A Domesticated God?

Via Arts & Letters Daily I was pointed to an intersting interview with Alan Wolfe.  The interview was conducted by Michael Cromartie and published by Christianity Today. The interview is titled “Salvation Inflation"?” A couple of questions and answers.

"You say, “More Americans than ever proclaim themselves born again in Christ, but the lord to whom they turn rarely gets angry and frequently strengthens self-esteem.”

I find that a lot. And again, I think there’s both a positive and a negative side to that. The positive side is that this self-esteem, the sense of empowerment that so many people talk about, shows a dimension of evangelical religion that my secular friends are completely unaware of. My secular friends will tell me that evangelical Christianity is patriarchal to the core—it’s all about men oppressing women, going back to the most traditional kinds of gender roles and so on. And I see something entirely different. I see people being encouraged to develop as individuals, truly experiencing a sense of empowerment. In that sense, I think it’s an enormously positive transformation of traditional evangelical religion.

Were you surprised when you found that?

That was one of the biggest surprises. But there’s also a dangerous side to this change. There’s something wrong with too much self-confidence. I would have expected a little more doubt. Now, I’m married to a Dane, and there’s a Kierkegaardian culture in my family. Kierkegaard is largely missing in American religion. I don’t think there’s enough brooding going on."

And

"You comment in your book about the religious origins of non-judgmentalism. What are those?

I was fascinated by that. Again, my secular friends think the United States is filled with fundamentalist Christians who believe that the Bible contains the literal word of God and therefore know the Bible inside out. But what most people know from the Bible is “Judge not lest you be judged.” People come away with that lesson and this one: Do not throw the first stone. Especially Christians."

Posted by on 03/15 at 06:19 AM

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