Parade of Faith

[This review is from the March issue of Credo Magazine, “Make Disciples of All Nations.”]

Tucker, Ruth A. Parade of Faith: A Biographical History of the Christian Church. Zondervan, 2011.

Review by Aaron Menikoff 

Just go to your nearest bookstore—if there are, in fact, any standing shops near you—and you will quickly discover that history is not dead. Popular readers are fascinated with the past. The problem with history today is not a lack of interest.

The problem is an inability to separate what is trivial from what is significant. During a recent trip to my local bookstore, I was pleased to see that the children’s section had a display devoted to biography. My pleasure evaporated when I saw that a biography for Thomas Jefferson was forced to stand next to a pictorial biography of Justin Bieber.

Ruth A. Tucker wants the next generation to love church history. Thus she wrote Parade of Faith: A Biographical History of the Christian Church. Everyone loves a good story, and Tucker provides 495 pages worth.

There is nothing novel in the organization of her work. She divides church history into two parts: first, The Early Church through the Magisterial Reformation and, second, Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism to the Twenty-first Century. She begins in Acts and concludes with Billy Graham. Ending with Billy Graham is a surprise given the fact that Tucker wrote, Left Behind in a Mega Church World (Baker, 2006). I wondered why Tucker chose to ignore the founders of the mega church movement who undoubtedly shaped twenty-first century Christianity, both in America and beyond.

Tucker has given the reader much to appreciate. She gives attention to figures usually ignored. For example, Marcella grew up with elite standing in fourth-century Rome only to adopt a vow of poverty and form “the brown dress society.” Marcella is an important representative of the many women who became involved in the ascetic movement. Furthermore, Tucker gave detailed attention to Richard Allen, the important founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

It should be no surprise that Parade of Faith has an encyclopedic feel. Chapters are divided into biographical sketches. Tucker is aware that not every figure carries the same historical weight. Thus, she gives more attention to Martin Luther than Richard Baxter. In short, a student who reads this textbook will walk away with a sense of church history’s main players.

Tucker’s work does have several flaws, which must not be overlooked.

First, Tucker rarely explains the significance of the individuals she uncovers. She describes the Desert Fathers as “a strange lot,” and strange they may have been. She notes how “they were sincerely striving for a deeper spiritual path.” But why, what drove them? What explanations did they give in their writings for their motives? Even a biographical historian must give time to interpreting the lives addressed.

Second, Tucker is dismissive of theology. For example, she takes the fall of Rome as an opportunity to criticize those who try “to make sense of the catastrophic events from a sociological and theological and historical perspective” (99). And yet it was Augustine’s willingness to reflect upon the fall of Rome, from a biblical perspective, that made him such a compelling and enduring theologian.

Does this unwillingness to address theological matters betray a lack of interest or simply disagreement. One wonders given how Tucker speaks appreciatively of Albert Schweitzer and relays the fact that some described Paul Tillich as “American’s leading theologian” without any real explanation of his attempt to undo orthodoxy.

Third, there is no unifying theme to hold this history together. I cannot help but think that this is intentional. Lives are different and messy and complex, and we should all know that oversimplification is one of the great difficulties of church history. Nonetheless, it is the attempt to find a storyline, as complicated as the task may be, that makes history an art form. Furthermore, it is Tucker’s lack of attention to theology that makes a unifying theme nearly impossible to find.

Fourth, history is too often sacrificed at the altar of a good story. She concedes early on in her study of Patrick “that hagiography and biography are often blended” (114). Perhaps this explains why she ends her treatment of the Desert Fathers with “Mary of Egypt: Sex Addict and Saint.” I read with bemusement Tucker’s recounting of Pope Joan or Pappess Joanna. She began by noting “That a woman would sit in the papal throne is not so inconceivable in light of the fact that some popes in this era were unordained teenagers” (147). But she ends her four-paragraph treatment by admitting it didn’t happen, “it is generally considered to be no more than a fascinating, albeit false, story” (148). It is not appropriate to devote precious space in a history textbook to mythology.

Sadly, Tucker has fallen into the trap of allowing Justin Bieber to stand next to Thomas Jefferson on the bookshelf.

Aaron Menikoff (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA.

Read other reviews in the March issue of Credo Magazine, “Make Disciples of All Nations.“

To view the Magazine as a PDF

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) These words, spoken by Jesus after his resurrection, are famously known as The Great Commission. As disciples of Christ, it is our great joy to go and tell the nations about the good news of salvation for sinners through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. The March issue of Credo Magazine will seek to ignite a passion for missions. And what better timing as this year marks the 200th anniversary of Adoniram and Ann Judson setting sail aboard the Caravan with to take the gospel to Burma. Contributors include: Ted Kluck, Jason Duesing, Nathan Finn, the Housley Family (missionaries in Papua New Guinea), Kenneth Stewart, Brian Vickers, David VanDrunen, Matt Williams, and many others.