Can Liberal Christianity Find Its Own Salvation?

As of Sunday, July 29, 2012

By William E. Smith

Special to The Pilot

A recent editorial by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, "Saving Liberal Christianity," got my attention.

Quoting controversial former Bishop John Shelby Spong and his 1998 book "Why Christianity Must Change or Die," Mr. Douthat proceeded to tell of drastic changes in the governing policies of the Episcopal Church designed to keep the church relevant in a rapidly changing world. The latest is the adoption of a rite to bless same-sex unions.

Taking a wide swath, Mr. Douthat declared that "leaders of the Episcopal Church and similar bodies don't seem to be offering anything you can't already get from a purely secular liberalism." Meanwhile, average attendance in local Episcopal churches shows something between a decline and a collapse.

"In the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent," he wrote, "and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw churchgoing increase."

If misery loves company, there may be some comfort in the fact that the Episcopal Church is not alone. In the early 1970s, 62 percent of Americans identified themselves with a Protestant church or denomination. By 2008, just slightly more than half did.

"If this trend continues," Mark Chaves writes in "American Religion: Contemporary Trends," "the United States soon will not have a Protestant majority for the first time in its history."

There has also been a significant increase in the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation. Some still believe in God and consider themselves "spiritual but not religious." In 1957, a government survey revealed that only 3 percent of Americans said they had no religious affiliation. By 2008, 17 percent said so.

We have also become a more diverse society because of the influx of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. Yet the majority of recent immigrants to the U.S. still come from predominantly Christian countries. Most recent immigrants from Latin America are overwhelmingly Catholic. Some still think that the United States is a "Christian country," but the increase of non-Christians belies that claim. We are diverse.

The word "liberal" is not as highly respected as it used to be. Political and religious conservatism are interdependent and increasingly powerful. It was not always so.

I attended Methodism's oldest and most liberal theological seminary, which had parted company with fundamentalists who believed that the Bible was essentially dictated by God and therefore is infallible. At Boston University School of Theology, we were taught that God spoke, and continues to speak, through many authors.

The Old Testament is a veritable library of ancient Israelite literature, the earliest writing believed to have been written a thousand years before Christ. The Christian churches did not agree as to which documents should be included in the New Testament canon until the fourth century A.D. Yet we do affirm these writings to be the word of God in the words of men.

Theological liberals were/are also known for their passionate concern for the social gospel - i.e., the struggle to overcome poverty, racism, injustice and war in an increasingly global society. Martin Luther King Jr. and I were in graduate school together. One day, after a class in theology, I asked Martin what he intended to do after he finished his Ph.D. He replied very simply, "I plan to return to my people." The rest is history. A passionate concern for justice.

Yet it is not the liberal mainline denominations that have grown in recent decades, but the conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists, whose numbers have increased even as confidence in religious leaders has dropped dramatically - as it has for leaders of other major enterprises: government, financial institutions, college sports.

Bishop Spong was right: The mainline church must change or die. But how?

The April 9, 2012, issue of Newsweek, the day after Easter, had a front cover picture of a solemn young man with a beard, long hair and a crown of thorns on his head. Informally dressed, he stood in the middle of a crowded intersection in Manhattan. Printed on his jacket were the words "Forget the Church: Follow Jesus."

It was a powerful and enticing invitation. But it is too simplistic. To quote my friend and former colleague Stanley Hauerwas, who teaches Christian ethics at Duke Divinity School:

"The truths of Christian faith must be held in a community formed by a shared narrative, which shapes individual character and makes shared moral judgments possible. To follow the crucified and risen Christ demands disciplines of peaceableness, patience, and forgiveness that do not come naturally. Witnesses are formed by living in a community that listens to that narrative (the holy Scriptures) and accepts its judgment upon their lives."

Hope for a transformed community of Christian disciples is inspiringly described in a book I highly recommend: "Christianity After Religion - the End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening," by Diana Butler Bass.

I heard Dr. Bass speak in Raleigh at a meeting sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese and was so moved that I bought this, her latest book, and have shared it with friends. Dr. Bass speaks out of a penetrating understanding of church history and a deep and radiant spiritual experience that are truly authentic.

