Critical and faithful
I found this article on The Christian
Century online, January 9, 2007. These are thoughts from the Editor's desk.
These are good words and they are particularly important for the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) if we are to remain a relevant, unique part of
American religious landscape.
When asked where the new members of liberal
churches will come from, David Jenkins, former Anglican bishop of Durham,
replied: "Where they have always come from—the evangelicals." This is only
partly true, of course. Most members of liberal churches were born or married
into a mainline congregation. Yet it is true that many members of liberal,
mainline churches are former conservatives. It's a story that has been told over
and over: the twin acids of modernity—science and historical
criticism—erode people's traditional views of biblical authority. People
also discover that faith doesn't deliver what is promised to them in
conservative churches: folks who "get right with God" still get divorced, suffer
from terminal cancer and watch their children go astray. Confronted by the hard
knocks of life, they need a church that is not afraid to ask tough questions, a
church where doubts can be aired.At
their best, mainline churches are that place. They exhibit a magnanimous spirit.
They accept doubts and differences of opinion, engage the questions of modernity
and eschew legalism and triumphalism. Grace is not only preached but embodied in
hospitable relationships.click here to read more . . .
Filed Fri - January 12, 2007, 08:32 PM in
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