If we went back 150 years the believers of this nation would be horrified by the southern churches. The bent towards legalism in the form of prohibition, the outrageous music that is declared fit for worship and the inane sermons coupled with showmanship would disgust believers of the past. Just because people come to church on Sunday for the show doesn’t mean they’re believers. The divorce rates of the south, which tend high, suggest that there’s limited practical application taking place.
Mind you, I will not defend the northern mainline protestant denominations. Believers from the past would be equally horrified by the rejection of basic Biblical doctrine such as the Trinity, virgin birth and resurrection of Christ. They would be disgusted by the women preachers and the acceptance of abortion, homosexual conduct to the point of marriage and the utter meaninglessness of weekly sermons. Ultimately I suspect believers of the past would be saddened to see the state of the church in a once strong Christian nation.
Yes, we understand that there is far more alarm over the pot that boils over than the one that is barely simmering, which overall best fits the paedobaptism churches.
And despite the deflection from them by invoking aberrations, the conservative evangelicalism that has predominated mostly in the "Bible belt," and the reason that is a Bible belt, is because God was at work in these evangelical areas which you relegate to being "progressives," while it remains that those who hold to paedobaptism are the more liberal.
Just because people come to church on Sunday for the show doesn’t mean they’re believers.
Cmon Leo, you tried that already and it applies to your tribes as well as others, while that is still only one aspect that testifiers to greater commitment than liberal churches, and it remains that the evangelical baptist and holiness churches do dis as forsaking historical truth are far more conservative and manifestly alive overall than the paedobaptist/lenten liturgical churches your side with.
The divorce rates of the south, which tend high, suggest that there’s limited practical application taking place.
That corresponds to income more than anything else by far, which is why even secular divorce rates are better among those well-educated and affluent.
Ultimately I suspect believers of the past would be saddened to see the state of the church in a once strong Christian nation.
Not THAT is something we can both agree on!