Leaving Evangelicalism – Essay

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3 responses to “Leaving Evangelicalism – Essay”

1. 

   2005-07-26

   Cathie

   Some people do seem to need that black/white, right/wrong kind of faith in absolutes and they also need to believe in a God who is wrathful and judgmental. I wonder why it is that those who take the Bible so literally are also the ones who are political hawks rather than doves.
   One thing I’ve always liked about my own Anglican tradition is that our Prayer Book and its liturgy don’t focus very much on divine retribution.

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2. 

   2005-07-26

   trevize

   “I wonder why it is that those who take the Bible so literally are also the ones who are political hawks rather than doves.”
   In our particular context sometimes, but this is not necessarily so. If we look at people who take the Bible more literally than the average citizen in the West, there are many who are pacifists, or who work with the poor. More concerning than political hawks and doves are political sheep, that very large segment of the population who do nothing to promote justice or injustice. And many of those consider the bible an old book with little relevance, or just don’t care.
   There is a view of personal faith which sees the black-and-white thing as the first, naive and simple stage in faith, which often happens in youth or just after conversion. The second stage is a swing to the opposite, an “everything is grey” approach which is rudderless and often precipitated by a personal crisis. The third stage is one of maturity in faith, which enables the believer to major on the majors, avoiding the hobby-horses of Stage 1, and the snidey cynicism of Stage 2. In my opinion, Stage 3 individuals may be conservative or liberal in their theology, but people in conservative churches seem often to be encouraged to stay in Stage 1, while people in liberal churches often get stuck in Stage 2.

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3. 

   2005-07-26

   David Huff

   trevize,
   Well said. There’s actually a good book entitled Stages of Faith : The Psychology of Human Development by James Fowler which models these stages, building on some work by classic psychological researchers like Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg. Can be a bit tough going unless you’re familiar with Piaget, et al, but even memories of an undergraduate “survey of psychology” course would probably suffice.

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