Journal Week 3: Losing Interest in Progressive Christianity
So, how has Flannery O'Connor made me stranger?
Specifically, how has Flannery O'Connor interrupted my progressive Christianity?
Many liberal and progressive Christians struggle with doubts. The forces of secular disenchantment strongly affect liberal and progressive Christians.
Consequently, there is this impulse within progressive Christianity to make faith lighter, to believe less and less, to dilute faith.
As a progressive Christian, over the years I've contributed my fair share to this impulse, doing my best to sing the praises of doubt. But a few years ago, I began to grow concerned about this trajectory if left unchecked. I began to worry about my spiritual health, as well as the health of many other progressive Christians.
I am not the only one who has grown worried. After years of praising doubt and deconstruction, many progressive Christians have begun to speak about the need for a turn, a movement back toward reconstruction and a second naïveté.
To be clear, because the label "progressive Christianity" is messy and vague, I'm not speaking of progressive viewpoints, theologically or politically, but about the deconstructing, disenchanting, Enlightenment-driven impulse that runs through much of progressive Christianity. The impulse that keeps diluting faith, where you are believing less and less.
Specifically, how has Flannery O'Connor interrupted my progressive Christianity?
Many liberal and progressive Christians struggle with doubts. The forces of secular disenchantment strongly affect liberal and progressive Christians.
Consequently, there is this impulse within progressive Christianity to make faith lighter, to believe less and less, to dilute faith.
As a progressive Christian, over the years I've contributed my fair share to this impulse, doing my best to sing the praises of doubt. But a few years ago, I began to grow concerned about this trajectory if left unchecked. I began to worry about my spiritual health, as well as the health of many other progressive Christians.
I am not the only one who has grown worried. After years of praising doubt and deconstruction, many progressive Christians have begun to speak about the need for a turn, a movement back toward reconstruction and a second naïveté.
To be clear, because the label "progressive Christianity" is messy and vague, I'm not speaking of progressive viewpoints, theologically or politically, but about the deconstructing, disenchanting, Enlightenment-driven impulse that runs through much of progressive Christianity. The impulse that keeps diluting faith, where you are believing less and less.
Read more at https://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2018/01/journal-week-3-losing-interest-in.html
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