I don't overly feel like blogging, so I thought I'd share links. This post may grow by the end of the evening.
First, some nice
reflections by Fr. Jim Martin at
America Magazine.
Second, a piece about
the future Collapse of Evangelical Christianity. There's a snarky bit near the end about the beneficiaries of this collapse being the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
More from
America. This time
a piece about Flannery O'Connor. I like this quote.
O’Connor expressed impatience with the kind of Catholicism—and Catholic fiction—that kept everything nice, shallow, cute and safe. She described what she called “A nice vapid-Catholic distrust of finding God in action of any range and depth. This is not the kind of Catholicism that has saved me so many years in learning to write, but then this is not Catholicism at all.” Genuine Catholicism, she felt, must be as radical and demanding as its founder’s teaching.
4 comments:
I'll believe it when I see it. Those same types were decrying the death of mainstream denominations (and Catholicism) 8 years ago.
Oh yeah, the Internet Monk. I tended to doubt what he was saying until he said:
Charismatic-Pentecostal Christianity will become the majority report in evangelicalism
I think so too. If he's making a distinction between Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism, he may be right.
In any case, I was watching that old Spencer Tracy movie Inherit the Wind last night, based on the Scopes Trial (1926).
I think when they made the movie, they figured these evolution controversies would be long settled by 2009. Heck, they figured they were pretty much wrapped up in 1960...
It doesn't look like they are by a long shot.
Jeff,
I think that's true about Pentecostals. I know that here in SF there is a new little church and is "growing". My formerly Catholic cousin and her family belong there. They had a funeral (at least I think that's what it was) for her baby daughter.
The whole Evolution/Creation and now Intelligent Design fight won't go away. People are surprised that I believe in Evolution because I'm Catholic and I find that intriguing because I learned about it in Catholic school, but then I find there are some Catholics who are Creation only which boggles my mind.
I also feel very blessed right now to be living in an archdiocese that seems to be thriving . I don't know of church closings at the moment. We are, like most places, closing and combing schools though.
Yeah, those types would love to see the death of Catholicism. And though adherence to religion is declining throughout the country of the religions that is seeing a decline according to that recent survey Catholicism isn't declining "that rapidly".
The church has weathered many crises in the past, it will get through a few dumb studies.
Post a Comment