Well, if deconstruction in the post-modernist sense we've all come to know and detest these last few years is demonstrably destroying all the other institutions it infests then why not the church? It is, after all, the Universal Solvent. My guess is that Ratzinger, et al. didn't quite understand the tool someone put in their hands? I'm protestant, BTW, and enjoy Ratzinger's writings very much. Your essays make me think, thanks.
I’ve always felt my experience was something more like a metamorphosis than a deconstruction. It was a transformation of faith into something unrecognizable to what came before--to the extent you at times wonder if the dna could possibly be shared between the former and what’s emerged. Deconstructing something still leaves you with the same materials, just no longer assembled, or perhaps to be reassembled elsewhere in the same or reorganized fashion, maybe missing a few pieces or with a few new added in. I’m not sure how useful that is to anyone. Not when we’re longing to become part of a new creation.
It’s my wildly controversial opinion that church organizations embrace “woke” & progressive ideas as an attendance/money grab rather than genuine confession & repentance. When Chris is at the center of the church, & our personal lives, the sinner is always loved just not the sin. To stand firm with this edict in love is our #1 objective. What the post-modernist, progressive, “woke”, liberal ideas in the church & society have done for me is caused me to find out precisely why those ideas check my spirit. What’s come from that research is being able to better communicate ‘where my hope is found’ & why Jesus is still the answer. Refreshingly for all around me, it’s not “just because” or because “the Bible says so”. (Btw my bible has never audibly spoken to me) Jesus’s invitation was an ‘all skate’. It’s an invitation, just like to his first disciples, to “follow Him”. The main priority of followers of The Way is to be in this world while ministering to the lost, aka communication of The Good News. God’s Kingdom is Diverse, Jesus was the master at Inclusivity & we are all Equal in His eyes. He, Jesus, is the Director. When we, all of us, loose Him as the focal point of our energies then all of us suffer.
I think deconstruction is intensely personal. I am for reconstruction (in that process myself currently, with plenty of gaps and uncertainties), but there is a time to build up and a time to tear down. I think it's important for every Christian to examine their beliefs honestly, as they disassemble and reassemble or, perhaps not reassemble at all. But choosing not to reassemble should be examined closely too in order to make sure there really isn't truth to be gained and a new life to be had in the reassembling. These are generalities, though. Philip Yancey once said some people may just need time away from the Church, and I agree with that. Again, it's intensely personal, but one should not be afraid to doubt one's doubts and, starting afresh, try to examine the truth claims of Christianity on their merits.
Well, if deconstruction in the post-modernist sense we've all come to know and detest these last few years is demonstrably destroying all the other institutions it infests then why not the church? It is, after all, the Universal Solvent. My guess is that Ratzinger, et al. didn't quite understand the tool someone put in their hands? I'm protestant, BTW, and enjoy Ratzinger's writings very much. Your essays make me think, thanks.
I’ve always felt my experience was something more like a metamorphosis than a deconstruction. It was a transformation of faith into something unrecognizable to what came before--to the extent you at times wonder if the dna could possibly be shared between the former and what’s emerged. Deconstructing something still leaves you with the same materials, just no longer assembled, or perhaps to be reassembled elsewhere in the same or reorganized fashion, maybe missing a few pieces or with a few new added in. I’m not sure how useful that is to anyone. Not when we’re longing to become part of a new creation.
Do you feel that questioning until you are no longer a Christian is necessarily an unhealthy process?
It’s my wildly controversial opinion that church organizations embrace “woke” & progressive ideas as an attendance/money grab rather than genuine confession & repentance. When Chris is at the center of the church, & our personal lives, the sinner is always loved just not the sin. To stand firm with this edict in love is our #1 objective. What the post-modernist, progressive, “woke”, liberal ideas in the church & society have done for me is caused me to find out precisely why those ideas check my spirit. What’s come from that research is being able to better communicate ‘where my hope is found’ & why Jesus is still the answer. Refreshingly for all around me, it’s not “just because” or because “the Bible says so”. (Btw my bible has never audibly spoken to me) Jesus’s invitation was an ‘all skate’. It’s an invitation, just like to his first disciples, to “follow Him”. The main priority of followers of The Way is to be in this world while ministering to the lost, aka communication of The Good News. God’s Kingdom is Diverse, Jesus was the master at Inclusivity & we are all Equal in His eyes. He, Jesus, is the Director. When we, all of us, loose Him as the focal point of our energies then all of us suffer.
I think deconstruction is intensely personal. I am for reconstruction (in that process myself currently, with plenty of gaps and uncertainties), but there is a time to build up and a time to tear down. I think it's important for every Christian to examine their beliefs honestly, as they disassemble and reassemble or, perhaps not reassemble at all. But choosing not to reassemble should be examined closely too in order to make sure there really isn't truth to be gained and a new life to be had in the reassembling. These are generalities, though. Philip Yancey once said some people may just need time away from the Church, and I agree with that. Again, it's intensely personal, but one should not be afraid to doubt one's doubts and, starting afresh, try to examine the truth claims of Christianity on their merits.