Pope Benedict's Case for a Smaller Church

 


Years before he became Pope Benedict, he wrote that the church, i.e. Christianity, must become smaller and purer before growing again. From time-to-time people write essays restating this idea. The link author had a practical justification for saying there is something positive about a smaller church, it is getting smaller. 

I would guess that if we could unearth what people have said about declining religions over the entire history of humans we would find every time a faith was declining someone preached, "They will learn we were right. Our religion will come back." I recall reading that about Pagans when Christianity was growing. It was in the vein of, "We are the known and established religion. No upstart can replace us."

The "smaller but better" church theory does not fit human behavior. Pope Benedict had in mind, of course, a church made up of people who think exactly as he did. Advocates today say the same thing. Reality is religious opinions have always morphed from one view to another. That is not only true about Christianity but of every other religion. The small group of true believers will inevitably start drifting apart with self-appointed experts and a "reformed" group will form. It will point to the original group of true believers and say it lost its way but "our reformed group has it right."

Then there is the government variable. When Trump needed supporters he promised to stack the Supreme Court. He needed lots of conservative Christians to become President. If there are fewer of them, we will have secular Presidents and secular Supreme Court Judges. The hokum about "religious liberty" needs lots of Christian voters to stay alive. Fewer Christians mean less influence in both the President's office and Congress. 

Being bigger has helped the Christian religion hang on for a couple of thousand years. History tells us its demise was inevitable from day one--all religions have a limited shelf life. Being smaller will hasten, not stop, the decline.  

Comments

  1. Ardy BFebruary 5, 2023 at 2:10 PM

    Psychedelic churches pushing the boundaries of religion? Not sure what the boundaries of religion are. I thought the outer limits might be human sacrifices and mass suicides with honorable mention to deadly poisonous snake bites and drinking strychnine. Being possessed by a ghost , holy or not, certainly qualifies as an altered state. Hell, Trump worship can trigger out-of-the-mind experiences like believing California wildfires were ignited by Jewish space lasers. I mean for some of the faithful, the fact Don Jr. was not struck down while hawking Bibles was proof certain of the redemptive mercy of the living Christ. Whether it’s DMT, snake venom, strychnine, mushrooms, cactus, cannabis, flogging yourself, or simply the morning sun through stained glass windows, “holy” water, and frankincense, there is some mind or mood altering going on. Religion can be a long strange trip no matter how you take it … or leave it.

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    Replies
    1. JonFebruary 5, 2023 at 4:17 PM

      Ardy B-- Thanks for a good review of the psychedelic-lite altering of reality in the religious mind. In Christianity are the snake handlers and the pass-out-on-the-floor people. Leaving reality is the priest/preacher raising the container high so grape juice or wine gets transformed into blood. Oh boy, that's one of them.

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