The Elephant In The Room
Thank you, it is good coffee. Comes from Central Market; Dallas Blend. I try to stick with decaf myself so one cup's my limit. But you’re welcome to more.
Where was I? Oh, yes, there is a long list of well respected theologians, as well as atheist, who have recently published books attempting to understand the human condition and our relationship to the universe. The late, highly respected theologian William Placard summarized his view recently in an essay, that served as a guide for this series of blogs, but admits that none,including his own, are sufficiently perfect. What some find as inspiring others simply say doesn’t work for them. Girard’s theory, cited in the previous column, has indeed redirected the conversation but if Jesus was to be the ultimate scapegoat, Placard points out, the past 2000 years have not lessened our human ability to perpetuate this destructive process.
Granted, a number of folks will say, “Hey wait. Why fix what isn’t broken?” These obviously find Anselm’s theory working quite well for them and if you fall into this category I’d suggest you stick with Anselm. But the elephant in the room is that it isn’t working for a growing number of our youth who are not only leaving Christianity but denying the need for any religion.
Safe to say no one has deployed a “silver bullet” or come up with the “killer app” that is the be-all-to-end-all when it comes to the answer for how God saves the world. And though Christianity is the largest religious body--with something like 2 billion adherents in a world of 6 billion people--it is no longer the fastest growing, nor has it historically done well in cultures where other religious beliefs seem to have greater traction. The most telling truth may be in our own backyard where, in spite of record numbers of people flocking to mega churches, the fasting growing segment of the population, who are also the youngest, are not Christian or Muslim but non believers.
Finding a sufficient answer will require acknowledging the need for one. This does not mean we throw out what others find acceptable. But we will have to agree that since all of our answers require metaphor, that is, comparison to something concrete in this world, we can expect no one analogy to be perfect. As Anselm’s “substitutionary atonement” theory fit the understanding of his society we need to find an acceptable metaphor for future generations in our developed world.
Let me warm your coffee and I’ll give you a few suggestions of where top thinkers are going with this question.
Where was I? Oh, yes, there is a long list of well respected theologians, as well as atheist, who have recently published books attempting to understand the human condition and our relationship to the universe. The late, highly respected theologian William Placard summarized his view recently in an essay, that served as a guide for this series of blogs, but admits that none,including his own, are sufficiently perfect. What some find as inspiring others simply say doesn’t work for them. Girard’s theory, cited in the previous column, has indeed redirected the conversation but if Jesus was to be the ultimate scapegoat, Placard points out, the past 2000 years have not lessened our human ability to perpetuate this destructive process.
Granted, a number of folks will say, “Hey wait. Why fix what isn’t broken?” These obviously find Anselm’s theory working quite well for them and if you fall into this category I’d suggest you stick with Anselm. But the elephant in the room is that it isn’t working for a growing number of our youth who are not only leaving Christianity but denying the need for any religion.
Safe to say no one has deployed a “silver bullet” or come up with the “killer app” that is the be-all-to-end-all when it comes to the answer for how God saves the world. And though Christianity is the largest religious body--with something like 2 billion adherents in a world of 6 billion people--it is no longer the fastest growing, nor has it historically done well in cultures where other religious beliefs seem to have greater traction. The most telling truth may be in our own backyard where, in spite of record numbers of people flocking to mega churches, the fasting growing segment of the population, who are also the youngest, are not Christian or Muslim but non believers.
Finding a sufficient answer will require acknowledging the need for one. This does not mean we throw out what others find acceptable. But we will have to agree that since all of our answers require metaphor, that is, comparison to something concrete in this world, we can expect no one analogy to be perfect. As Anselm’s “substitutionary atonement” theory fit the understanding of his society we need to find an acceptable metaphor for future generations in our developed world.
Let me warm your coffee and I’ll give you a few suggestions of where top thinkers are going with this question.
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