Posted on 03/02/2011 12:26:33 PM PST by pinochet
A recent study from Tufts University tells the story of several pastors who no longer believe in God. Most are still working in churches, still preaching sermons, and still counseling the faithful. They are isolated and, in some cases, unable to confide even in their own families, for fear of what their newfound disbelief may do to their relationships
Jessie, Al...
Louie..
For some pastors who are the sons or daughters of ministers the “calling” is more the “family business”. And like most family businesses there’s usually a steep drop off from the first generation to the next.
Any Unitarian doesn’t. You never ever hear the name God or Jesus in a Unitarian “church”.
They do not call them churches but rather fellowships.
I have never understood why non-believers bother to go to church.
Bishop Pickering from Caddyshack?
“Howl, snarl, bite, ye Calvinistic, ye Athanasian divines, if you will; ye will say I am no Christian; I say ye are no Christians, and there the account is balanced. Yet I believe all the honest men among you are Christians, in my sense of the word.” John Adams
I think you mean Unitarian Universalist ,from the Ralph Waldo Emerson vein.
Isn’t that the path for belief for many?
I knew a minister like that — a Marxist.
I think sometimes the Holy Spirit leads folks to where they need to be at a particular time. Many believers were non-believers seconds before becoming believers. That some would be led to attend a church service on occasion shouldn’t be a total surprise.
I think the OP was talking about people who were once Christians who no longer believe, why they still go through the motions. There could be a lot of reasons: keeping peace in the family, because that’s where their social network is, business connections, avoiding ostracism, etc. I would bet the percentage of true unbelievers in the church would astound us if we knew the real number.
As Jesus teaches us, the tares (weeds) grow along with the wheat until the day of the harvest. The reaper will know which are to be gathered into his barns and which are cast into the fire. (Matthew 13:24-30)
You never ever hear the name God or Jesus in a Unitarian “church”.
Our local Unitarian church constantly bashes both
Four years later he was dead at age 67 from a horrible wasting disease.
I don't mean someone who goes "to check it out" and eventually becomes a believer. I mean guys like Bishop Spong who flat-out did not believe that Christ rose from the dead; and yet he was a bishop.
If one does not see how bad the fall was for them, then they cannot appreciate what God has done for them and their calling by Him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.