Many of our pastoral problems and the foundational alienation from religion in Europe and North America stem from the lack of initiation and depth. Mainline Christianity does not seem to be giving people access to God, to the soul, or to the joy and freedom promised in the Scriptures. Christianity is not doing its primary job well....adaptation from Richard Rohr: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Discs 1 and 3.
This sentiment can be heard from in the forward of Rev. Douglas Horton translation of Karl Barth's The Word of God and The Word of Man in 1956:
Only those who are old enough to remember the particular kind of desiccated humanism, almost empty of other-worldly content, which prevailed in many Protestant areas in the early decades of [20th Century] can understand the surprise, the joy, the refreshment which would have been brought by the book to the ordinary and, like myself, somewhat desultory reader of the religious literature of that time. To question evolutionary modes of thought in that day was something like questioning the Ptolemaic theory in the time of Copernicus, with the stupendous difference that Copernicus seemed at first to shut the transcendent God out of the world and Barth seemed immediately to let him in.
Ah, if only criticism against the Mainline church was still written so eloquently...
The problem is actually not politics because BOTH SIDES of Protestant Christianity participate in the debates on race, gender and economics, etc. On the conservative side, you see books about CRT, DEI, Purity culture, socialism, reduction of the Federal Government, anti-feminism, anti-immigration (especially from non European "Christian" nations) and yes, Christian Nationalism. MAGA is a spiritual movement, now granted, it is a gross corruption of traditional American Christianity and a very negative spirituality, but the with the amount of Trump flags, gear, books, memes, conferences, etc, no one can deny that this movement appeals deeply held anxieties of religious European Americans and some large section of the Latino diaspora better than what the Mainline establishment is offering. Unfortunately, there are many who do not realize that underneath this veneer of religiosity, the movement will stand to lose more than what they will ultimately gain from holding political power. Matthew 16:26 clearly states that worldly power alone cannot bring true happiness or fulfillment. I think about this every time that I am on Twitter reading people's comments about how true believers in the MAGA movement are still mean and belligerent even though they have entire control of the incoming government and how sympathizers are starting to realize that they may have just bought a Faustian bargain.
Meanwhile, alternative religions, quasi-religious and ethical fraternities, and transcendent secular groups have captured the imagination of European youth that are not interested in conservative Christianity or Christianity in general. Mainline Christianity, with its postmodern devolution into secular humanism, is so spiritually bankrupt that it is even less appealing now as it was back when Horton penned his forward in the 1950s. The social isolation that originally was the position of the fundamentals in the early 20th century has now been reversed, and the Mainline does not have the spiritual or psychological resources to rebound from this change of events.
Mainline Christianity in its efforts to appeal to the modern mind, has so empty itself of its founding myths and is so devoid of the ability to create meaning that a vast portion of society has totally rejected it, even though it continues to support popular social causes. Postmodern theology has created a theological vacuum that is so deep that it is unable to provide life guidance or even muster up the slightest bit of optimism or hope when it comes to life right now, let alone a future outcome.
Per an interview with Richard McKay Rorty by Modern Reformation this question was asked about the state of Mainline Protestantism. Unfortunately, I am unable to immediately find a date for this interview, but it is somewhere in 2003.
MR: You've made some intriguing comments about Christian theologians and churches selling out robust versions of Christianity in exchange for cultural clout. Do you find, as an outsider looking in, that this contributes ironically to its irrelevance?
RR: No, I'm delighted that liberal theologians do their best to do what Pio Nono said shouldn't be done -- try to accommodate Christianity to modern science, modern culture, and democratic society. If I were a fundamentalist Christian, I'd be appalled by the wishy-washiness of their version of the Christian faith. But since I am a non-believer who is frightened of the barbarity of many fundamentalist Christians (e.g., their homophobia), I welcome theological liberalism. Maybe liberal theologians will eventually produce a version of Christianity so wishy-washy that nobody will be interested in being a Christian any more. If so, something will have been lost, but probably more will have been gained.
Hindsight is 20/20. Roughly twenty years later, there are some secular thinkers that say that a purely secular vision of society did not usher in a utopia as imagined. There is "something" missing and that missing link, whatever it is, threatens to undermine the stability of the nation. The Mainline reaction to conservative Christianity to fashion itself into everything that is counter to their political vision totally delegitimizes it to the point of obscurity.
Can there be a rebirth? Sure. But there has not been a strong interest by most denominational leaders to take the path less traveled. In some denominations, the intentional hostility and sometimes downright slander and malice to lay renewal efforts has taken its toll. As people of good will have received the left foot of disfellowship, they have either moved on to create smaller Protestant denominations that do not have political power or have moved on to "classic" Christian bodies such as Anglicanism, Catholicism and even Eastern Orthodox, traditional groups that have long shed their political ambitions yet still hold on to the faith and because of this are experiencing a rebirth. That cannot be said for Mainline Protestantism.
Come to find out, churches actually do have a use and should be useful, but if they lose their salt and light, then they will ultimately lose any eternal and temporal significance.
