Defending the Faith: Easter Sermon Reaction to Pop Culture Discourses

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Defending the Faith: Easter Sermon Reaction to Pop Culture DiscoursesAuthor(s): David M. Haskell, Kenneth Paradis and Stephanie BurgoyneReviewed work(s):Source: Review of Religious Research, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Dec., 2008), pp. 139-156Published by: Religious Research Association, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20447558 .

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DEFENDING THE FAITH: EASTER SERMON REACTION TO POP CULTURE DISCOURSES*

DAVID M. HASKELL, KENNETH PARADIS, AND STEPHANIE BURGOYNE

WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY

REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH 2008, VOLUME 50(2): PAGES 139-156

In the weeks leading up to Easter 2006, several books on Canada's bestseller's list questioned traditional Christian beliefs surrounding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Through a textual analysis of a random sample of Easter Sunday sermons, this study seeks to determine whether Canadian clergy chose to respond to the chal lenges raised by these contradicting pop culture voices. Secondarily, this study explores the presence of biblical content and generic pop culture content in the sermons in order to determine whether clergy in certain denominations are predisposed to priv ilege one of the two over the other Our analysis found 38% of the sermons contained one or more references to popular culture. Works of pop culture thatfeatured unortho dox accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection were cited most often. While liberal Protestant clergy and conservative clergy (i.e. evangelicals and Catholics) referenced and condemned these unorthodox works in almost equal measure, liberal clergy were twice as likely as conservative to cite pop culture in their sermons. Conversely, the sermons of conservative Protestant clergy (and to a lesser extent Catholic clergy) relied most heavily on quotation and exposition of sacred text for their content. Impli cations of these findings are discussed.

INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

T nwo days before Easter Sunday 2006, John Robson, a columnist for the Ottawa Cit izen, observed: "You know it's Easter when the snow melts, little coloured eggs appear, and the media start running what I think of as their 'was Christ a Black les

bian?' features" (Robson 2006:A14). Robson's observation, though tongue-and-cheek, is astute. In the last few years, movie producers, book publishers, and other purveyors of pop culture content have chosen the weeks leading up to Easter- the day when Christians cel ebrate Jesus' resurrection from death-as the time to launch or begin promoting films and literary works that directly contradict such core Christian beliefs as the resurrection. In

many respects, Easter season 2006 was the prime example of this phenomenon (see Tokasz 2006; Wishart 2006).

On March 28, 19 days before Easter Sunday, Doubleday Publishing decided to stoke interest in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code by releasing it for the first time in paper back. Their timing worked: in North America the soft cover version sold over a half a mil lion copies in its first week, "the highest in memory for a paperback" ("New chapter" 2006).

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Review of Religious Research

In Canada, it was the number one fiction bestseller leading into the Easter weekend ("Best sellers" 2006a). Coinciding with the release of the paperback, high level promotions began for The Da Vinci Code movie, a cinematic adaptation of the book ("New chapter" 2006). The content of the novel and film contradicted core Christian belief insisting that Jesus was not the Son of God (i.e., divine), that he and his female disciple Mary Magdalene were mar ried and had a child together, and that Jesus never resurrected from the dead following his crucifixion (Brown 2003). While typically the ideas put forth in a work of fiction stir little public reaction, the claims made in The Da Vinci Code garnered significant attention because Brown insisted that the underlying "facts" upon which his text was based were 100% "accu rate" (Brown 2003:1).

On the same day The Da Vinci Code was released in paperback, Michael Baigent's book The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History (2006b) made its debut. Like The Da Vinci Code, The Jesus Papers claimed Jesus-a mortal man-and Mary Magda lene married and had a child. However, it posited that Jesus did not die at the crucifixion but recovered and went into hiding in Egypt, possibly moving to France years later (Baigent 2006b). From its late March release to the Easter weekend of 2006 The Jesus Papers hov ered between number one and number six on Canada's hardcover bestsellers list ("Best sellers" 2006a, 2006b).

Not to be outdone by its longer-form competitors, Canada's most influential news mag azine, Maclean's, launched its own tribute to the seasonal Zeitgeist at the beginning of April. The cover of the April 3 issue featured a picture of the crucified Christ over which ran the heading "Did He Really Die on the Cross?" The cover story and associated sidebar articles discussed at length the ideas of Baigent and others who rejected the traditional Christian account of Jesus' death and resurrection (Baigent 2006a; Bethune 2006; Kohler 2006).

Last to join the Easter parade of neo-Christian revisionists was the National Geograph ic Society (NGS). On April 6, ten days from Easter Sunday, the NGS made public a late second century text titled The Gospel of Judas. Contrary to biblical tradition, the text claimed Jesus had asked his disciple Judas to betray him and suggested that Jesus looked forward to his crucifixion because he despised his human body and wanted to be rid of it (Dart 2005;

Krosney 2006; Mcllroy 2006; National Geographic Society 2006b). Following their show casing of The Gospel of Judas manuscript, the NGS announced it had commissioned the writing of two books: a fully annotated English translation of the text eponymously named The Gospel of Judas (2006) and less formal, "reader friendly" account of the gospel and its history called The Questfor the Gospel of Judas Iscariot (Krosney 2006). Both titles were available for purchase in bookstores that same day (National Geographic Society 2006b). A NGS documentary about the Gospel of Judas aired weeks later on the National Geo graphic channel (National Geographic Society 2006a).

It is evident from the sales ratings mentioned above that a significant number of Cana dians were directly exposed to the theories proposed in The Da Vinci Code, The Jesus Papers, and The Gospel of Judas; however, to be adequately versed in the general themes and ideas of these books it would not have been necessary to actually purchase and read them. Prior to Easter, Canadians experienced a barrage of media reports about these books and their content. In fact, a Lexis-Nexis search of newspapers stories showed that in the 21 days lead ing up to Easter Sunday (March 25 to April 16, 2006) Canada's three national newspapers the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Toronto Star-collectively ran 91 stories about these books; an average of more than four stories per day over that period. By spe

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Defending the Faith: Easter Sermon Reaction to Pop Culture Discourses

cific title, 55 news stories referenced The Da Vinci Code, 22 The Gospel of Judas, and 14 The Jesus Papers. A poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid a week before Easter 2006 showed that the books and media reports contradicting traditional Christian belief about Jesus had an effect on the attitudes of the population-at-large. The survey of 814 Canadians found that almost one in five (17%) believed "that Jesus Christ's death on the cross was faked and that he married and had a family" (Tibbetts 2006:A7).