I am convinced that the American Church will not die; but it will, by God's grace, be transformed. What the world needs now, as the song says, is love, sweet love. That transcends all barriers.

Dr. Smith is a retired pastor and educator. He served churches in Massachusetts, Maryland and Ohio, and then for seven years was professor of the practice of Christian ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He lives in Southern Pines.

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The_AnonymusProfit 9 months, 3 weeks ago

The problem we face today is not a crisis of identity. The crisis we face today is that the christian community has not followed the example laid down by Christ Jesus.

We have allowed the removal of GOD and Jesus from our governing bodies, from our schools, and even from our very churches.

Jesus was never politically correct. We today are no better then the Pharisees of old. We refuse to accept the true Jesus into our hearts, Instead we crave a modern American Jesus who is ok with materialism, who is ok with disingenuous prayer, who is ok with taking a back seat to career and family.

We have rewrote our idea of the bible into something that promotes heaven but disenfranchises hell. We have taken his words and twisted them into what WE feel is right and proper. Our introduction to Jesus now is on par with an introduction to a greeter at Wal Mart. We love to hear the good stuff but refuse to acknowledge that we are all damned from the moment of conception and only through complete and total surrender can we achieve salvation.

The real introduction to Jesus, the true introduction to Jesus is a man who told us to hate our father, mother, brother, sister. A man who told us to let the dead bury the dead, a man who told us to pick up our cross shed our sinful ways and resolutely set out and spread the word with the understanding that this will lead to ridicule, torture, and death.

We are to blame for all of what is happening. Where in the bible does it tell us to spend 23 million dollars on a church renovation while only giving 5,000 dollars to the starving poor? We refuse to believe that he has called US to sell our possessions take up a life of poverty and spread his word. This introduction is alot different then repent, confess, accept, and pray the prayer.

I personally am in total and utter disgust at what passes for a church in America today.

SH59 9 months, 3 weeks ago

First I admit that I'm not schooled in the Christian faith although I did grow up in the Episcopalian church but obviously didn't get it. I have learned through conversations with Linked2eternity in his blogs that Christianity is anchored in the belief that Jesus actually physically ascended to heaven. To be a Christian one has to believe in this fact. This is a problem for me in this scientific world. It doesn't make sense to ask a reasonable thinking human being to believe in something that doesn't have any logic or basis of credibility. It actually speaks of magical thinking. It asks us to take a leap of faith that this is true in order to be a Christian. I suspect that many people feel the way I do and can't make that leap. I believe in a God and that Jesus was a great man but I am told I can't be a Christian until I accept the fact that Jesus somehow floated up to heaven. If one can believe in this event then they are in. I find it ridiculous that among all the good teachings the Bible gives that Christianity demands that we must believe something that can't be true to any logical thinking person. No wonder membership is dropping when after everything we've learned we now have to believe in something that had to be made up in order to maintain control over the people.

The_AnonymusProfit 9 months, 3 weeks ago

SH59 you like so many others have been given a fairly tail version of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like so many times before, it is Christians who do more harm to the great commission then lucifer himself.

You say you are a scientist. I have given a class many times called The Science Behind Jesus. If you ever wish or are willing to open your heart to the idea of the Savior, then I would be happy to speak with you on this subject. I think you would find it refreshing and it would dis spell alot of the fairy tale ideas that you have picked up along the way.

Also the Episcopalian church is so far away from what a christian church should be that I have trouble even classifying them as a sect of Christianity.

Truth 9 months, 3 weeks ago

"The Christian churches did not agree as to which documents should be included in the New Testament canon until the fourth century A.D." In the 4th Century A.D., there was only one Christian Church. The Catholic Church determined which Books of the Bible were to be included.

