AJ Heschl on Why Religion Declined

Here's a thought-provoking quote from Rabbi A. J. Heschel in "God in Search of Man."

“It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion--its message becomes meaningless.”

Sunday Assembly: Trying to Replace Church for Unbelievers

In an article on Sunday Assembly, which apparently is pretty successful in London and is test marketing the USA, the Washington Post describes a meeting of about 60 people who responded to an ad to start "a godless congregation." You can read a description of the 90-minute meeting in the WP link. The writer says, the Sunday Assembly idea has attracted attention "...mostly because [the founders are] speaking to an increasingly secular society still hungry for two commodities organized religion purports to provide: wonder and community."

This is sad on a number of levels. Two that come most quickly to mind is that 1) people are trying to manufacture what the Lord has already offered and 2) the Church, in many cases, hasn't provided a connection to the wonder and community that is found through Christ (note the word, "purports," in the quote above).

November 10, 2013 update: Yahoo has a story about the founders' visit to Los Angeles here, which attracted far more people than the DC gathering.

It's OK to ask in prayer.

Ever hear someone downplay making requests in prayer because communion with God in prayer is enough? (A few contemporary worship songs come to mind.) Here's an interesting perspective, seasoned with humor, from an interview with Paul Miller, author of A Praying Life (NavPress), in By Faith (Q1:13). By Faith is a periodical from the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

The lingering influence of pietism in the evangelical church has tended to separate [asking and abiding.] Abiding has been seen as this almost mystical state that seems to hit really spiritual people. A good example of pietism is this quote from Augustine: "Ask nothing of God, but God Himself."

What's good about this? Augustine is putting God first. God Himself -- His love, His presence -- is His best gift to us.

What's bad about this? Augustine is disconnected from how love, God, and life work. Let me explain. Imagine a marriage where the husband really loves his wife. He is his wife's best earthly gift. I'm not being cynical. I really do see that in many strong marriage. Now imagine if the husband told his wife, "Honey, I don't want you to ask me for anything, because I'm your best gift." When I say this at our seminars, everyone laughs. They laugh because it is so disconnected from life. You can't separate being (the husband is his wife's best gift) from doing (what he does for her). That is, he shows his love to his wife by the many things he does for her -- how he listens, how he follows through, how he leads her.

Augustine's Neoplatonism tends to feed that separation from reality. In the Old Testament, God is not known abstractly; He is known through His mighty deeds, what He does -- like a good husband. Part of what we are doing is helping the church shed the abstractions of the Greek mind, returning the church to its holistic, Jewish roots.