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

For many Christians, the death and resurrection of Jesus remains a core belief. Conser vative and liberal biblical scholars suggest that had Jesus' first followers not believed that he was raised from the dead there would be no Christian religion (e.g. Crossan 1991; Erhman 1999; Witherington 2006; Wright 2003). According to the Apostle Paul: "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Corinthians 15:14, NIV). So when the traditional Christian belief in Jesus' resurrection was openly and pervasively chal lenged by several high profile books and numerous media reports in Canada in the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday 2006, there were responses by the churches for study. Through a textual analysis of a random sample of Easter Sunday sermons, this study sought to deter mine if Canadian clergy chose to respond to the challenges raised by these contradicting voices.

In addition to investigating whether the prevailing Zeitgeist of the 2006 Easter season generated by the popular cultural discourses affected what was preached Easter Sunday, this study also has a broader secondary intent. In the hope of gaining insight into the homilet ic practices of the clergy themselves, we explored, more generally, the presence of biblical content (i.e. reference to passages of scripture) and generic pop culture content in the ser mons of Canadian clergy. The overriding goal of this secondary exploration was to deter mine whether clergy in certain denominations are predisposed to privilege one of these two types of content over the other.

CLERGY ATTITUDES TOWARD POPULAR CULTURE

Given the vast array of Christian denominations and churches in North America, it is, as Buddenbaum (1996:5 1) notes, almost impossible to say with any authority, "This is what Christians believe." However, despite the many differences among the churches, for the most part the majority can be situated within two major groupings: mainline and conser vative. Mainline churches are Protestant and "accept and embrace biblical interpretation and higher criticism that more conservative [denominations] reject" (Buddenbaum 1996:52). Typically, mainline clergy's embrace of higher criticism leads them to hold the liberal the ological view that much in the Bible, including the New Testament, is metaphorical; by extension, it also makes them more receptive to untraditional interpretations of scripture (Clarke 1996; McKim 1996; Rawlyk 1996). The Anglican Church, United Church, Evan gelical Lutheran Church, and Presbyterian Church comprise Canada's mainline denomi nations (Bibby 1993, 2002; Rawlyk 1996). Conversely, conservative Churches-which include the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and all of Canada's conservative, or "Evangelical," Protestant denominations-take a more literal reading of scripture and, in particular, accept Biblical accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as true (Bibby 1993, 2002; Ratzinger 2007; Reimer 2003).

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Just as mainline and conservative churches take different approaches to the interpreta tion of scripture, they also differ in their perceptions of popular culture. Schultze (1996:65) summarizes the conservative Protestant (evangelical) attitude toward popular culture (espe cially as it manifests in the mass media) writing:

From the laity to denominational prelates and theologians, from popular evangelical celebrities

and para-church media watchdog groups to average congregants, evangelicals have feared the

media. This fear takes many forms.. .but all of it seems to share the same overall theme: The sec

ular media threaten the values and beliefs of evangelicalfaith.... The critique extends to all media

and to popular culture in general.

Elsewhere Schultze (2001) suggests that devout Catholics share the same attitude toward popular culture as their conservative Protestant neighbours. In fact, he suggests the threat to faith posed by popular culture has had the ancillary effect of strengthening the relation ship between the Catholic and conservative Protestant faith communities (which up to the

middle of the 20th century remained highly antagonistic). He remarks, "secular popular culture is a very important socio-religious force that unified conservative religious people against a common enemy" and its "unifying impact is evident in the new, specialized reli gious movements that form in response to the perceived evil of mainstream popular cul ture" (2001:41). The goal of these pan-denominational conservative "antimedia movements [is] to express shared moral concerns publicly and try to reform the media" (Schultze 2001:39). In addition to openly criticizing producers of pop culture content by "firing salvos at movie makers, rock music groups, TV producers, and other 'worldly' people," conser vative Christian religious leaders also advocate "restricting media use among members" (Schultze 1996:61).

Buddenbaum (1996:54) concurs that conservative Protestants and Catholic religious leaders fear the affects of "worldly" popular culture and "have used their teaching author ity to warn members to avoid entertainment that might lead them astray." Conversely, she insists mainline clergy "abhor censorship, teaching that silencing even the most objection able voices is inappropriate" (Buddenbaum 1996:55). A survey conducted by Buddenbaum (2001) corroborates these observations. U.S. and Canadian Christian clergy were asked about their attitudes toward popular culture as manifested in the mass media. The findings showed mainline Protestant leaders were far more likely than conservative Protestant and Catholic leaders to "support full legal protections for messages that could be construed as sacrilegious or as portraying sinful behaviours" (Buddenbaum 2001:83). Similarly, con servative Protestant pastors and Catholic priests were highly critical of movies and televi sion as entertainment while "none of the mainline leaders said movies [were] an inappropriate form of entertainment, only one called television inappropriate" (Buddenbaum 2001:83).

The literature outlined above reveals that mainline clergy are more willing to accept non traditional interpretations of scripture than their conservative counterparts; furthermore, it confirms that mainline and conservative clergy hold contrasting perceptions of, and approach es to, popular culture; the former view popular culture as unthreatening and abhorring its censor and the latter taking the opposite view. Thus, we posit the following hypothesis:

HI: The Easter Sunday sermons of mainline Protestant clergy will be less likely than those of con

servative Christian clergy to respond critically to popular culture artefacts (e.g., The Da Vinci Code,

The Jesus Letters, The Gospel of Judas) that challenge traditional Christian doctrine.

