Neighborology and Crizaldo's discontent || John Pesebre

Updated: 11/23/16

The hashtag #neighborology started appearing on my Facebook newsfeed primarily from the posts of a well-known Filipino evangelical author based in the Philippines, Rei Lemuel Crizaldo.

We do not have a systematic presentation of #neighborology yet -- no books, no adequate treatment in a blog -- but reading through writings of Crizaldo in the internet and of his friends who subscribe to this notion of #neighborology, one can at least understand the core idea behind the hashtag.

I see primarily three areas from where it is drawing lifeblood

1. love-thy-neighbor doctrine
2. Brueggemann's "neighborliness"
3. Schaeffer's "final apologetic".

In this blog I will try to give a working definition of #neighbrology based on the conversations of Crizaldo in his blog and his Facebook interactions. This is not yet an exhaustive assessment of his proposal, reason why I want to update this from time to time, although I would like to believe that the key features of #neighborology are already embodied here.

Love-thy-neighbor doctrine
In his blog "Insurrection," Crizaldo explains,

We do not have at all a 'neighborology’ for the doctrine of loving our neighbors and enemies, may they be Samaritan-looking or centurions armed to harm and hurt.*

The "Samaritan" (and the "centurions") allusion references to a structure of animosity between the Jews and the Samaritan. It exemplifies the point of Crizaldo. We will return to this in a little while.

Crizaldo's blog post is a critique of "theologies". He alleges,

The problem with ‘theologies’ as we have them now is that each has a very compartmentalized categories for things that are otherwise deeply related and connected to each other. This is almost like trying to enjoy a glass of milk tea by sipping the tea apart from the milk that comes with it.†

Christian theologies disorientated -- it no longer is a part of a noetic structure. Because of Christianity's

unfortunate preoccupation for the bottomless pit of 'nomenclature’ and creative classifications has caused our minds, with much tragedy, to 'segmentized’ and break things apart‡

Christianity didn't go far enough in "bringing everything in one seamless beautiful whole."

Crizaldo faults these "theologies" why Christian society is characterized by fragmentation and preoccupation with theological nomenclature. It created alienation.

His allusion to the Samaritan is an example of this alienation: Jew vs. Samaritan. The Word in Life Study Bible explains,

Hatred between Jews and Samaritans was fierce and long-standing. In some ways, it dated all the way back to the days of the patriarchs. Jacob (or Israel) had twelve sons, whose descendants became twelve tribes. Joseph, his favorite, was despised by the other brothers (Gen. 37:3-4), and they attempted to do away with him. §

The fragmentation exemplified by the Jews and the Samaritans lies in "theologies." He concludes this blog quite emphatically,

 Lest we conclude things wrongly, it is not that we have theologies that are so good to be true. No, we have theologies that are so damn true to be of any good. The problem of theologies as we have them now is that we have them. And only them. Now. ¶

Crizaldo laments that we live in a society characterized by fragmentation and preoccupation with theological nomenclature. It is not enough that Christians do this, but has to have something that transcends this fragmentation and pre-occupation. One that heals the alienation.

As such you would understand why he would endorse views like these,

When I'm sick, and you bring me a meal, I don't care whether you're a Calvinist or Arminian... What does matter is the way you treat other people." -Stephen Mattson

We are called as Christians not to sign up to a certain doctrinal statement but to follow a certain way of life." -David Congdon and Travis MacMaken, Why Theology Matters

Brueggemann's 'neighborliness'
In his Goodreads page, Crizaldo references Brueggemann's words in a Q & A by OnFaith.com where Brueggemann decried the "deathly social context that’s marked by consumerism and militarism and the loss of the common good." For him, consumerism and militarism cause people

to be very afraid, to regard other people as competitors, or as threats, or as rivals. It causes us to think of the world in very frightened and privatistic forms. #

To correct this problem, he pays homage to the Gospel saying (and Crizaldo quotes this in the Goodreads page),

The gospel at its best has always been a summons to think about how the world can be practiced differently . . . The gospel very much wants us to think in terms of a neighborhood, in terms of being in solidarity with other people, in sharing our resources, and of living out beyond ourselves. The gospel contradicts the dominant values of our system, which encourages self-protection and self-sufficiency at the loss of the common good. The church is in some ways a reflection of those dominant values.**

Communitarian ethic

The gospel as it is suggested here is a type of communitarian ethic that runs against the dominant structures of modern society. Crizaldo's neighborology takes from Brueggemann with FB posts like this:

Charity is not a strategy. Compassion is not a weapon. Nor are acts of love meant to simply win a debate. What the early church did for each other was the living-out of the grace that forms the ethics of Jesus.

The reader would notice a basic understanding of "neighbor" along with Brueggemann's "neighborliness" and Crizaldo's "early church did for each other" is a communitarian ethic.

What I mean by communitarian here is "of or relating to social organization in small cooperative partially collectivist communities"

What I mean by "ethic" here is a "the body of moral principles or values governing or distinctive of a particular culture or group." Ethics (with an "s") on the other hand is a field of study that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior."


Counterculture
Brueggemann's "neighborliness" also has a strong notion as a counterculture which is "a way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm."

Readers should be aware that Brueggemann situates what he calls the "gospel" in the context of a clash between consumerism/militarism and neighborhood solidarity.

These two variables then, ie communitarian ethic and counterculture, are key notions in Crizaldo's neighborology.

Schaeffer's final apologetic

Crizaldo's nuances neighborology also with Schaeffer's "final apologetic" --

what is needed is a generous dose of 'neighborology’ aka the 'final apologetic’ says Francis Schaeffer ††

Crizaldo uses the neighborology here as a corrective for people who are "pre-occupied and mesmerized [in] crafting the 'best’ argument to prove that there is such a super being called God." His blogpost aims to correct what he thinks is a wrong method in apologetics and evangelism. He said

to really win those who are not impressed and are actually hateful already of anything that has to do with Christianity

But what does he mean by Schaeffer's 'final apologetic.'

In a nutshell, the "final apologetic" is "the observable love of true Christians for true Christians."§§

A definition of neighborology
From this tripartite genealogy of Crizaldo's use of neighborology, we can surmise that neighborology characterizes Christianity as --

a counter-cultural, communitarian ethic of the church that prioritizes observable love to neighbors in a Christian society fragmented and preoccupied with theological nomenclature


---------
* Rei Lemuel Crizaldo, "Insurrection," Half Meant, 24 May 2016, accessed on November 23, 2016; accessed at http://xgenesisrei.tumblr.com/post/144884581710/when-fans-of-asgard-prove-god

†Crizaldo, "Insurrection"

‡ Crizaldo, "Insurrection"

§ n.a., The Word in Life Study Bible, New Testament Edition, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville; 1993), pp. 340-341

¶ Crizaldo,"Insurrection"

# Walter Brueggemann, “It’s Not a Matter of Obeying the Bible”: 8 Questions for Walter Brueggemann," interview with Marlena Graves, On Faith, accessed on November 23, 2016, accessed at https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2015/01/09/walter-brueggemann-church-gospel-bible/35739

** Brueggemann, "It's Not a Matter..."

†† Crizaldo, "When Fans of Asgard Prove God"

‡‡ Crizaldo, "When Fans of Asgard . . ."

§§ Francis Schaffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster, pgs. 164-165