What Do Active Christians Want from Christianity
During several decades of being an active church member and in the decades since, I've looked about and wondered why I went to church and why others do so. What is it people get from the church experience? I was taken back a bit by an emotional essay written by a professor of religion I have followed for a decade.
This professor, Roger E. Olson, is from the Arminian branch of evangelical Christianity. Arminianism is, to my layman's understanding, some combination of Calvinism, Methodism and Dutch Reform. He has taught for several years at Baptist Baylor University.
What Olson, approaching retirement, laments is the evangelicalism he has enjoyed and made his living in for decades is all but gone. When I stand and look around me, he grieves, I see nothing but wreckage. Believers are fighting one another, there is no sense of community among believers and the tenets of the faith are being ignored.
He writes a blog and a few months ago told of trying to find a church where he and his wife will be moving. The denomination was not so important but he wanted a church where the congregation participated by singing hymns, reading scripture together, standing for prayers and such. Most of the churches he inquired about have gone to concert formats where Christian music is played and short sermons given in between selections. He wanted a sense of shared sacrifice where members of the congregation dug deep to give and pastors served at low salaries. Eventually he found such a church in a large metropolitan area of Texas.
What Olson seems not to understand is his old version of church is unsustainable. The new version is unsustainable too. They are all unsustainable because they are based on individuals' versions of what the Bible tells them. Yes, there are denominations and these have universities with seminaries cranking out scholarly publications about the Bible. These are then debated by officials of denominations and boards and committees. The result of all this is theological chaos. Different people or groups want the Bible to mean different things. This includes Catholics, Lutherans and Arminians. They change the meaning and style of worship to suit their preferences.
For those like Olson who don't want change, apparently there are a few churches with business models that keep the old worship practices in place. The bulldozer of time will push such churches over. And, the theological wreckage he sees will not be fixed.
Jon; Contrary to your "layman's" understanding, Arminianism is not a combination of Calvinism, Methodism, and Dutch Reformed. Calvinism, (Presbyterianism, and Dutch reformed, and most Baptists are Calvinistic. (tulip) Methodists generally are not, and are in the fold of Arminianism. In fact, Arminius was opposed to Calvin's teaching on double election. ( two way predestination. The principle is; if some are predestined to be saved, and knowing some aren't. Those who aren't are predestined to hell. Nothing you can do about it either way. In fact, after Arminius opposed double election, the Calvinists conducted a Synod of Dort to strongly and violently reject Arminius.
ReplyDeleteToday, most no one makes the distinction, and the result is apparent.
I had a neighbor who was a retired Baptist minister who served of all things, a church with Presbyterian and Methodist on the front. I asked him how he considered the conflict between Calvin and Arminius, and he said, "Hmm, I never thought about that". If the membership is as casual about this topic, I can see why the writer of the link is frustrated. It's all about "deeds, not creeds".
The new American Christianity. Heavy on the American, and damn little on Christianity.
and yes, "Pietism, (the noun) has become an adjective as a result. In some instances, violent/ extreme pietism, as was exhibited at the US Capital.
"In fact, after Arminius opposed double election, the Calvinists conducted a Synod of Dort to strongly and violently reject Arminius......
DeleteIn some instances, violent/ extreme pietism, as was exhibited at the US Capital."
Nothing new under the sun. Here is one of those violent Capitol protesters.
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2021/01/12/fbi-arrests-fur-wearing-nyc-man-on-capitol-riot-charges/
Registered Democrat, son of a liberal New York judge. He has Presbyterian written all over him. That denomination has a long list of who's who people.....prominent mayors, judges, etc.
Here is another violent Capitol protester>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Earle_Sullivan
He truly has politically conservative roots. Something happened though. His recent works do not match. If I were to guess.....maybe became Presbyterian from his Moremon beginnings? Definitely violent pietism. With visions of Trump in his head, he could have been even singing Amazing Grace as he was breaking the glass on the Capitol building and supporting BLM on all the other protests in America.
An interesting addition to my 8;16; In Calvinism, there is an approved relationship between church and state, which continues to today, as evidenced by the large number of Presbyterians and Baptists involved and influencing politics.
DeleteAlso, King Henry VIII looked at Lutheranism, rejected it, and chose to swing towards Calvin to justify his position on the close relation of church and state, due to the Lutheran strong opposition of blending church and state. The king / queen of England is also the head of the church, and continuing the Catholic theocratic tradition, with the influence of Calvinism.
The fun and interesting part about John Sullivan is how he was treated with disdain by BLM protesters, being escorted from events and being accused of being a double agent for LEA.
DeleteAll of this was, of course, well documented months before the attempted coup.
"...accused of being a double agent for LEA."
DeleteNow that is quite a conspiracy theory! Occam's Razer would indicate that Sullivan is the real deal with repeating acts. The proof that Sullivan is antifa is the fact the Justice Department is not detaining or aggressively pressing charges on him, despite breaking glass for entry. If he had been Billy Bob from Arkansas, who sat with his feet propped on Pelosi's desk without destroying anything, but he was a professed conservative, Sullivan would still be rotting in jail.
Right. So activist groups on Twitter have documented statements going back to at least November (that I can find) warning BLM folks to stay away from John Sullivan, and Talia Jones even reported in December that he had been escorted out of a BLM rally because he wasn't welcome.
DeleteDude...the internet makes this stuff easy. You have no excuse for parroting bullshit conspiracy theories aligning the Justice Department with Antifa. Didn't you say something about Occam's Razer?
Straight from the horse's mouth, he said he was at the Capitol in support of BLM. He also said he does not support either Trump or Biden.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVU0sVhcL8
You say he is not in association with BLM, specifically that BLM rejected him, implying this sentiment carried through to the events of Jan 6. That is pure bullshit conspiracy theory.
Of course the self-proclaimed BLM associate did wear a Trump hat Jan 6th during the break-in. Is that how you document? Wear the hat of the candidate that he says he does not support? Ridiculous.
What is the simplest explanation here? He is antifa and BLM posing as a Trump supporter during the Capitol break-in. Period.
It sounds like you're accepting the fact BLM activists have rejected Mr. Sullivan months before the capital attack, as I see no rebuttal to this. It kind of makes your entire argument extremely silly.
DeleteOf course, those of us who know who Mr. Sullivan was before January 6th already knew your argument was extremely silly.
And even if I didn't know who Mr. Sullivan was prior to January 6th, the possibility that a single person in the midst of hundreds of Trump supporters is somehow relevant is beyond silly.
The simplest explanation is that this guy is looney tunes, something some of us have known for months. Your conspiracy theory conclusion defies logic.
Bryan K "The simplest explanation is this guy is looney tunes, something some of us have known for months."
DeleteThis guy is almost a clone of a guy I met decades ago. Back then, I was aware of a guy I saw on national TV who wore a spectacular wig. It was kind of rainbow colored and huge. Something about it drew cameras, my eyes and most eyes. Then our family was in Seattle for a large convention with several outdoor events. I saw this guy. He hung around wherever people gathered and press took videos. Later he was walking by where we were and I asked if we could take our pictures with him. He said he had a part time job but spent every penny he had traveling to events to get his image on TV. I saw him on TV weeks later somewhere else. He had no interest in the events, just a publicity seeking odd ball.
Sullivan has found the horns and the rest of his outfit draws TV cameras--that's his only objective. He is just another version of the guy I met in Seattle.