Recently I have been thinking about how our nation / our society is interconnected with Christianity. Since September 11th, 2001 I believe that we have been trying to cope with the reality that we are not invincible or untouchable as a nation. Over the past 18 months we have really been dealing with another vulnerability – that of economic frailty and again we see that we are not as secure as maybe we once took for granted. These things seem to have rocked our society so deeply that we are scrambling to define ourselves. It could be that we have always wondered these things but perhaps we have always had the luxury of having all the questions answered for us. Or perhaps we have just ignored the difficult questions thinking that they will go away if we just refuse to face them. In any case I have seen a gradual increase of intensity in the American Evangelical Protestant Christian culture and I have to ask. Are we lost in who we claim to be? Have we found ourselves so starved for direction and identity that we’ve been made vulnerable to religious manipulation? Do we know who we are as those who claim to be Christ followers and how does this interconnect with our nation / our society?
I dug out a few old friends and found some new ones for reading to help me with my search for Christianity in America. I think it is imperative that we have a historical context to work off of, to understand how we got to where we are as modern day Christians living in the U.S.. So, I am first re-reading “The Story of Christianity” by Justo Gonzalez. I am also starting to gather and organize my next reads. I will keep you posted with the topics I read through this avenue (at your gracious allowance). Maybe you might find my study to also be beneficial to you, if this subject so entices you.
I have titled my study “The American Christian” seeing fully right away the paradox this creates. It is going to be a tough, hard-to-handle, messy study but I need it.
In studying the history of Christianity we have to ensure that we are willing to see the good as well as the bad. It is through this history that the gospel has arrived to us today and whether we realize yet or not every action or inaction of those that have gone before us has somehow impacted the message we hear. Throughout the introduction to his 3 volume account, “The Story of Christianity” Justo Gonzales makes sure we understand the importance of the past whether we find the stories inspiring or revolting. Gonzales states this well. He writes, “Like it or not, we are heirs of this host of diverse and even contradictory witnesses" (Gonzales, 1984, p.xvii).
This brings me to the first question to discuss. Is it even a matter of importance to understand the history behind the way we perceive and interpret scripture? In other words, do we care to know the story behind the words of the Bible and the story of our faith between the words of the Bible and our lives today?
A follow-up question to ponder: Are we willing to see the flaws of religion brought on by sinners like us who carry the message forward through time?
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