Jason 9 months, 3 weeks ago

It only makes sense that the more fact based knowledge we humans acquire, the less reliant we will be on superstitions, fairy tales, and myths. On the other hand, it is difficult for most to accept that we, alone, are responsible for our decisions. That is a heavy burden for both the weak and the strong. Add on top of that the understanding of our mortality and an insurance policy, like heaven, might linger as a necessary crutch for the uneducated masses for quite a while longer. Life is complex and folks should be free to believe whatever helps them through life, as long as they don't become pawns for the institutions that require growth for survival.

The_AnonymusProfit 9 months, 3 weeks ago

@ Jason I am going to respond to you, I hope you take the time to read the response.

On the other hand, it is difficult for most to accept that we, alone, are responsible for our decisions.

This is not something that is in anyway different from Christianity, in fact, Christians ARE responsible for our decisions. Just because we have the opportunity of salvation does not in anyway negate the consequences of the decisions we make here on earth. We make the biggest decision in whether or not to follow the teachings of Christ. This decision determines our place once we die. Having said that, just because we believe in an after life and that through Jesus we are saved does not mean that we disregard everything else, in the movie O brother were art thou there is a great line that goes something like, You might be straight with the lord, but the state of Mississippi is a little bit harder. We as Christians are charged with following the laws of man if they are just.

Jason I am a follower of Christ Jesus, I am also an educated person. I belong to no mass of uneducated sheep. I believe in the Big Bang Theory, the 5 Super string theories, the multi verse, life on other planets, and evolution. I love science and math. I see GOD in everything. Atheism is a denial of who we truly are as people.

Again I will offer my hand to you, if you would like to learn about what Christ really taught, and be dispelled of the fairy tales, if you would like to open your heart to the possibility that there is more then what you know or can understand then I would be happy to speak with you.

Jason 9 months, 3 weeks ago

TAP- I am happy you find joy in your beliefs. That is their purpose, is it not? LOL, I have no God gene and thus have no interest, no desire, no need for deity or a messiah. My life has been full of joy and happiness. I really lack or want for nothing of any substance. I don't have a spiritual bone in my body and will never see the logic in it. I am sure your faith in salvation and an afterlife will help you go gently into that good night. Trust me when I tell you that I will die without fear or doubt, knowing that I will cease to exist in any form. Without being unappreciative, I recommend you focus that energy on someone who you will be able to reach. That... would not be me. Using your words, I believe religion "is a denial of who we truly are..."-- insignificant.

The_AnonymusProfit 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Jason it is those such as ypur self whom i dedicate all my energy

Thatcher 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Jason (7 hours, 31 min. ago)-- "(A)s a necessary crutch for the uneducated masses for quite a while longer." It always makes me shake my head in sadness when liberals continue to try to paint Christians as "uneducated." You will be most welcome at my church, or Toda's church, when we host homeless families through the Family Promise program. You will be treated as family, and we would love to have your support. You might be suprised that most of those church folks working to help these families are by far more educated than you. And I think you might learn something from them, namely, humility and selflessness. And I would be willing to bet that none of them would label you "uneducated." Hope that helps.

The_AnonymusProfit 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Amen thatcher, a side note thatch, ill be doing a bible study tomorrow if your interested send me a message.

cantstandya 9 months, 3 weeks ago

Being from Irish Catholic parents you seldom get a choice, not long after your arrival into this world it's off to the Baptismal, from that point on you are under the threat of damnation, miss mass on Sunday, mortal sin, the one that sends you directly to limbo or hell depending on who is managing the pearly gates that day, as you get older the list gets far more complicated as well as the penance you will receive after you make a confession, skipped far more Sunday's at church than I care to speak of and the confession of those absence would have had me saying so many Hail Mary's and Our Fathers I just threw my hand in, figured it was hopeless, you could get drunk as a sailor on leave during the week, just don't forget to put some cash in the basket on Sunday, I commend all for their loyalty and good deeds, I just hope there is a possibility that God will accept those like myself who believe and Honor our Lord in our own way.

Thatcher 9 months, 3 weeks ago

cantstandya-- "I just hope there is a possibility that God will accept those like myself who believe and Honor our Lord in our own way." While I would never claim to speak for God, I believe that He loves you as much as he loves my pastor or Billy Graham, or anyone else. Cheers!