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SERMON CONSTRUCTION AND CONTENT

The broader focus of this study is to gain insight into the homiletic practices of clergy; in particular, it seeks to determine the extent to which pastors from different denominations incorporate biblical content and pop culture content into their sermons. Few researchers have gathered and analyzed sermons from "rank and file" clergy in order to assess "real world" homiletic trends. When a literature review by the authors of this current study found no such research, professors of homiletics employed in seminaries across Ontario' were contacted in the hope they might be have knowledge of existing work in the area. Of the nine full-time professors of homiletics contacted, only one was able to cite a study-by sociologist Marsha Witten (1993)-that had examined contemporary sermons from across the theological spectrum.

Witten (1993) analyzed 47 sermons-26 preached by pastors in a mainline denomina tion, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and 21 by pastors in a conservative Protestant, denom ination the Southern Baptist Convention. The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) provided the topic for each of the sermons. As the title of the book suggests, the study's major revelation was that preachers, for the most part, have forsaken theological discourse that highlights congregants' shortcomings in favor of psychologically comforting messages. Interestingly, Presbyterian and Southern Baptist clergy were found to be remarkably sim ilar in their "soft peddling" of the Gospel (this may be a result of Witten's choice to dis card from her sample sermons by Southern Baptist clergy who were more radically conservative). While the use of scriptural content versus non-biblical content was not a spe cific focus of her study, in several instances Witten (1993) indicates that mainline Presby terian pastors were more prone to use non-Biblical stories and allusions in their sermons than their conservative Protestant colleagues. For example, Witten describes Presbyterian clergy as "using the language of humanistic psychology" while the "Southern Baptist responses are more varied" (1993:77-78). Furthermore, she notes that it was far more typ ical of Presbyterian sermons, than Southern Baptist, to

provide numerous narratives and commentary about people in the routine events of life-shop

ping for pets, eating dinner at the family table, gathering at reunions, praying privately or with

others, working the 9:00 to 5:00, fishing for brook trout, playing football, camping out, dining

in restaurants-in which the behavior of Christians coexists comfortably and seamlessly with

the norms of ordinary secular behaviour (Witten 1993:58-59).

Given that Witten's (1993) single study seemed inadequate to form a hypothesis regard ing what an analysis of varied sermons might reveal, we explored complementary data for inferences to bolster our predictive abilities. Specifically, we identified and examined the homiletic textbooks used in Ontario seminaries to get an idea of what clergy-in-training are told makes for effective content in a sermon. In addition, we further queried select profes sors of homiletics.

In Ontario's conservative Protestant seminaries, Haddon Robinson's book Biblical Preach ing: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages is, and has been, the most pop ular homiletic text for budding pastors.2 The dominant message of Robinson's (1980) text is that for a sermon to be effective it must rely primarily on references to, and discussions of, scripture. These quotes from his text demonstrate his penchant for biblically-based ser mon content:

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The man in the pulpit faces the pressing temptation to deliver some message other than that of

the Scripture-a political system (either right wing or left-wing), a theory of economics, a new

religious philosophy, old religious slogans, a trend in psychology... Yet when a preacher fails

to preach the scriptures, he abandons his authority. He confronts his hearers no longer with the

word from God but only with another word from men (Robinson 1980:18).

Regrettably, many preachers fail as Christians before they fail as preachers because they do not

think biblically. A significant number of ministers... prepare their sermons without consulting

the Bible at all. While the sacred text serves as an appetizer to get the sermon underway or as

a garnish to decorate the message, the main course consists of the preacher's own thought or

someone else's thought warmed up for the occasion (Robinson 1980:25).

From Robinson's text we surmised that pastors trained in his method of preaching would favor the inclusion of scripture in their sermons over other types of content. This supposi tion was verified by several professors of homiletics at conservative Protestant seminaries. The response of Rev. Dr. Michael Knowles (Personal Communication, December 4, 2007) at McMaster University's School of Divinity was emblematic of others:

Conservative Protestant (CP) seminaries tend to teach exegetical styles of preaching, and thus

to assign textbooks that favour emphasis on the biblical text.... The question for your research,

then, would be whether CPs prefer sermonic genres that favour Scriptural illustration. My own

impression is that this is indeed the case, and is a function of a typically high view of scripture

on the part of the CPs.

In Ontario's mainline Protestant seminaries, the choice of homiletic text is less uniform than in the conservative Protestant seminaries. However, on homiletic course outlines of these mainline institutions various works by one author, David Buttrick, are cited as required or supplemental reading more often than others. Of his many titles, Buttrick's books Homilet ic Moves and Structures (1987), and A Captive Voice: The Liberation of Preaching (1994)

were most frequently mentioned.3 Buttrick's approach to constructing sermons is, in many ways, antithetical to Haddon Robinson's (1980) method. Specifically, it is Buttrick's (1987, 1994) assertion that the "Gospel message" is not confined to the text of the Bible. For exam ple, in Chapter 1 of A Captive Voice, Buttrick (1994) argues that preaching has suffered because it has too narrowly focused on interpretation and exposition of scripture. In Chap ter 4, titled "Preaching and Method," he insists that clergy preach a "contemporary struc ture of meaning" that is derived from positive examples from the social realm and does not

rely too much on biblical texts (Buttrick 1994:89-91). Given the popularity of Buttrick's (1987, 1994) texts for homiletic courses at mainline

seminaries, we surmised that clergy who had attended these institutions, influenced by his

method of preaching, would be more likely to craft sermons that contained substantial ref erences to non-biblical material. Our notion that mainline clergy would be predisposed to

flesh-out their sermons with non-biblical content over scriptural content was further rein forced by the ideas Donald McKim (1994) sets out in his book The Bible in Theology and Preaching. In that work, he makes the argument that how clergy understand the Bible deter mines how they preach. Of mainline Protestant clergy, whom he refers to liberal Protes

tants, McKim (1994:47) states the Bible is "a very 'human' book" and is "not seen as

'perfect' in matters of truth." This view that "strictly speaking the Bible itself is not the pure word of God" has freed mainline clergy to craft sermons around non-biblical experiences "that stand underneath the categories of the Bible and then reinterpret and reformulate the

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meaning of these experiences in forms that are intelligible and meaningful to contempo rary persons" (McKim 1994:45,47).

