"Protestants have tried to make their religion completely logical and sensible... The result is that the average Western Protestant, completely cut off from his own myth, turns to the Vedas or theosophy, to Masonry, or to a struggle for power, or even war, to give him mythological symbols which his faith does not encompass." Myth, History, and Faith: The Remythologizing of Christianity by Morton T. Kelsey.
In this whole series, that quote has been echoing in the back of my mind....and your latest post made me remember a spirited conversation that I had with my evangelism professor in lay religion school a few years ago. The text we used was The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .Again. In this book, it openly talked about how we had a split between religion and spirituality, how you went to church to go to heaven and for daily spirituality, you went to the nearest psychic, Iman, health/life coach, spiritual director or just practice alternative spirituality instead.
My professor said that he knew that knocking on doors and asking someone if they knew where they would be if they died tonight didn't work anymore, but still wanted to do "coffee chats" for evangelism. I said, well people don't want to be pointed to Jesus by use of the Bible, they want a personal experience of the Divine even if they don't truly know or understand Him and Creator, Lord and Savior. The majority of Protestants, in their quest to be "Biblical" have totally messed this up. My professor was bewildered as to how to do this and I said, well, maybe you should study what spiritual directors or health and wellness and/or life coaches do to find the answer. Now I can add to that and say...maybe you should study Paul Tillich a little bit more....
Brain science is showing us that we are changed through experiences, and our decisions and actions are a result of those changes. Without including experience, we fall short of how we were created, and the changes that will happen as we seek God through experience will change us for the better... and maybe, although ideal, we will live together more peacefully.
It's coming to the point where Modernism's claim to be able to address the train wreck of the human condition and create a decent society without any reference to God must be exposed for the lie that it is.
I like how you went to Bonhoeffer's writing about a "world come of age," still relevant for us 80 years later.
I'm curious about what you said though that we all "have a natural desire for a supernatural end..." Is this true for everyone? What is 'supernatural'?
This is very helpful and affirms the approach I take with younger generations who feel like letting go of God. In a recent conversation with a young person, I asked them how they will find meaning if they let go of their faith? I tried to present to them that everything outside of God leaves us empty, which feeds the restlessness. It's almost as if we need to start with Ecclesiastes before the gospel to highlight the "ailment" you mention.
I like to describe for people the supernatural things that happened to me that led me to Jesus Christ and then what it was like, even what it felt like, when I first read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God!”
Which begs the question, “What, or better asked, WHO is ‘the Word?’”
"Protestants have tried to make their religion completely logical and sensible... The result is that the average Western Protestant, completely cut off from his own myth, turns to the Vedas or theosophy, to Masonry, or to a struggle for power, or even war, to give him mythological symbols which his faith does not encompass." Myth, History, and Faith: The Remythologizing of Christianity by Morton T. Kelsey.
In this whole series, that quote has been echoing in the back of my mind....and your latest post made me remember a spirited conversation that I had with my evangelism professor in lay religion school a few years ago. The text we used was The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .Again. In this book, it openly talked about how we had a split between religion and spirituality, how you went to church to go to heaven and for daily spirituality, you went to the nearest psychic, Iman, health/life coach, spiritual director or just practice alternative spirituality instead.
My professor said that he knew that knocking on doors and asking someone if they knew where they would be if they died tonight didn't work anymore, but still wanted to do "coffee chats" for evangelism. I said, well people don't want to be pointed to Jesus by use of the Bible, they want a personal experience of the Divine even if they don't truly know or understand Him and Creator, Lord and Savior. The majority of Protestants, in their quest to be "Biblical" have totally messed this up. My professor was bewildered as to how to do this and I said, well, maybe you should study what spiritual directors or health and wellness and/or life coaches do to find the answer. Now I can add to that and say...maybe you should study Paul Tillich a little bit more....
Brain science is showing us that we are changed through experiences, and our decisions and actions are a result of those changes. Without including experience, we fall short of how we were created, and the changes that will happen as we seek God through experience will change us for the better... and maybe, although ideal, we will live together more peacefully.
It's coming to the point where Modernism's claim to be able to address the train wreck of the human condition and create a decent society without any reference to God must be exposed for the lie that it is.
I like how you went to Bonhoeffer's writing about a "world come of age," still relevant for us 80 years later.
I'm curious about what you said though that we all "have a natural desire for a supernatural end..." Is this true for everyone? What is 'supernatural'?
This is very helpful and affirms the approach I take with younger generations who feel like letting go of God. In a recent conversation with a young person, I asked them how they will find meaning if they let go of their faith? I tried to present to them that everything outside of God leaves us empty, which feeds the restlessness. It's almost as if we need to start with Ecclesiastes before the gospel to highlight the "ailment" you mention.
I like to describe for people the supernatural things that happened to me that led me to Jesus Christ and then what it was like, even what it felt like, when I first read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God!”
Which begs the question, “What, or better asked, WHO is ‘the Word?’”