Is it any wonder that people are leaving liberal churches like the PCUSA in droves?
Great article.
A "wee" ineffectual god.
Pretty well nails it, as does the last line of special significance to this united methodist: "Mainline Protestantism will reach a certain point where it will appeal only to Wiccans, vegetarians, sandal-wearers, and people who play the recorder. No one will feel at home there if they believe in God."
----In this case, seminarian Andy Ferguson, who had questioned the anti-supernaturalistic claims of his seminary professors, was confronted by a fellow seminary student who said, "We've been talking about you. We know you're having a rough time, and we've finally figured out what your problem is . . . . You're the only one here who believes in God." Andy Ferguson decided that his fellow student was right. "They believed in things like the redemptive power of the universe, but I was the last one there who wanted to defend the biblical God—the God who makes claims on us, who said we should do some things and not do others, and who put each one of us here for a purpose."---
The redemptive power of the universe?
Once you give up the divinity and sacrifice of Jesus, Christianity is meaningless...might as well start chanting Hare Krishna.
I hope this is true.
About time.
Annalex, earlier today you asked...
"I am not looking for doctrinal fights with any of you over this, but this is something that honestly perplexes me....do you have any insight into what these people were thinking as they removed the Holy Spirit from the Trinity and put Mary into the Trinity?".I would suggest this thread as a good place to gain insight, into why some people think the way they do.
I thought all lesbians were Episcopalian...and vice versa.
Thank you for posting this. I especially liked this quote " In Shiflett's turn of a phrase, these liberal theologians believe in a "Wee deity," a vapid and ineffectual god who is not much of a threat and is largely up for individual interpretation"
I use the term Pocket Jesus to mean the same thing. A god that we think we control and can keep in our pockets to pull out and display when we feel like it. Of course
we know " He is not a tame lion"
I'll never understand why Roman Catholicism is still considered a "conservative" denomination. Down here in the Bible Belt it is much more liberal than the multitude of Fundamentalist Protestant churches that are available.
This is happening everywhere liberals run things. Here in Rochester, the bishop held a Mass for homosexuals a few years ago. When he was approached by the media to explain himself he said something to the effect that the same thing is required of the homosexual as the heterosexual as regards chastity outside of marriage.
He never really addressed the question posed to him, and left many with the impression that homosexuality and heterosexuality acquire parity when finding expression within the bonds of marriage. And I think that this bishop cannot be replaced by a conservative, because it's not a conservative town and the financial blow dealt by those who would oppose such an appointment make it an impossibility.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Churches here are solid little churches, with solid Pastors. The sad thing about seeing these grand mainline Protestant denominations taking such falls is that they are the ancestors of a people so energetic, so focused on bringing God into every sphere of their lives and the life of the Country. What everyone needs to remember is to fund the Conservative churches to the teeth.
That being said, I don't think a resurgence is out of the question. It might take a catastrophe, but that's not really new history either.
I'm in the last stage of planning my trip to Italy, and will be spending some time in Waldensian country there. I'm fascinated with that period of Protestant history. The Italian-Waldensian Church is a member of the World Council of Churches which speaks for itself, I know, but some of the tracts I've read of theirs, in Italian which is absolutely mind-blowing for me, have not forgotten their Reformed roots. There is a Waldensian Church right across the Tiber, though I haven't heard back from them yet, that I'm really anxious to visit.
Anyway, my point to this whole thing, is that the problems the Protestants are experiencing do not signal the demise of Protestantism by a long shot. Sometimes just before the revolution dies it gets a rush of energy. Some of the best doctrinal bloggers are Protestants who wipe the floor with their opponents. They're young, they're men, they're conservative, the energy lies with them and those who are dedicated to the Doctrine of Justification through Faith alone ain't going anywhere, my friend.
bookmark for later reading
"...as the Princeton theologian J. Gresham Machen observed in his classic book Christianity and Liberalism. “The fundamental fault of the modern Church,” he argued, “is that she is busily engaged in an absolutely impossible task-she is busily engaged in calling the righteous to repentance.”
Charles Spurgeon wrote a good bit about the trends of churches in the Sword and Trowel, which articles have been reduced to a volume entitled, "The Downgrade Controversy."
His postulate was that in trying to make Calvinism palatable, the pastors of his time were watering down the Gospel. His position was that the 5 points must all be taught and espoused. The churches under leadership that did not do so would eventually become Arminian, then preach a social gospel, then become universalist and finally, fail.