Catholic seminarians studying homiletics in Ontario rely less on core teaching texts and more on in-class instruction. Apart from that distinction, the instruction would-be priests receive in relation to sermon-crafting is in many ways closer to conservative Protestant approach than the mainline Protestant. Seminarians are taught that the primary goal of a homily is to "elucidate the scripture reading prescribed in the Lectionary." This elucidation is to be accomplished through reference to "parallel [biblical] passages that complement and draw out the deeper meaning of the lectionary verses." While focus on scripture is para mount, Catholic sermons must also show "how the message of the scriptures are relevant today through references to current issues in contemporary society" (Rev. Dr. John Sher lock, Professor of Homiletics, St. Peter's Seminary, Personal Communication, December 20, 2007).

Orthodox seminarians in Ontario receive similar instruction to that of their Roman Catholic counterparts. Homiletic technique is imparted primarily through lectures, and "pas sages from the Bible and the Church Fathers" are considered the crucial content of any ser mon (Fr. Constantine Siarapis, Professor of Homiletics, Greek Orthodox Theological Academy of Toronto, Personal Communication, December 22, 2007).

Anchored in the literature and observations detailed above, we posit the following hypoth esis:

H2: Excluding references to popular culture discourses that contradict traditional Christian beliefs (e.g., The Da Vince Code, The Jesus Letters, The Gospel of Judas), the sermons of con

servative Christian clergy will, for the most part, contain less extra-biblical content in general,

and fewer references to popular culture in particular, than mainline Protestant sermons. The

sermons of conservative clergy will instead rely more heavily on the quotation and exposition

of scripture for their substance.

METHODOLOGY

Data Collection This study examined sermons delivered by clergy on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006.

Clergy preaching in English-speaking, Christian churches located within or between the cities of London, Ontario and Windsor, Ontario were eligible to submit their sermons.

The stretch of South-Western Ontario bookended by the cities of London and Windsor was chosen because it is one of the most highly populated and demographically diverse areas of English-speaking Canada. Politically, there is a range of affiliations within this cor ridor: Windsor residents traditionally support the socialist New Democratic Party (NDP), London residents support centrist candidates from the Liberal and Conservative Parties, and rural residents throughout the region tend to support right-leaning candidates of the Conservative Party. Economically, London is known for its white collar businesses-high er education, insurance, information technology, medicine, life and health sciences research in contrast, Windsor's economy is dominated by the automotive industry. Outside these urban center is a mix of agricultural and small to medium sized manufacturing ventures

("City of Windsor" 2007; "London and Middlesex" 2007; Statistics Canada 2007a, 2007b). Most importantly, the mix of Christian churches within this South-Western Ontario corri dor is vast. Over 400 churches belonging to more than 25 major denominations are found

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here (Yellow Pages Group 2007a, 2007b). Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, all the mainline Protestant, and all the major conservative Protestant denominations are represented.

In the two weeks following Easter Sunday, 2006, two means were used to contact the clergy employed in the English-speaking churches of this London to Windsor corridor. Denominational head offices were e-mailed detailed information packages. Administrators were asked to forward the information-including a request for sermons-on to their respec tive clergy. In cases where a denominational head office did not exist or could not be reached, individual churches were telephoned and a request was made for their clergy person's e

mail address. When an e-mail address was obtained, the clergy person was sent a detailed explanation of the study along with a request for his or her Easter Sunday sermon. To avoid biasing the sample-that is, to ensure pastors did not self-censor and decline to participate because they had not referenced pop culture in their sermons-clergy were not made aware of the particular foci of this study. Instead, they were told, more generally, that their ser mons would be "analyzed for dominant themes and ideas." Clergy were also assured of anonymity. Text copies of sermons could be e-mailed, faxed, or surface mailed; if it was unavailable in textual form, a video or audio recording of the sermon could be sent via post.

Data Analysis Each sermon was analyzed in its entirety. The research team independently analyzed the

qualitative data set using the guidelines for categorizing suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985).4 Because our primary interest was to determine if clergy in their 2006 Easter Sun day sermons responded to works of popular culture that challenge traditional Christian doc trine (e.g., The Da Vinci Code, The Jesus Letters, The Gospel of Judas), and our secondary interest was to determine how clergy incorporate scriptural and pop culture content into their sermons, we studied the texts for themes related to pop culture phenomenon and for biblical references. An initial sample of ten sermons was randomly selected for the researchers to read independently; each was carefully scrutinized to determine if its content correlat ed with other sermons-when common elements were noted these were placed in a com mon group. Content that was interrelated led to the development of a specific category. Additional categories were created by repeating this process. Remaining items that did not fit into a category were labelled as miscellaneous. After examining this initial sample of sermons, the research team met and consensually developed a draft rubric for the catego rization of the full sample.

With the rubric as a guide, the researchers continued to analyze the remaining sermons, noting any new or emerging themes and categories of interest. Upon completion, the researchers discussed their findings as a group and determined which categories spanned the entire sample. When necessary new categories were created and existing categories

were fine-tuned or amalgamated. Those items that had previously been deemed miscella neous were separated into their different conceptual components and re-sorted into com mon groups. A master version of each sermon was produced to consolidate the researchers' comments. Final category and subcategories were established based on those consolidat ed comments. Lastly, conclusions were drawn in theory building (Lincoln and Guba 1985).

