Marginal Christianity

“It is certain that we all have reason to ask ourselves each of these questions, and in every case quickly and clearly to give the answer: “No, the church’s existence does not always have to possess the same form in the future that it possessed in the past as though this were the only possible pattern. “No, the continuance and victory of the cause of God which the Christian Church is to serve with her witness, is not unconditionally linked with the forms of existence which it has had until now. “Yes, the hour may strike, and perhaps has already struck when God, to our discomfiture, but to his glory and for the salvation of mankind, will put an end to this mode of existence because it lacks integrity. “Yes, it could be our duty to free ourselves inwardly from our dependency on that mode of existence even while it still lasts. Indeed, on the assumption that it may one day entirely disappear, we should look about us for new ventures in new dir...

http://robbbeck.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/church-decline-and-karl-marx/ July 27, 2014 in Anglican Social Teaching , Christopher Lasch , Common Good , Ecclesiology From Patrick Deneen’s How Red (State) is Marx? , in The American Conservative : Here’s what Marx got right—profoundly, overwhelmingly, admirably right: capitalism is unforgiving to “conservatives,” those who care about neighborhood, Church, family, loyalty, tradition. As Marx and Engels eloquently described in The Communist Manifesto, The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary part. The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, ...