Realizing now that I live in a nation of heretics fills me with mixed emotions. On the one hand I feel at home, recognizing that there are certainly aspects of my own faith expression that are heretical to orthodox Christianity, whether or not I know what they are. On the other hand, there is a considerable frustration with the cultural Christianity with which I am surrounded, particularly living![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bible-belt-usa-300x200.jpg\")
in the \u2018Bible Belt\u2019 of the US. With it comes many of the particular heresies highlighted by Ross Douthat in his book Bad Religion. While I concur with some of his arguments and affirm his list of current heresies, I find myself less concerned with the cultural shift than he appears to be. Perhaps this is because I hope to see in the US a more genuine and less culturally acceptable form of faith than the current iteration.<\/p>\n
In keeping with the apparent theme of the readings this semester, Douthat highlights what seems to be the most insidious heresy, one that we have dealt with throughout the semester, that of the prosperity gospel. Closely connected to the materialistic, hedonistic, consumeristic culture of the US in which it is immersed, the Christian church has failed to significantly distinguish itself in this regard. \u201cRoss Douthat identifies problematic modern Christianities that, by conventional standards, stand as heretical alternatives to the gospel message of sacrifice, charity, asceticism, and worship of the transcendent<\/em>.\u201d[1]<\/a> (Stout) To my way of thinking, this is the most significant issue facing the Church in the US, one that will continue to undermine any genuine authority or attempt to shift the culture to a more Christocentric focus. American Christianity has become lost in a morass of \u201cpundits confusing the biblical city on a hill and its rigorous demands for justice and mercy with a nationalistic city on a hill and its smug sanctification of the American way of life<\/em>.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n The startling thing about the significant weakening of the Church\u2019s influence in the US over the past 50 years is that much of the destruction has come from internal sources. Mirroring Abraham Some of this criticism may be warranted, but when he suggests that the most significant internal struggles have been brought about by higher criticism, the Jesus Seminar and questions regarding the nature of the scriptures, he does so with seemingly little regard for the historical precedents for all of these questions.[4]<\/a> The Church has wrestled with these issues for the entirety of its existence.\u00a0 And while periodically a variety heresies were expelled or dismissed, the challenges faced by the Church have been consistent throughout.<\/p>\n Critics have argued, and I would concur, that Douthat\u2019s thesis of the; \u201cAmerican religion <\/em>[that] declined from a Golden Age in the 1950s to an Iron Age in the 2000s is overargued<\/em>.\u201d[5]<\/a> It seems that in every generation there is a wistful glance backward to a simpler, better time while the challenges that occurred are glossed over.\u00a0 No doubt future generations will look back at the contemporary era pining for the simple times of hand-held technology and moral clarity.\u00a0 Laughable to us who are living in the midst of it, but just wait and see.<\/p>\n While it is evident that the tide of cultural acceptance has completely turned and therefore a return to the post WW II days, highlighted by Douthat when Christian influence was at an intellectual and cultural pinnacle, is unlikely, there is little doubt that authentic Christian faith expression is as vital to our cultural landscape as ever. However, it is the infighting that will most likely prevent any genuine revival of Christian faith to occur. Arguments over the interpretation of scripture, social justice issues, questions regarding marriage and moral issues etc. all hinder the Church from presenting a unified front that demonstrates the essence of the Gospel to people who desire an experience of the transcendent.<\/p>\n The high point of cultural influence was heady and seemed that it would go on in perpetuity. No one anticipated the rapidness with which that position would diminish and the ensuing economic trials that have come as a result continue to plague the institutions established during the church\u2019s cultural zenith. It appears to me that this economic and numerical challenge is what is driving the introspection and soul searching the Church has undergone since. Perhaps it would be better to embrace the return to the status of cultural outcasts and thus be in position to practice the countercultural Gospel evident at the time of Jesus and in the first few centuries of the early church. <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Stout, Harry. “”Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.””\u00a0First Things<\/em>\u00a0226 (2012): 55-57. Accessed March 17, 2018.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Wacker, Grant. “”Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.””\u00a0The Christian Century<\/em>\u00a0129, no. 18 (2012): 32-33. Accessed March 17, 2018.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> “Lyceum Address.” Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum Address. Accessed March 23, 2018. http:\/\/www.abrahamlincolnonline.org\/lincoln\/speeches\/lyceum.htm.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Van Der Weele, Steve. “”Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.””\u00a0Calvin Theological Journal<\/em>\u00a048, no. 1 (2013): 155-57. Accessed March 17, 2018.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/220px-Abraham_Lincoln_O-77_matte_collodion_print.jpg\")
Lincoln\u2019s Lyceum address as the US Civil War was looming on the horizon, in this address he stated; \u201cAt what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher<\/em>.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>It is ultimately the heresies, even those developed as responses to the changing tide of cultural acceptance of orthodox Christianity, that have undermined the faith from within. As the national faith become more political, polarized, accommodating and frantic in its attempt to retain adherents and maintain influence, it seems that the ecumenical center was permanently lost.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Cian-Martyrs-300x151.jpg\")
This will happen when we stop seeking simplistic and trite answers to complicated questions. As Douthat wisely reminds readers; \u201cthe Christian tradition is uniquely comfortable preaching dogmas that can seem like riddles, offering answers that swiftly lead to further questions, and confronting believers with the possibility that the truth about God passes all understanding<\/em>.\u201d[6]<\/a> Pandering to vapid cultural trends in order to please people, grasping at lost cultural influence, mourning over economic challenges in the wake of reduction in adherents seems to me to be the antithesis of what has been the historical trajectory of the Christian faith. Whether or not Douthat is correct in his summation of the rise and fall of Christian influence in the US may be interesting fodder to consider, but far less important than whether or not the Church continues to hold to the orthodox tenets of the faith, consistently reflecting the life of the risen Jesus.<\/p>\n