[Dialogue] Can Christianity Be Saved? Can Religion Be Saved?

[Len Hockley]

The article is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/douthat-can-liberal-christianity-be-saved.html?_r=1&hpw 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/douthat-can-liberal-christianity-be-saved.html?_r=1&hpw>

Interesting article.  It assumes health of the church can be measured by 
numbers, but concludes correctly that we need to better define what it 
means to be a Christian. He says:

/Today, by contrast, the leaders of the Episcopal Church and similar 
bodies often don't seem to be offering anything you can't already get 
from a purely secular liberalism. Which suggests that perhaps they 
should pause, amid their frantic renovations, and consider not just what 
they would change about historic Christianity, but what they would 
defend and offer uncompromisingly to the world.
/
I may be wrong, but it may be that there is little difference between a 
social liberal and a Christian except what one calls ones self.

It all boils down to what the defining attribute is for Christianity.  
And for this I would put forth Robin R. Meyers definition:

/The ultimate defining characteristic of Christianity is *the 
in­carnation*, the mystery of God's presence in a person. The Word 
became flesh, as John put it (1:14), and //lived among us.  The 
incarnation gives the faith its form and content, bringing God "nearer 
to us than our jugular vein," to quote the Qur'an (50:16).
/
/Saving Jesus from the Church/

In this definition, the mantra /"What would Jesus do?"/ takes on basic 
importance.  It is a test of an individual and does not require or 
recognize any organizational membership.  The organizational membership 
only points to a set of symbols and rites that a group uses to remind 
them of the wisdom that Jesus brought as the incarnation of the Mystery, 
God.

The gift of the church is the keeper of the history and the gathering of 
the faithful.

Len




On 7/16/2012 2:44 PM, R Williams wrote:
> Last week /New York Times/ columnist Ross Douthat wrote an article 
> asking "Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?" in which he asserted that 
> manifestations of liberal Christianity, like the Episcopal Church, are 
> facing imminent death.
> Diana Butler Ross, author of the recent book /Christianity After 
> Religion, /responded to Douthat this week in the HuffPost, suggesting 
> that conservative churches as well as liberal ones are 
> declining.  She broadens the question to, "Can Christianity Be 
> Saved?"  She ultimately asks, can liberal churches save Christianity?  
> She refers to isolated instances of local churches that are 
> experiencing renewal, but suggests "the denominational structures have 
> yet to adjust their institutions to the recovery of practical wisdom 
> that is remaking local congregations."
> You may access Bass's article at 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/can-christianity-be-saved-1_b_1674807.h
> The question could perhaps be taken to yet another level by asking, 
> "Can religion be saved?" Or perhaps even more relevant, using our 
> language and concerns from the 60s and 70s, is the question, "Can 
> movemental Christianity survive and thrive without the institutional 
> church?"
> Randy
> "Listen to what is emerging from yourself to the course of being in 
> the world; not to be supported by it, but to bring it to reality as it 
> desires."
> -Martin Buber (adapted)
>
>
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