I call this the Disney theology of human nature.  This theology assumes that most people in the world are really pretty good (Cinderella, Ariel, Pocahontas, etc.) while a few people out there are really bad (Cruella DeVille, Ursala, Jafar, etc.).  This is not a Christian understanding of human nature.  For that reason, we need to consider how it functions in our culture.

What do Joe Paterno, The Little Mermaid, George Boardman and Jonah have to do with one another?  The connection lies in sorting through bad theology and bad history – history that is sometimes written by Christians.

As I wrote in my previous post, to ask whether Boardman was a hero or a jerk, is to ask the wrong question.  It is, nevertheless, the kind question we often ask.  Come to think of it, I just asked that question.  It is, however, a question rooted in bad theology.

I call this the Disney theology of human nature.  This theology assumes that most people in the world are really pretty good (Cinderella, Ariel, Pocahontas, etc.) while a few people out there are really bad (Cruella DeVille, Ursala, Jafar, etc.).  This is not a Christian understanding of human nature.  For that reason, we need to consider how it functions in our culture.

Keep in mind that Disney didn’t invent this theology.  You will find this good guy/bad guy conception of human nature underlying plenty of movies and other forms of media.  Hey, that reminds me, it’s Political Ad Season, isn’t it?

Tell me if I am wrong, but I think our culture is suffused with a Disney theology of human nature.  Take, for instance, commentary on sports talk radio about the controversies surrounding college football coaches Jim Tressel and Joe Paterno.  More often than not, I heard conversations that ended with the conclusion that we used to think they were good guys, but now we know they weren’t.  They were hypocrites who cared about projecting a good image but not what about was right.  Other coaches are probably good guys.  These guys, it turns out, are not.  Simba and Scar.

There are several reasons why Disney theology is compelling.  First of all, it is simple and straightforward.  It’s a lot easier to choose sides this way.  Slaveholders and the KKK and Stalin were bad.  Aren’t we glad they were defeated?  Revolutionary War soldiers and Abraham Lincoln and Civil Rights marchers were good.  Aren’t we glad they won?  Germans were bad, when they were Nazis.  Of course, they were good during the Cold War — well, those in West Germany.  The East Germans were still bad because they were now communists.  Then wall came down….which made them all good…because…well…um….OK, let’s just keep the Germans in separate chapters.  It’s easier that way.

Disney theology is also appealing because it doesn’t require us to ask uncomfortable questions about ourselves.  We are on the good side, aren’t we?  I can honestly say I was never a Nazi.  Or a communist.  I’ve never tried to cover up information about shady payments to college football players.  I never tried to protect child abusers.  And I never, ever, ever locked my step-daughter in the attic to prevent her from going to the prince’s ball.

Third, Disney tells rip-roaring good stories. Most of us were enchanted by Disney movies when we were young.  They sparked our imaginations.  They gave us fun songs to sing.  They gave us thrilling stories, where we rooted for the underdog.

But for those of us who grew up in the Church an interesting question then emerges.  Were we more enthralled with Disney movies or Bible stories?  Now, I don’t know what went on in your fourth grade Sunday school class, but mine had a hard time competing with the Magical World of Disney, when it comes to the entertainment angle.

And so I grew up hearing conflicting claims about human nature.

A biblical theology of human nature does not, of course, divide humanity into the good guys and the bad guys.  Instead, all of humanity is good, in the sense that we are all created by God, but all of humanity is also stained by sin, in need of God’s grace.  We need to be reminded about this when we think about ourselves and about others.

Disney theology also leads to bad history.  Christians have sometimes been guilty of writing histories that owe more to the Disney theology of human nature than the Bible. In their desire to depict important Christian ministers or leaders as inspirational models of Christian virtue, writers can overlook the sins or flaws of their subject.  These Christians from history then seem to embody an impossibly high standard of character. They strike many as inauthentic.  We don’t get a full, truthful story about them.  All of these characteristics can actually undermine the Christian message.  Histories of missionaries can be particularly susceptible to this kind of treatment.  Missionaries have often been cast as brave, pious, sinless heroes – what is often called hagiography.

The Bible, however, does not revert to hagiography.  The sins of its heroes are laid out in plain view.  We’ve mentioned Jonah.  How about David, with Bathsheba and Uriah? Peter denied Jesus three times.  Moses couldn’t enter the Promised Land because of his sin.

Histories don’t have to revert to Disney theology.  In a recent post by Thomas Kidd on the blog “The Anxious Bench,” Kidd commends a historical work of Owen Strachan and Douglas Sweeney, Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity.  Kidd writes that they “do not set up Edwards as a perfect pastor, nor as one who met with universal success.”  Yet they still produced a highly reliable account that provides “practical, accessible commentary on Edwards’ relevance today.”  I’m quite interested to read this history.  And more like it.  You should be, too.

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