The Power and the Glory in the headlights
If you have never read The Power and the Glory it is excellent.
As you look along the road ahead of you, what do you see? And how do you pray?
Graham Greene’s whisky priest may seem like an unlikely companion. But you will find that travelling with him and meeting those around him, even for a few days, is a valuable experience.
If you first came across the book many years ago, it’s worth visiting again.
The novel is set in an unnamed Mexican state (based on Tabasco) during the 1930s when the local governor (Governor Tomás Garrido Canabal) is campaigning to suppress the Catholic Church.
You could read 1920s and 1930s persecution of the church in Mexico.
The protagonist is an unnamed “whisky priest,” the last remaining clergyman in the state who has evaded capture. He’s a deeply flawed individual, struggling with alcoholism and the guilt of having fathered a child.
The priest travels from village to village, performing his duties in secret while being pursued by a zealous police lieutenant. Despite opportunities to escape to a safer region, the priest feels compelled to stay and serve his people. He encounters various characters, including a mestizo who ultimately betrays him, and a pious woman who helps him.
The priest is eventually captured and executed, although, as he dies, he finds a measure of peace and redemption. The novel ends with the arrival of a new priest in the state, suggesting the perpetuation of Christian faith despite persecution.
What’s here for a Christian minister starting out in public ordained leadership? It’s simply worth immersing yourself in the experience, but it will also set you thinking.
The nature of vocation: The novel raises questions about what it means to be called to ministry, especially in challenging circumstances.
Moral fallibility of religious leaders: The priest’s flaws highlight the tension between the ideal of spiritual leadership and human weakness.
Grace and forgiveness: The story explores how God’s grace might work through imperfect vessels.
Faith under persecution: The novel prompts reflection on how to maintain and nurture faith in hostile environments.
The role of doubt: The priest’s struggles with doubt can provide a valuable starting point for thinking about the place of uncertainty in faith.
Sacramental theology: The priest’s insistence on administering the sacraments, even in dire circumstances, raises questions about their importance and meaning.
The nature of martyrdom: The priest’s journey towards his death raises the question as to what true martyrdom involves.
Church and State relations: The novel’s setting invites reflection on the proper relationship between religious institutions and governmental authority.
If you like this kind of reading, and you would like to read other novels where a pastor is a central character, as a mirror for thinking about your role and responsibilities, there is nothing else like this book.
There is a valuable analysis of the novel, and some questions for thinking about: (1) The minister as a sinner; (2) The priest as a sufferer; (3) The priest as hero.
The novel functions as a mirror for ministers thinking about their own personal and professional failings. There is plenty of evidence of clerical unworthiness, and at the same time there are characters who are influenced for good, by the priest’s example and his persistent faith, in spite of his flaws.
’We need to reach our own conclusions as we put the two sides of the equation together.’1
You could think about whose power and whose glory
Leland Ryken, Pastors in the Classics (Baker Books, 2012), p. 77↩︎