Posts Tagged history
Speak now, or…
Explain to me again why the existence of god (whether all-powerful or mostly-powerful) and the non-existence of empirical evidence of the existence of god are not in conflict with each other.
Let’s not get bogged down in the semantics of empirical evidence. I’m not talking about the wondrous beauty of nature and I’m not talking about inexplicable medical miracles. I’m talking the night and day cold hard dirt of fact. Like the sun and the moon.
If there is a benevolent god, it would seem she/he/it (SHI) is only present in memory and shadow. Like our ethical bent and need for acceptance and love are the remnants left in the pixie dust wake of god’s departure from SHI’s creation. Why would god not speak to our world leaders? Why would god not mention the incoming tsunami that is about to kill thousands? Why would god only channel surf through our history instead of jumping on the dance floor and grinding with the locals?
I’ve labeled myself a hopeful agnostic. So I guess what I’m asking is, “Why does god refuse to speak?”.
Oh wait. He is speaking. I just can’t hear him. Thanks guys. That’s oh so helpful. It’s my fault.
“The coming evangelical collapse”, an article from Michael Spencer of the Christian Science monitor.
There was a pretty interesting article over on The Christian Science Monitor about the potential demise and collapse of the evangelical movement.
Here’s an excerpt that highlights one of the reasons, according to the author (aka Internet Monk), that this collapse is impending and unstoppable:
We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we’ve spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.
Take a second to read the entire article. I’d be interested to know some opinions and criticisms.
Oh, and Christianity Today’s Mark Galli has posted what I think is a fair response from someone in his position.
As senior managing editor of Christianity Today — whose masthead reads “a magazine of evangelical conviction” — it would seem that I have a vested interest in the survival of evangelicalism. Yes and no. On the one hand, as a student of church history, I can also predict that cultural evangelicalism will collapse, not likely in ten years, but collapse it will. On the other hand, evangelicalism will never collapse, at least not until the final altar call.
It’s fair, but it’s also kind of missing the point I think. Evangelicalism (not a redefinition to mean Biblical Christianity in whatever form it currently exists) has become a polarizing movement that aligns itself with political ideologies and attempts at mass market appeal. It can’t market it’s way out of the situation with clever commercials or radical rebranding or awesome alliterations.
But then, I’m probably missing the point too. What do you think?