judaism and
Christianity: one has a Messiah who has come and the other is still waiting for
the Messiah to come.” (
Bibliography:
Holst, Wayne. “Two Paths to Finding God.” Religion: the
Two
paths to finding God
Writer
embraced Judaism, then Christianity
Her book is not a typical conversion narrative
WAYNE
HOLST
SPECIAL TO
THE STAR
People think Judaism and Christianity are radically different from one another,
and that the difference is straightforward: One religion has a messiah who has
come and the other religion doesn't.
But I am struck by the deep
similarity that lies just underneath that difference. Both Jews and Christians
live in a world that is not yet redeemed, and both groups await ultimate
redemption. Some wait for a messiah to come once and forever; others wait for
Him to come back. But both are stuck living in a world where redemption is not
complete, where there's redemptive work to do. Both faiths are waiting.
Lauren Winner is a intelligent, 20-something woman who takes her faith
seriously. It is obvious from an even casual reading of Girl Meets God: On The Path To A Spiritual Life (Thomas Allen &
Sons) that she is searching for truth and will not be satisfied with
conventional clichés or a superficial spiritual quest.
Winner was born in the American
south to a Baptist mother and a Jewish father. After finishing high school and
experiencing her parents' divorce, she made a conscious choice to convert to
her dad's religion. Jewish law declares that Judaism passes through the blood
of the mother. She carefully prepared herself to become an Orthodox Jew and
gave up a lot of normal teenage fun in order to immerse herself in her Jewish
faith.
It is clear that Winner desires
adherence to a religion with integrity. Faith and practice must make sense to
her and be lived authentically. She represents those of a new generation that
are unhappy with religious hypocrisy and shallowness.
After completing college in the
Her book is creatively structured
around the seasons of the Christian year; integrated with an annual cycle of
Jewish holy days. She is obviously invested in the meaning and customs of both
religious traditions.
One example of this
inter-relationship must suffice. After returning to
Winner made arrangements to visit
previously unknown Father Peter who served a parish more than two hours upstate
by train and cab. "I didn't want to confess (to my own parish priest)
because I don't think I'd say everything," she reflected later. The priest
was receptive and at first thought there must be some kind of emergency, but
she assured him otherwise. Winner entered his church clutching six long legal
pages filled with items needing attention.
After taking a bit of time to get
acquainted with Father Peter she waded in with personal concerns. "The last paragraph of page three detailed how I had failed to
walk the chaste straight and narrow after being baptized. Sex with my boyfriend. Sex with an ex-boyfriend I then lied
to my boyfriend about ...''
After she said what needed to be
said, Father Peter donned a purple stole. Because of her sincere desire to
renounce sin and live a renewed life and through a rite called The
Reconciliation of a Penitent he granted her absolution: "The Lord has put
away all your sins ... Go in peace." At that point she ripped her list to
shreds, knowing for certain that she was forgiven.
Why did she convert from a sincere
practice of Judaism to a similarly earnest Christian adherence? Winner says she
experienced a dream about mermaids pursuing her, which she ultimately interpreted
as evidence of God's foreshadowing. She saw the dream to mean Jesus' dogged
pursuit of her and "God's leading her through Judaism to Him."
She initially concluded that there
were things about Orthodox Judaism (such as its attitude to women) that she
could not accept. But, reflecting later on her conversion, Winner discovered
that the church would also disappoint her.
"Christians are just as
anti-intellectual and materialistic as Orthodox Jews, and I am no nobler than
the rest," she confides. Explaining her exit from Judaism required honesty
about her own failures as a practising Jew.
When people want a quick answer to
what attracted her to Christianity, she responds, "The Incarnation"
(the belief that God became human in the person of Jesus). When people ask why
she had earlier become an Orthodox Jew she says, "Learning, text
study." It is apparent that she has ultimately abandoned neither
preference.
Intriguingly, becoming a Christian
did not mean that Winner had really abandoned Judaism. "I had married
Judaism," she said, using an analogy from Hosea, a Hebrew prophet ... and
then I had an affair with a foreign God, another religion. I took another
lover. And I realized I was in love with that other lover, and I wrung my hands
for a while."
She opted for divorce. But, if she
could divorce one partner, what made her so certain that she would not divorce
again. Some relatives and friends have wondered what religion she might pick
next. They think she might become a Buddhist after discovering that faith to be
more true.
Winner is certain there will be no
new conversions "next month or next year" for several reasons.
"First, Judaism and Christianity have something to do with each
other," she says. "Judaism and Christianity make a path. A path through the Bible, and through history. Christianity
and Buddhism don't make the same kind of path." She may be tentative but
she is no spiritual lightweight.
Girl Meets God is therefore not, by any stretch of the imagination, a
typical conversion narrative. It is obvious that Winner remains determined in
her quest for truth. The vigour of her pursuit, her
honesty and transparency, make this story unique and fascinating. Her
confident, realistic questing is refreshing compared to the lacklustre
mantras of some evangelicals.
Winner, who sold all her Jewish
books after converting to Christianity is finding
that, in order to deepen her faith in Jesus, she needs to rebuild her library
of Hebrew Bible themes. Revisiting Judaism now helps her to broaden and deepen
her Christianity.
Purists of both faiths could find
cause to discount Winner. Orthodox Jews, like her former boyfriend's mother,
might reject her because she was a convert (and that, before she actually chose
to become a Christian). Evangelical Christians might cringe at her candour. "I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord,"
she says, "but I also wear fishnet stockings and drink single malt Scotch.
"My generation (doesn't) have
my parent's luggage," she continues. "My story doesn't fit very well
with (the standard) conversion archetype."
Winner represents a new,
thoughtful and venturesome generation of interfaith seekers. Unlike many of
their spiritually uncertain elders, this group is looking for guidance as they
investigate the teachings of two classic religious traditions. The author is
sending a message to the guardians of both biblical faiths. It is a new day.
Many young adults are serious in their search for orthodox truth.
What seems apparent in Winner's case, is that truth could lead them either way.
Wayne Holst
is a writer who has taught religion
and culture at the