Vinny,
I had to read this a corple of times. I think it has some merit. Trying
to thin about the las sermon I heard o n sin. Very interesting. Thank for
sharing.
Vicki
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vinny Samarco" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 12:21 PM
Subject: [ECHURCH-USA] Fw: A Nation of Deists!
> Hi Everyone,
> Though this article is a bit schollarly, I think it's point is clear and
> simple.
> What do you think?
> Vinny
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Vinny Samarco" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 11:14 AM
> Subject: A Nation of Deists!
>
>
> > . |
> > Cultural | Departments | Thoughts
> > A nation of deists
> > The dominant American religion is a far
> cry
> > from
> > Christianity | by Gene Edward Veith
> >
> >
> >
> > (World Magazine
> > June 25, 2005.)
> >
> > Sometimes recognizing a problem requires
> > finding
> > the right words to name it. Christian
> Smith
> > and
> > Melinda Lundquist Denton have coined a
> > phrase
> > that describes perfectly the dominant
> > American
> > religion: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.
> > Those authors are researchers with the
> > National
> > Study of Youth and Religion at the
> > University of
> > North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and have
> > written up
> > their findings in a new book: Soul
> > Searching:
> > The Religious and Spiritual Lives of
> > American
> > Teenagers (Oxford University Press).
> > After interviewing over 3,000 teenagers,
> the
> > social scientists summed up their
beliefs:
> > (1) "A god exists who created and
ordered
> > the
> > world and watches over human life on
> earth."
> > (2) "God wants people to be good, nice,
> and
> > fair
> > to each other, as taught in the Bible
and
> by
> > most world religions."
> > (3) "The central goal of life is to be
> happy
> > and
> > to feel good about oneself."
> > (4) "God does not need to be
particularly
> > involved in one's life except when God
is
> > needed
> > to resolve a problem."
> > (5) "Good people go to heaven when they
> > die."
> > Even these secular researchers
recognized
> > that
> > this creed is a far cry from
Christianity,
> > with
> > no place for sin, judgment, salvation,
or
> > Christ. Instead, most teenagers believe
in
> a
> > combination of works righteousness,
> religion
> > as
> > psychological well-being, and a distant
> > non-interfering god. Or, to use a
> technical
> > term, "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."
> > Ironically, many of these young deists
are
> > active in their churches. "Most
religious
> > teenagers either do not really
comprehend
> > what
> > their own religious traditions say they
> are
> > supposed to believe," conclude Mr. Smith
> and
> > Ms.
> > Denton, "or they do understand it and
> simply
> > do
> > not care to believe it."
> > Another possibility is that they have
> > learned
> > what their churches are teaching all too
> > well.
> > It is not just teenagers who are
> moralistic
> > therapeutic deists. This describes the
> > beliefs
> > of many adults too, and even what is
> taught
> > in
> > many supposedly evangelical churches.
> > Mr. Smith and Ms. Denton recognize this.
> MTD
> > has
> > become the "dominant civil religion."
And
> it
> > is
> > "colonizing" American Christianity. To
the
> > point, these secular scholars conclude,
"a
> > significant part of Christianity in the
> > United
> > States is actually tenuously Christian
in
> > any
> > sense that is seriously connected to the
> > actual
> > historical Christian tradition, but is
> > rather
> > substantially morphed into
Christianity's
> > misbegotten step-cousin, Christian
> > Moralistic
> > Therapeutic Deism."
> > Consider how many Christian
publications,
> > sermons, and teachings are nothing but
> > moralism.
> > Sometimes morality is reduced to the
> > simplistic
> > MTD commandment "be nice," though often
> real
> > morals are inculcated. But the common
> > assumption
> > is that being good is easy, just a
matter
> of
> > knowing what one should do and trying
> > harder.
> > The biblical truth that bad behavior is
a
> > manifestation of sin, a depravity that
> > inheres
> > in our fallen nature, is skimmed over.
And
> > so is
> > the solution to sin: a life-changing
faith
> > in
> > Jesus Christ.
> > Consider how many Christian
publications,
> > sermons, and teachings are primarily
> > therapeutic. It is true that Christ can
> > solve
> > many of our problems. But much that
passes
> > for
> > Christian teaching says nothing about
> > Christ.
> > Instead, it consists of pop psychology,
> > self-help platitudes, and the power of
> > positive
> > thinking.
> > Consider how many Christian
publications,
> > sermons, and teachings talk about God in
a
> > generic way, but say nothing about the
> > Father,
> > who created and still sustains the
world;
> > the
> > Son, who became Incarnate in this world
to
> > win
> > our salvation; and the Holy Spirit, who
> > works
> > through the Word of God to bring us to
> > faith.
> > Christianity is about grace, not
moralism;
> > changing lives, not making people feel
> > better
> > about themselves; the God made flesh,
not
> an
> > uninvolved deity. And that is better
news
> > than
> > Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. â?¢
> > Copyright © 2005 WORLD Magazine
> > June 25, 2005, Vol. 20, No. 25
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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