ahanu

It is inevitable that Christians who would now be described as "liberal" will be the overwhelming majority of Christians in America. That sea change, the waters of which we already feel swelling everywhere around us, can no sooner be stopped than can the moon passing across the night sky. Today's conservative evangelical Christians who are rallying against "postmodern relativism," "revisionist secular theology," "a naturalistic doctrine of God," or however else they might label the theology of the left, are like yesterday's horse-and-buggy owners rallying against the newfangled automobile. The future of transportation was obvious then; the future of Christian theology is obvious now.
-John Shore

Click here to read more:

John Shore: The Inevitability of the Rise of Progressive Christianity

arthra

Thanks for sharing....that blog Ahanu.

I don't know if I would go so far myself to say that "liberal" Christianity is inevitable and will be "overwhelming".. I recall thinking that some changes were coming some years ago and was surprised and disappointed that they went further shall we say in a direction I had not anticpated.

..Being a Baha'i as you know we are not left or right.. Yes there may be some of us who "lean" a certain way but when it comes to the Faith in relation to say political and cultural changes we are not necessarily aligned with these.

Our view or perspective is of necessity to the far horizon working toward building the foundations of a future world civilization. We as Baha'is I would think must focus our gaze on the goal.

I read this excerpt today from one of the Tablets of Abdul-Baha:

"Do ye not wish for any rest and ease! endeavor and make ye an effort with all your heart and soul to spread the fragrances of Paradise, to raise the eternal melody of the Kingdom of ABHA, to establish the gathering of fellowship, to become assisted with the confirmations of the Holy Spirit; to clothe the temple of existence with a new garment; to bestow eternal life upon the reality of souls; to become a cause of the civilization of the human world; to characterize the bloodthirsty animals with the heavenly attributes and divine commemorations; to pacify the world with peace and salvation, and to adorn man with the favors of His Highness the Merciful One; that perchance ignorance, animosity and strangeness may be removed entirely from among the denizens of the world, and the Banner of Reconciliation, Freedom, Nobleness and Oneness be hoisted; for the chains of existence contain countless links, each connected with the other. This connection is the cause of the appearance of the invisible powers of the world of the visible.

"O ye real friends! Make ye an effort that this universe may become another universe and this darkened world find a ray of the Sun of Truth and become luminous and refulgent."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 532

Unit Convention is coming up in my neighborhood tomorrow..I look forward to being with the friends and making an "effort".

ahanu

Hi, Art.

What changes do you speak of?

Currently, Christianity in North America can be divided into two camps: Evangelical Christianity and Progressive Christianity. These two labels are often called other things, but that is how I label the divide. I think that Progressive Christianity is inevitable.

Rev. Roger Wolsey argues progressive Christianity is not "liberal" Christianity; instead, "progressive Christianity is influenced by a postmodern mindset and liberal Christianity is a product of the modern era. Progressive Christianity is a post-liberal phenomenon." He also describes Progressive Christianity as a return to Christianity's mystical roots, which is really a return to a pre-Constantinian era, so there is nothing new.

What we are witnessing is another Reformation:

"Scholar Dr. Phyllis Tickle asserts that every 500 years, Christianity has experienced such renewal movements. We're due for another one -- and it's happening now. Emergent Christian pastor and author Doug Pagitt suggests that human society is now entering the "Inventive Age" and this correlates with reformation in the religious realms."

Rev. Roger Wolsey: Christianity for People Who Don't Like Christianity

"All conditions and requisites of the past unfitted and inadequate for the present time, are undergoing radical reform. It is evident therefore that counterfeit and spurious religious teaching, antiquated forms of belief and ancestral imitations which are at variance with the foundation of divine reality must also pass away and be reformed. They must be abandoned and new conditions be recognized."
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Such institutions as have strayed far from the spirit and teachings of Jesus Christ must of necessity, as the embryonic World Order of Baha’u'llah takes shape and unfolds, recede into the background, and make way for the progress of the divinely-ordained institutions that stand inextricably interwoven with His teachings. The indwelling Spirit of God which, in the Apostolic Age of the Church, animated its members, the pristine purity of its teachings, the primitive brilliancy of its light, will, no doubt, be reborn and revived as the inevitable consequences of this redefinition of its fundamental verities, and the clarification of its original purpose.
-Shoghi Effendi

Another Reformation in Christianity is inevitable

LordOfGoblins

The best progress Christianity can make is for them to recognise Baha'u'llah...

ahanu

So you don't think the Baha'i Faith encourages diversity?