Many of our pastoral problems and the foundational alienation from religion in Europe and North America stem from the lack of initiation and depth. Mainline Christianity does not seem to be giving people access to God, to the soul, or to the joy and freedom promised in the Scriptures. Christianity is not doing its primary job well....adaptation from Richard Rohr: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Discs 1 and 3.
This sentiment can be heard from in the forward of Rev. Douglas Horton translation of Karl Barth's The Word of God and The Word of Man in 1956:
Only those who are old enough to remember the particular kind of desiccated humanism, almost empty of other-worldly content, which prevailed in many Protestant areas in the early decades of [20th Century] can understand the surprise, the joy, the refreshment which would have been brought by the book to the ordinary and, like myself, somewhat desultory reader of the religious literature of that time. To question evolutionary modes of thought in that day was something like questioning the Ptolemaic theory in the time of Copernicus, with the stupendous difference that Copernicus seemed at first to shut the transcendent God out of the world and Barth seemed immediately to let him in.
Ah, if only criticism against the Mainline church was still written so eloquently...
The problem is actually not politics because BOTH SIDES of Protestant Christianity participate in the debates on race, gender and economics, etc. On the conservative side, you see books about CRT, DEI, Purity culture, socialism, reduction of the Federal Government, anti-feminism, anti-immigration (especially from non European "Christian" nations) and yes, Christian Nationalism. MAGA is a spiritual movement, now granted, it is a gross corruption of traditional American Christianity and a very negative spirituality, but the with the amount of Trump flags, gear, books, memes, conferences, etc, no one can deny that this movement appeals deeply held anxieties of religious European Americans and some large section of the Latino diaspora better than what the Mainline establishment is offering. Unfortunately, there are many who do not realize that underneath this veneer of religiosity, the movement will stand to lose more than what they will ultimately gain from holding political power. Matthew 16:26 clearly states that worldly power alone cannot bring true happiness or fulfillment. I think about this every time that I am on Twitter reading people's comments about how true believers in the MAGA movement are still mean and belligerent even though they have entire control of the incoming government and how sympathizers are starting to realize that they may have just bought a Faustian bargain.
Meanwhile, alternative religions, quasi-religious and ethical fraternities, and transcendent secular groups have captured the imagination of European youth that are not interested in conservative Christianity or Christianity in general. Mainline Christianity, with its postmodern devolution into secular humanism, is so spiritually bankrupt that it is even less appealing now as it was back when Horton penned his forward in the 1950s. The social isolation that originally was the position of the fundamentals in the early 20th century has now been reversed, and the Mainline does not have the spiritual or psychological resources to rebound from this change of events.
Mainline Christianity in its efforts to appeal to the modern mind, has so empty itself of its founding myths and is so devoid of the ability to create meaning that a vast portion of society has totally rejected it, even though it continues to support popular social causes. Postmodern theology has created a theological vacuum that is so deep that it is unable to provide life guidance or even muster up the slightest bit of optimism or hope when it comes to life right now, let alone a future outcome.
Per an interview with Richard McKay Rorty by Modern Reformation this question was asked about the state of Mainline Protestantism. Unfortunately, I am unable to immediately find a date for this interview, but it is somewhere in 2003.
MR: You've made some intriguing comments about Christian theologians and churches selling out robust versions of Christianity in exchange for cultural clout. Do you find, as an outsider looking in, that this contributes ironically to its irrelevance?
RR: No, I'm delighted that liberal theologians do their best to do what Pio Nono said shouldn't be done -- try to accommodate Christianity to modern science, modern culture, and democratic society. If I were a fundamentalist Christian, I'd be appalled by the wishy-washiness of their version of the Christian faith. But since I am a non-believer who is frightened of the barbarity of many fundamentalist Christians (e.g., their homophobia), I welcome theological liberalism. Maybe liberal theologians will eventually produce a version of Christianity so wishy-washy that nobody will be interested in being a Christian any more. If so, something will have been lost, but probably more will have been gained.
Hindsight is 20/20. Roughly twenty years later, there are some secular thinkers that say that a purely secular vision of society did not usher in a utopia as imagined. There is "something" missing and that missing link, whatever it is, threatens to undermine the stability of the nation. The Mainline reaction to conservative Christianity to fashion itself into everything that is counter to their political vision totally delegitimizes it to the point of obscurity.
Can there be a rebirth? Sure. But there has not been a strong interest by most denominational leaders to take the path less traveled. In some denominations, the intentional hostility and sometimes downright slander and malice to lay renewal efforts has taken its toll. As people of good will have received the left foot of disfellowship, they have either moved on to create smaller Protestant denominations that do not have political power or have moved on to "classic" Christian bodies such as Anglicanism, Catholicism and even Eastern Orthodox, traditional groups that have long shed their political ambitions yet still hold on to the faith and because of this are experiencing a rebirth. That cannot be said for Mainline Protestantism.
Come to find out, churches actually do have a use and should be useful, but if they lose their salt and light, then they will ultimately lose any eternal and temporal significance.
Hey I gave you that Keller quote!