RESULTS

Sermons from 78 churches across South-Western Ontario were received. Seventy-six were usable; however two, which arrived as scant, point-form notes, were deemed too vague

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to interpret and were excluded from the analysis. Of those included in the data pool, 70 were typewritten or handwritten documents; five were audio recordings and one a video

recording. Most of the typewritten sermons were sent as e-mail attachments while surface

mail was favored for the other formats. In the sample of 76 usable sermons, there was almost equal representation between con

servative and mainline Protestant churches with 35 sermons submitted by the former and 34 from the latter (in this group of mainline churches one sermon from the Metropolitan

Community Church-a liberal Protestant church with a similar theological outlook to some

United Churches-was included). Six sermons were submitted by Roman Catholic church es and one from a Greek Orthodox church.5 Broken down by specific denomination, the

conservative Protestant churches to submit sermons were: Baptist (12); Christian Reformed (2); Church of Christ (1); Lutheran Church-Canada (7); Non-Denominational/Community

Church (6); Pentecostal (5); Salvation Army (2). The mainline churches to submit sermons

were: Anglican (10); Evangelical Lutheran (4); Metropolitan Community Church (1); Pres byterian (5); and United (14).6

With over 400 churches in the London to Windsor corridor, the response rate of clergy submitting sermons was approaching 19%. This is within the normal range for solicitation and submission of information via e-mail (this study's primary conduit for data). In her

study of e-mail survey response rates, Sheehan (2001) noted that over the last 15 years the average response rate has been decreasing; by 2000 it had dropped to 24%-she predicted the downward trend would continue. Recently, Johnson and Kelly (2003) used e-mail to

survey American journalists and the response rate they achieved was 20.5%.

Gray and Guppy (2003) point out that the quality of one's results are not necessarily

compromised by lower response rates. It is only when those respondents who did not par

ticipate in the research are characteristically different from those who did participate that

quality is compromised; that is, "only if non-respondents are distinctive in comparison to

respondents does their exclusion from the survey actually lead to bias or distortion in sur vey results" (Gray and Guppy 2003:168). In terms of this study, all of Canada's largest denominations-as determined by the most current census data (Statistics Canada 2003) were represented. In fact, it was only clergy from some of the smaller conservative Protes tant denominations who did not submit sermons. However, the absence of sermons from these pastors would not lead to distortion in the results because, in terms of religious pro file, theses nonparticipants share a very high affinity with the conservative Protestant cler gy who did participate (cf Reimer 2003).

Gray and Guppy (2003) also state that higher response rates are only needed when the assessment's purpose is to measure effects or make generalizations to a larger, diverse pop ulation. When the assessment's purpose is to gain insight into a particular phenomenon high response rates are less important. The findings of this current study are being used prima rily for the latter purpose: they are meant to elucidate how pop culture discourses affected

the Easter Sunday sermons of two kinds of Canadian clergy-a tightly defined issue and a

highly select group.

Responding to "Heretical" Pop Culture Discourses With a presence in almost one quarter (18 of 76) of the sermons, works featuring unortho

dox accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection were cited more often than any other artefact of popular culture. Specifically, references to The Da Vinci Code (usually the book and not

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the movie version) appeared with greatest frequency. While it was sometimes cited on its

own (4 of 76), it was also mentioned in connection with The Jesus Papers (4 of 76) or the

Gospel of Judas (8 of 76). Neither The Jesus Papers nor the Gospel of Judas were men

tioned on their own. Finally, the Maclean's magazine article that questioned Jesus' death

and resurrection was twice cited on its own.

Reference to The Da Vinci Code and its ilk was found in almost equal measure in the

sermons of conservative clergy and those of mainline Protestants. About 16% (1 of 6) Roman

Catholic homilies, 23% (8 of 35) conservative Protestant, and 26% (9 of 34) mainline ser

mons cited these works. When the sermons of conservative Protestant and Catholic clergy

were tabulated together as a single "conservative" grouping, these works appeared in 22%

(9 of 41) of the combined texts. One sermon preached by a conservative Protestant pastor

spoke positively about The Da Vinci Code suggesting that publicity surrounding the book was making people more interested in the person of Jesus. This was the exception. All other

sermons that referenced The Da Vinci Code, The Gospel of Judas, The Jesus Papers or the

Maclean's article by name criticized these works for promoting false ideas.

The 22% (17 of 76) of sermons in the full sample that directly cited and condemned The

Da Vinci Code and its thematic kin shared several structural characteristics. Typically, they

would cite the literary piece(s) and then provide a very short synopsis of the content such

as, "These works contradict the Gospels by denying the death and resurrection of Jesus."

It was the exception if the background of a particular "offending" source was elaborated

upon-the speakers seemed to assume that their audiences were familiar with the intrica

cies of the plots. It was also noted that in those cases where multiple publications were

cited, the speakers tended to conflate the works leading to the misrepresentation of their

content. For example, some speakers suggested that The Gospel of Judas and The Da Vinci

Code deny that Jesus died on the cross. In fact, The Gospel of Judas ends with Judas turn ing Jesus over to the high priests and does not include any mention of the crucifixion or resurrection and the Da Vinci Code only denies Jesus' resurrection. It is The Jesus Papers and Maclean's article that rebuff both the death by crucifixion and resurrection.

While three of the sermons (two mainline and one conservative Protestant) dismissed

the work(s) as "a lie" or a "conspiracy theory" or as "lacking a grain of truth" and then said

nothing more about them, the rest argued purposefully for the literal resurrection and rein forced their position with one or more classic apologetical proofs. More than any other

proof, the dramatic change in Jesus' disciples shortly after His crucifixion was used to sup

port the veracity of the resurrection. This excerpt from the sermon of a mainline minister

is emblematic of the argument posed:

Something had to have happened to elicit such a change in the disciples. These frightened and

embarrassed followers were not going to lay down their lives willingly over some thrown togeth

er conspiracy theory.

