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From the Tower of Babel to Parliament Hill: How to Be a Christian in Canada Today

by Brian C. Stiller

Central to the theme of Ontario-based theologian Brian C. Stiller’s fifth book are two well-known biblical events: Babel and Pentecost. In From the Tower of Babel to Parliament Hill: How to Be a Christian in Canada Today, Stiller attempts to help Canadians rediscover Christian values and avoid the pull towards secularization by examining both the cultural confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the lifting of language barriers at Pentecost.

Much of Stiller’s ensuing discussion revolves around the issue of language. More pointedly, he emphasizes that our nation needs a Canadian language that crosses the divides caused by history, geography, language (yes, the French/English debate, but also the forgotten dialects of Native people), religion, muticulturalism, and politics. With all of these elements in play, and working, according to Stiller, most often against one another, the nation is without a unifying language and a much-needed identity. The resulting secular nature of the country is posing a serious threat to the survival of religion and of Christianity.

Stiller’s tone is probing, serious, and informed, and his style is sweeping in that it easily draws the reader into the debate he is staging. He is prone to first-person plural narration, which probably accounts for this sense of being swept up and into the text.

What is particularly interesting about Stiller’s book is his use of the Bible. After a thoughtful examination of the elements that have weakened religion, Stiller uses Old Testament stories to illustrate “a nation under God.” This is followed by a discussion of the New Testament and Jesus Christ’s ideas about being citizens and people of a nation. Stiller cleverly makes parallels and informs at the same time.

The final and most lengthy section of the book includes Stiller’s prescription for a Christian enhancement of Canada’s qualities: action taken by both the government and the country’s Christian citizens. While Stiller’s suggestions may seem overly idealistic, they can also be viewed as an expression of hope.

Upbeat and inspirational though it may be, this text is wrought with an unfortunate irony. Society may already be so secularized that few non-religious individuals will choose to read this book and as far as Stiller is concerned, they are the ones who need to read it most.

 

Reviewer: Carolyne A. Van Der Meer

Publisher: HarperCollins

DETAILS

Price: $26

Page Count: 192 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 0-00-255753-3

Released: Mar.

Issue Date: 1997-3

Categories: Sports, Health & Self-help