Disintegration in the churches is an issue that weighs heavily upon my heart and spirit as I observe the secular progressivism encroaching and overtaking the various congregations and church bodies. As the congregations and church bodies move farther from the apostolic doctrine and practice the churches lose their integrity, becoming more and more loosely defined until their identity becomes blurred with the world. More and more the people speak of gray areas and uncertainty until in the end, nothing really matters anymore and darkness and disillusionment are all that remain.
I have developed a graphic to illustrate how the bright illumination of the Pure Word and Sacraments becomes less and less visible in the lives of the people, congregations, and church bodies as they move farther away from the historic liturgy and doctrine and practice proclaimed by the apostles.
(for larger view click on graphic)
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2 comments:
NA, religion either evolves with society or it dies. Christianity is dying. Young people are leaving the church in droves, women are as well. Pretty much every Christian sect is losing numbers well below the increase in population. Mormonism is a significant exception. Atheism and agnosticism are growing at a phenomenal rate and has already engulfed most of Europe.
My latest blog post looks into this in a bit more detail. I invite you over to have a look. :)
Paul,
Your post's presupposition is that a person's faith is personal, yet it's origin and maintenance is not of the person himself, but through and only through the Means employed by YHWH Theos. No individual is capable of Christian faith, even though every individual is capable of reason. Therefore faith exists only where YHWH Theos' Means are taught and applied as He has given them. You observe that the exercise of human reason in understanding and applying what faith believes moves them further from the faith.
This presupposition is unreasonable but totally Biblical.
Canadian Atheist observes that religion either evolves with society or it dies; particularly this is true of Christianity. His observation is reasonable but totally un-biblical. He correctly stands by his reason. That's because faith is not reasonable.
Gary Cepek
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