The second most popular proof to be used was also related to Jesus' earliest disciples;

clergy noted that many were recorded as having seen Jesus after his death. Several of these sermons also employed the criterion of multiple attestations to prove the veracity of the New Testament's account of the resurrection. After alluding to the Bible's multiple accounts

of the resurrection and reminding his congregation that "history is a product of consensus," one mainline minister concluded that, "the New Testament contains sufficient record and sufficient cross reference to be seen as historical by many scholars." The antiquity of the

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New Testament texts was also used to endorse their veracity; this manner of proof was

employed most often in cases where clergy sought to discredit the ideas put forth in the

Gospel of Judas. For example, one conservative Protestant pastor refuting the authenticity

of the Gospel of Judas said:

Discoveries like The Gospel of Judas are all the rage when they're announced. But the claims come

and go, while the Bible stays around... .The earliest accounts of the life of Jesus are the Gospels

we find in the Bible. They tell of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

While 22% (17 of 76) of the sermons explicitly named and condemned The Da Vinci

Code and its correlatives, another 12% (9 of 76) alluded to these publications and spoke of them critically. Conservative and mainline Protestant clergy equally employed these nega tive allusions in four sermons each. For example, without ever mentioning a title, one main

line minister complained, "We are constantly bombarded with books that try to prove that

Easter didn't happen" while a colleague, again without citing titles, said "Of course the

writers of these books and articles think they are very modem....But in fact theories ques

tioning Jesus rising from death have been around a long time." One conservative Protestant

pastor simply exclaimed, "Why do they insist He did not die on the cross?" without ever

discussing who "they" was. Another was equally brief saying, "Today some say he never

died." A Greek Orthodox priest also alluded to pop culture purveyors of unorthodox doc

trines saying, "...our Risen Christ, whom we believe to be true God, is insulted and dis

paraged daily by godless atheists and unethical teachers."

Our first hypothesis proposed that the Easter Sunday sermons of mainline Protestant

clergy would be less likely than those of conservative Christian clergy to respond critical

ly to popular culture artefacts (e.g., the Da Vinci Code, The Jesus Letters, The Gospel of

Judas) that challenge traditional Christian doctrine. That hypothesis was not supported; in

fact, mainline Protestant clergy condemned these works slightly more often than their con

servative counterparts. In the Discussion section of this paper we offer some possible expla

nations for this unforeseen phenomenon.

Pop Culture and Scriptural Content Overall, 38% (29 of 76) of the sermons contained one or more direct references to pop

ular culture, including one that referenced The Da Vinci Code and its ilk only, those that referenced Da Vinci et al. and other pop culture artefacts (17 of 76), and those that refer enced pop culture artefacts unrelated to Da Vinci et al. (1 1 of 76). Broken down by reli

gious persuasion, mainline Protestant sermons were most likely to include a pop culture

reference: 53% (18 of 34) did so, compared to 26% (9 of 35) conservative Protestant ser

mons, and 33% (2 of the 6) Roman Catholic. When the sermons of conservative Protestant

and Catholic clergy were tabulated together as a single "conservative" grouping, references to pop culture appeared in 26% (11 of 41) of their combined texts (X2 = 5.34, d.f. = 1, p<

0.025), indicating a significant difference between the number of mainline sermons with

pop culture reference and the number of "conservative" sermons with pop culture refer

ence. The difference between the mainline sermons and the sermons of conservative Protes

tants alone was also significant (X2 = 5.37, d.f. = 1, p< 0.025). When references to The Da Vinci Code and its ilk were left out of the tabulation, 22%

(17 of 76) of sermons cited artefacts of popular culture. Again, mainline Protestant sermons led the pack, referencing pop culture twice as often as sermons of conservative clergy.

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Specifically, one third (11 of 34) of the mainline Protestant texts and just 14% (5 of 35) of conservative Protestant sermons contained pop culture references unrelated to The Da Vinci Code or its correlatives. Similarly, only 16% (1 of 6) of the Catholic sermons contained a pop culture reference when those related to the aforementioned "heretical" texts were dis counted. Tabulated together as a "conservative block," less than 15% (6 of 41) of Catholic and conservative Protestant sermons contained pop culture references unrelated to Da Vinci et al. Regarding these "generic" pop culture references, a Chi-square test determined the difference between the mainline sermons and the "conservative" sermons (i.e. Catholic and conservative Protestant combined) was marginally significant (X2 = 3.33, d.f.=1, p<0.10). Similarly, the difference between the mainline sermons and those of the conservative Protes tants alone, was marginally significant (X2 = 3.16, d.f.=1, p<O. 10).

Of the 22% (17 of 76) of sermons with pop culture references in addition to, or instead of, those related to Da Vinci et al., none cited elements of popular culture such as fashion, food, dance or language trends. Instead, all references related to mass media discourses. For example, 10.5% (8 of 76) mentioned news reports about local, national, and interna tional tragedies. In these cases, the clergy spoke of seeing or reading reports of accidental deaths, murders, terrorism, wars, epidemics, or even declining church attendance. Without exception, references to these events were used to segue into a discussion of modern-day opportunities for "resurrection." For example, one mainline minister used this illustration:

Many people were unhappy when American troops were sent to Iraq....But in the ensuing days

of death and destruction, civilian and military casualties, there is possibly a slim chance of life

and peace and justice for that unhappy land. Iraq is not yet an Easter country. It has not yet

come to life. But it is my conviction that something new will grow there, and Iraq will live

again. Life comes from death.

Barring the sermon of one conservative Protestant pastor, the other references to news reports of tragic situations were found in the sermons of mainline clergy. Also of interest, those sermons that mentioned news reports did so exclusively-there was no overlap of categories. That is, sermons mentioning news reports about tragic situations did not make reference to any other artefacts of popular culture.