For me, I don't think everybody is required to be a Baha'i.

arthra

Of course Baha'is recognize diversity and unity in diversity.

In his Most Holy Book, Bahá'u'lláh provides the normative standard for Bahá'ís in their relation to other religionists: "Consort (Arabic, `ashíru) with all religions with amity and concord…"[25] "The second Taraz [ornament] is to consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship…"[26]

Religious Pluralism and the Baha

My only concern with the article Ahanu shared is that I've learned very few things are "inevitable" when predicting trends in religion...

When George Sale's translation of the Quran was released over a hundred years ago there was an introduction that said Islam was doomed as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart...well we know it (Islam that is) didn't and I'm always suspicious when someone uses terms like "inevitable".

aidan

Surely Christianty progressed to become Islam which in it's turn progressed to become the Baha'i Faith? Well said LOG

ahanu

Okay. George Sale was wrong; however, this does not discredit the idea we can predict trends in religion.

Looking back into history, for example, we know that the Protestant Reformation was a movement largely shaped by the printing press. The printing press was an agent of change.

Question: would Martin Luther's ideas would have succeeded without the printing press?

Apocalypticism Explained | Apocalypse! FRONTLINE | PBS

The printing press lowered the cost of reaching a mass audience. Before the invention of the printing press, reaching a mass audience would have been difficult . . . unless you could afford the upkeep of a lot of monastaries full of scribes. Martin Luther's 95 Theses appeared on the door of Wittenberg's All Saints Church on October 31, 1517, and within weeks editions of it were rolling off the presses in multiple cities.

The printing press isn't the only variable that contributed to the success of the Reformation, but it was still a variable. A breeding ground for certain ideas, like "scripture alone."

Perhaps social networking is making some impact in our day. For example, notice how John Shore cites the growing trends in The Christian Left's facebook page, which has over 20,000 members. All of this involves technology; however, this technology is like throwing glue into a growing network of people who think similarly. Book burning cannot stop the dissemination of ideas.

Also, we live in a highly diverse nation, so that is another factor, I think. With social networking, the world shrinks. People of other faiths no longer live in distant lands--at least when looked through the lens of the Internet.

It would be interesting to research these issues and how this will contribute to the growth or decline of Progressive Christianity. Overall I think Progressive Christianity will grow over time.

arthra

Ahanu,

What are we doing? It wasn't George Sale as much as the introduction to his translation that had the prognostication about Islam.

What we can do is check back in ohh say fifty years from now..

Maybe you'll still be alive and if your prediction of inevitability of what you call progressive Christianity is correct ...then so be it. I'll give you the palm leaf. Whadiyasay?

ahanu

Oh, I thought you meant George Sale wrote the introduction too. Well, whoever wrote the introduction was clearly wrong.

Earlier you wrote:

I am scratching the surface of whether or not trends in religion can be predicted or not. The way you word it suggests most "predictions" (staring through a crystal ball?) are incorrect.

I'm just wondering if there are methods for analyzing the conditions, new technologies, and other variables that would predict an inevitable rise of Progressive Christianity in the United States.

Art writes:

. . . as if that is the only way to find out.

kavaliro

I immediately thought of this:
Psychohistory

Just because this is fictional doesn´t mean it isn´t possible. Lots of things get invented that were originally just the dream of some science fiction writer. But if it does currently exist, I am unaware of it, and I follow the kinds of circles that would become immediately aware of it if it did exist. So my semi-educated answer is no, does not exist, but isn´t necessarily outside the realm of possibility.