I had a little existential crisis yesterday. (Okay, that sounds overdramatic. Let’s just call it a “moment of angst.”) I stumbled upon an article at Patheos written by a Presbyterian minister (that’s my denomination) who doesn’t believe in God anymore… but is still pastoring a church.
He seems like a nice man and I bear him no ill will. But his article got me wondering how many others like him there are out there – ministers who have lost their belief in God yet still lead churches. And then I started wondering if a Godless church – a church without the “supernatural” – is really the “liberal church of the future”? (This is what the writers at the Rational Doubt blog on Patheos believe.) Which got me wondering why a church without God would still be considered a “church.” What exactly is a church, anyway?
Then I started scanning the list of blogs on Patheos, and became overwhelmed by the sheer number and diversity of them. Patheos is a website that purports to be “hosting the conversation on faith,” and boy, is it ever a colorful and freewheeling conversation! There are blog portals for Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, Muslims, Mormons, Evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Progressive Christians, Entertainment Spiritualists (huh?), Feminists (that’s a religion now?), and a whole host of others I’ve never even heard of. One of the largest portals is the Atheist portal. There must be 30 or 40 blogs at that one.
Anyway. All of this is to say that there is a big, boisterous conversation going on over there – and hundreds of little conversations – and while, in theory, that’s a good thing (“something for everybody!”), I don’t find it particularly helpful. I find it daunting. And, yesterday, I found it almost despair-inducing. I was probably just in a mood.
I told my mom on the phone last night:
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“I’m so confused. The world is changing so quickly, I don’t even know what to teach my daughter anymore. I try to give her advice to live by, share my hard-earned ‘wisdom’… and the best I can come up with is: ‘be honest, be kind, and always do your homework.’”
Mom said that was probably enough for now. Then she said she had to go make dinner for Dad.
Crisis averted . . . ’til next time.
August 1, 2014 at 3:43 pm
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world.
Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world.
Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned.
Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth.
Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils.
Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth.
Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself.
[Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)]
August 1, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Bertrand Russell is still the most worthy of atheist writers, and yet all he was able to do in Why I Am Not a Christian was to set up a paper tiger that was easy to tear down but lacking in dimension. In my opinion, these “new atheists” have yet to measure up. When they stop behaving like adolescent boys delighted to be out from under their daddy’s roof, then I will pay more attention to them. As it is currently with the atheist/theist debate, disbelief can be just as misleading as any belief. A pilgrim on a journey understands where his feet are planted and regards the birds of belief and disbelief as mere distractions.
August 1, 2014 at 9:07 pm
Charlie, this isn’t even about atheist writers, though I agree with you about the “new” ones. What I don’t understand is why there are ministers in the Christian church who wish to remain there – as ministers! – even though they no longer believe in the central tenets of the faith, or even in God. There are plenty of places outside the church to do good humanitarian work. At first I thought it was merely self-interest – this is their career and what else can they do? But after having a brief exchange with the writer of this piece I linked to, I think he’s actually on a mission, of sorts. He wants to demystify the church and get rid of all that “God stuff” so we Christians can get on with the good work of pursuing social justice. Without… um, Christ.