In 6.5% (5 of 76) of the sermons Mel Gibson's movie, the Passion of the Christ (2004) was mentioned-always favorably. Though referenced by one mainline minister, it was cited primarily by conservative Protestant clergy as proof of increased interest in Jesus and was also praised for its instructional value. For example, a conservative pastor stated, "Stud ies have shown that a Roman flogging was gory and brutal. If you've seen the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, you have an idea." Four of the five sermons that reference the Passion of the Christ also included references to The Da Vinci Code and/or its thematic replicas. The juxtaposing of these works seemed intentional with the former presented as

"good media" and the latter cast as "bad media." In 5% (4 of 76) of the sermons a blanket reference was made to popular media as a mono

lithic institution. In these cases "the media" was depicted as adversarial toward Christian faith or as a negative cultural force. For example, after arguing for the veracity of Jesus' lit eral resurrection, one mainline minister said, "The world will try to change the Good News. The media will constantly try to prove it wrong." More reflective than angry, another main line minister stated, "Sometimes the headlines do scare us, or leave us feeling thoroughly depressed, hopeless." The other two sermons to negatively reference media as a monolith

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were delivered by a third mainline minister and a Roman Catholic priest. Two of the three mainline sermons also referenced The Da Vinci Code in combination with The Gospel of Judas elsewhere in their text.

There were five other single references to popular media-Hollywood movies, a mag azine article about a politician, and a documentary were all mentioned by separate main line clergy while Oprah Winfrey's talk show and a televised hockey game were cited by conservative Protestant clergy. In each case, the respective media product was spoken of favorably as offering valuable advice or a lesson for life. These citations appeared along side other media references in their respective sermons.

In addition to the presence of pop culture references in the sermons, this study was inter ested in the presence of scriptural content in the homiletic texts. During our analysis, the distinctions between the sermons of mainline and conservative Protestant clergy, in regard to biblically-derived content, became clear. The defining feature of the conservative Protes tant sermons in our sample was the large portions of text they dedicated to the quotation and exposition of scripture. Close to 90% (31 of 35) of the "Evangelical" sermons con tained 3 or more separate (i.e., non-contiguous) direct quotes from scripture; of those, 83% (29 of 35) featured 5 or more direct quotations.7 These quotations, peppered throughout the sermon, ran anywhere from 2 to 14 verses in length. About 6% (2 of 35) contained 3 to 4 quotationss and 11% (4 of 35) used one to two.

While quotation and discussion of specific biblical verses comprised the bulk of the con servative Protestant sermons, the content of mainline sermons was primarily derived from personal anecdotes, humorous stories, historical and literary allusions, and references to the products of popular culture that have been highlighted in this study. Only one mainline sermon contained five or more direct quotations from scripture. Most (44%, 15 of 34), fea tured one to two direct quotationss; about 15% (5 of 34) contained three to four. Close to one third (11 of 34) contained no direct quotation of scripture; however, in these sermons clergy paraphrased biblical stories or biblical sayings. About 6% (2 of 34) of mainline ser mons included no direct quotation or paraphrase of scripture.

Roman Catholic clergy featured direct biblical quotes in their sermons about as often as mainline Protestant clergy; half (3 of 6) of their sermons featured one to two quotes and the other 50% featured paraphrases of biblical stories and sayings. However, the Catholic sermons were unique in that they referenced doctrinal texts other than the Bible as well. Specifically, in those sermons where the Bible was quoted, the writings of Early Church fathers, encyclical letters of the Pope, and Vatican II documents were cited. Given that the Catholic faith accepts such non-biblical texts as religiously authoritative, it could be argued that the Catholic homilies, insofar as they relied more heavily on "sacred texts" for their content, shared a greater affinity with conservative Protestants sermons than those of the mainline. The single sermon submitted by Greek Orthodox clergy contained just one direct quote from scripture and several paraphrases of biblical sayings.

Our second hypothesis proposed that, excluding references to popular culture discours es that contradict traditional Christian beliefs (e.g., The Da Vince Code, The Jesus Letters, The Gospel of Judas), the sermons of conservative Christian clergy will, for the most part, contain less extra-biblical content in general, and fewer references to popular culture in par ticular, than mainline Protestant sermons. The sermons of conservative clergy will instead rely more heavily on the quotation and exposition of scripture for their substance. That hypothesis was supported.

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Rev iewll of Religious Research

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

On Easter Sunday 2006, in sermons delivered across South-Western Ontario, no book, apart from the Bible itself, was referenced more often than The Da Vinci Code. This book, alone or in combination with other works promoting similar ideas, was condemned by name or by description in one third (25 of 76) of all sermons in our sample. The majority of ser mons that referenced and condemned these works provided complex counter-arguments based on scientific or historical evidence. One might have expected clergy, in particular conservative Protestant pastors with their affinity for biblical literalism, to simply claim, "the Gospels' version of Jesus' death and resurrection has to be true because the Bible is the divinely inspired, inerrant Word of God." But, for the most part, they did not. This may suggest that clergy with conservative beliefs feel in order to win over a public steeped (by design or by osmosis) in post-modem thought, they must be willing to challenge the "sec ular world" on its own turf, playing by its rules. Perhaps they reason: when the dominant ideology has to a lesser or greater extent persuaded parishioners that truth is relative, it is

important that your "facts" appear more credible than your opponent's. The frequent use of complex counter-arguments also suggests "education campaigns" launched by high-level conservative religious leaders and para-church organizations gained traction at the grass roots level. These campaigns, conducted through specially constructed internet sites, mag azine articles, and books, provided point-for-point rebuttals against the theories posited in The Da Vinci Code and its thematic kin (e.g., Bock 2004; Chattaway 2006; Karayan 2006).

We were not surprised to find that The Da Vinci Code garnered the most attention in the sermons. This, we felt, was a reflection of its extended run as a best seller. No novel, before or since, has reached so many readers in so little time ("New chapter" 2006). It was also a reflection of its continued ability to capture headlines. As noted in the introduction to this paper, in the 21 days prior to Easter Sunday Canada's three national newspapers collec tively ran 55 stories referencing The Da Vinci Code. Over the same period The Gospel of Judas was referenced 22 times and The Jesus Papers just 14 in the national papers. Given its cultural penetration, clergy may have seen The Da Vinci Code as more dangerous to the faith, and therefore more worthy of mention in their sermons, than other similar works.

