“I think what you see a lot of in American religion, even in areas of American Christianity that don't go all the way with Osteen to the idea that God wants you to have this big house and so on, the nature of American religion right now, the fact that it is so non-denominational and post-denominational, the most successful churches have to be run more like businesses than ever before. I think that just exposes Christians to a constant temptation to think about the ministry more as a business than they sometimes should.” ThinkingWayWantShouldIdeasSometimesFactsBigsRunningChristianHouseChurchChristianitySuccessfulRight NowAreasConstantTemptationPostsMinistryBig Houses Author:Ross Douthat
“In the end, you do need institutions to transmit the faith for the long haul. That's why I make the case that, in certain ways, American Protestants could stand to recover the denominationalism that they've left behind over the last 50 years. They are real values in having a confessional tradition that can sustain your faith over the long term.” WayNeedsYearsLongRealEndsLastsCertainValuesLeftTermBehindsCasesTraditionInstitutionsLong TermLeft BehindProtestantsTransmitHaulReal ValueLong Haul Author:Ross Douthat
“In many ways, American evangelicalism is somewhat stronger today than it was in, say 1955 - certainly more mainstream and influential in the culture as a whole. But, the increased strength of evangelicalism hasn't increased fast enough to compensate for the total collapse of mainline Protestantism and the pretty steady weakening of my own Roman Catholic Church.” WayEnoughWholeTodayCultureChurchMy OwnStrongerCatholicSteadyMainstreamCollapseInfluentialCatholic ChurchWeakeningProtestantismRoman CatholicRoman Catholic Church Author:Ross Douthat
“It's clearly the case that there's not some moment in American history when every evangelical is holding hands with every Catholic who is holding hands with every mainline Methodist, or what have you. Obviously, American Christianity was deeply divided in all kinds of ways at mid-century too. But there was a kind of convergence going on. Even though Reinhold Niebuhr, the great mainline Protestant theologian, didn't think highly of Billy Graham, he and Graham still, clearly, had more in common, both theologically and in their attitudes toward religion in public life.” ThinkingWayKindStillsMomentsHandsCommonAttitudeChristianityCasesCenturyCatholicAll KindsDividedAmerican HistoryTheologianPublic LifeProtestantsEvangelicalHolding HandsMethodistsConvergence Author:Ross Douthat
“Americans are an "almost chosen people," which is meant to suggest that there are clear parallels, literal, theological and everything else, between the American story and the Old Testament story of Israel and then the broader story of the Christian church. It's OK to recognize the parallels. It's OK to invoke them. But, you have to keep that "almost" in front of the "chosen." You can't go all the way and say, "America is Israel, America is the Church." That's where I think patriotism shades into, what I call, the heresy of nationalism.” PeopleThinkingWayStoriesChristianAmericaChurchClearFrontsIsraelChosenNationalismShadeTestamentParallelsHeresyLiteralTheologicalOld TestamentInvokeChristian Church Author:Ross Douthat
“The idea of a post-religious society is a fantasy, ultimately. Human beings are, by nature, religious in various ways.” WayHumansIdeasReligiousHuman BeingsFantasyVariousPosts Author:Ross Douthat
“I think it is fair, in a way, to describe certain forms of Marxism, for instance, as the secular equivalent of a religion. But, I think the same is true, to a certain extent, of secular liberalism as well.” ThinkingWayWellsFormCertainFairsInstanceLiberalismSecularMarxism Author:Ross Douthat