What did surprised us was that the sermons of conservative and mainline clergy con demned The Da Vinci Code and other such works in almost equal measure (in fact, the ser mons of mainline clergy came out slightly ahead). Since the mid-1900s clergy in the mainline denominations-especially church leaders-have tended to embrace higher criticism. This form of textual analysis insists that stories in the Bible can possess multiple meanings rang ing from the literal to the metaphorical. As a result of their embrace of higher criticism, these clergy have been more willing to accept untraditional interpretations of scripture and challenges to doctrine (Buddenbaum 1996, 2001; Clarke 1996; Rawlyk 1996). Why then were so many mainline clergy in our study not willing to accept the untraditional interpre tations of scripture promoted by The Da Vinci Code and other works? A re-examination of the sermons, this time for geographical location of the churches, provided us with a possi ble answer to this query. We found that seven of the nine mainline sermons that expressly condemned the ideas of The Da Vinci Code and its ilk had been preached in rural church es. Research shows that rural residents in Canada are more likely to hold conservative Chris tian views than those in urban centres (Clark 2000; Ipsos-Reid 2003; Rawlyk 1996). It may be that mainline clergy who hold conservative views of scripture gravitate (or are pushed?) to rural charges where their opinions will be in closer alignment with those of their con

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gregations. While this assumption is yet to be proven empirically, there is other anecdotal

evidence that suggests it is indeed the case.

Over the last four years, the Anglican Church of Canada has seen division within its

ranks over its clergy's blessing of same-sex unions. Those against same-sex blessing (the

more biblically-literal position) have tended to be clergy residing in rural areas; converse

ly, those in favor have hailed primarily from urban areas. Despite a request for a moratori um on same-sex blessings by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Anglicanism's highest official,

clergy in four of Canada's 31 Anglican dioceses have voted to officially sanction the bless

ings of same-sex couples. The four dioceses-New Westminster which envelopes the city

of Vancouver, Ottawa which takes in the cities of Ottawa and Hull, Montreal which con

tains the city of Montreal, and Niagara which enfolds the cities of Hamilton and Burling

ton-have the greatest concentration of urban clergy (excluding the Diocese of Toronto)

(De Santis 2007; Sison 2007). Finally, this study showed that it was not just The Da Vinci Code and its thematic repli

cas that clergy spoke of with distain. In the main, when popular culture-in the form of

popular media-was mentioned in a sermon, the connotation was negative. The literature highlighted earlier in this paper would have us anticipate a negative attitude toward popu

lar culture among conservative Christian clergy. However, the critical attitude toward pop ular culture evidenced by this study's mainline clergy (both rural and urban) seems an

aberration. Previous research asserts that mainline pastors embrace and endorse popular culture (e.g., Buddenbaum 1996, 2001; McKim 1996; Schultze 1996, 2001; Witten 1993). Yet, of the 18 total references to popular culture made by mainline pastors in their sermons,

just four spoke of it positively. We surmised that it could be the religious occasion addressed

by these sermons-Easter-that encouraged mainline clergy, usually at ease with popular

culture, to use it as a foil. The central theme of every sermon in the sample was resurrec

tion-be it the resurrection of Jesus or, more generally, the experience of "new life" com

ing to someone or something. A sermon structured on such a theme naturally gravitates

toward a binary structure that pits a negative force (death/brokenness) against a positive one (new life/healing). Specifically, in order for clergy to argue that resurrection (of Jesus, of compassion within humanity, of hope, etc.) can fix the problems of the world, they must first establish that the world is broken. Certain news items, movies, or TV programs pro vide ready examples to support that austere assertion. Just as stars appear to shine brighter in a black sky, the message of resurrection becomes more vivid when it is held up against dark examples from popular culture.

NOTES * All correspondence should be directed to Dr. David Haskell, Assistant Professor, Journalism, Wilfrid Lauri

er University, Brantford Campus, 73 George Street, Brantford N3T 2Y3, Tel. (519) 756-8228 (ext. 5808). Email:

[email protected].

'Information was gathered from the following instructors of homiletics: Rev. Dr. David Reed, Wycliffe Col

lege University of Toronto; Rev. Dr. Paul Wilson, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto; Rev. Dr. David

Schnasa Jacobsen, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Wilfrid Laurier University; Rev. Dr. Stan Fowler, Heritage The

ological Seminary; Rev. Dr. Michael Knowles, McMaster Divinity School, McMaster University; Rev. Dr. Fred

Penny, Tyndale University; Bishop Emeritus, Rev. Dr. John Sherlock, St. Peter's Seminary, King's University Col

lege; Rev. Dr. Gene Haas, Redeemer University College; Fr. Constantine Siarapis, Greek Orthodox Theological

Academy of Toronto.

2Professors of Homiletics at conservative Protestant seminaries were unanimous in this assertion. Professors

at mainline seminaries also concurred that Robinson's text was a favorite among Evangelical clergy.

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3This was established through a review of online Homiletic course outlines and through discussions with Pro

fessors of Homiletics at mainline seminaries. Professors at conservative seminaries also cited Buttrick's work as

a favorite among mainline clergy. 4For additional information, the reader is encouraged to read Lincoln and Guba's (1985) chapter on "Pro

cessing the Data."

There are three Greek Orthodox Churches in the London to Windsor corridor. It could be argued that all sub

mitted sermons because the identical homily?a letter written by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Toronto?

was delivered to each congregation. 6Our categorization of churches into conservative Protestant and mainline denominations follows the denom

inational classification system used by Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby in works such as Unknown Gods:

the Ongoing Story of Religion in Canada (Toronto, Ontario: Stoddard, 1993). Sociologist Sam Reimer uses the

same broad classifications in Evangelicals and the Continental Divide: The Conservative Protestant Subculture

in Canada and the United States (Montreal, Quebec: McGill-Queens University Press).

'Specifically, conservative Protestant sermons with five or more direct quotations of scripture broke down as

follows: 31.4% featured 5 to 6, 22.8% featured 7 to 8, 11.4% featured 9 to 10, and 17.1% featured more than ten.

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