ECCLESIAL HEMORRHAGING
Christian churches, particularly, throughout Europe and North America, are hemorrhaging members where Christianity has dominated the religious landscape for centuries. It is not the case that Christians are simply moving to different denominations within Christianity or being converted to other religions. It is a growing phenomenon amongst the religious of all faiths to see an increase in their adherents to forego religion altogether and become what is known in the United States as a "None."
The question being addressed in this post is why this phenomenon is taking place within Christianity. In my previous post on "Christianity - A Hybrid Religion" in which Judaism and the polytheistic religion of the Roman Empire were blended to create a palatable narrative about about Jesus Christ in order to make Christianity more palatable to a broader gentile audience within the Roman Empire. It is my premise for this post that what once attracted people within the Roman Empire to become a Christian, today, has become a distraction as historical and scientific discoveries challenge the credibility of entrenched Christian dogma that is foundational to the existence of Christianity.
INSTITUTIONAL SCLEROSIS
Christianity, throughout its various denominations, share common problems. The longer a denomination or a church organization exists, it will eventually develop a form of institutional sclerosis; that is, long-held concretized of beliefs held by its members who are resistant to change. Institutional sclerosis in the Church takes the forms of strict adherence to tradition, dogma, and the unquestionable authority of scripture.
Some may question this assessment and point to a number of changes that have been embraced in recent years by some denominations; such as, the acceptance of women in the clergy, openly and active gay clergy, same sex marriage, updated liturgies ministries which address environmental and socials conditions beyond a church's wall. Surely a more openminded Church should be an attraction, but the reality is they don't.
Some might point out that the few churches which are growing are doing so because they have "stuck to their dogmatic guns" and have "doubled down " on their long-held views; that a woman's place is in the home and should remain silent in the church, that homosexuality is not only a sin but an abomination, that social welfare makes people lazy (they that don't work, shouldn't eat 2 Thessalonians 3:10), and that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
Still others of the mega-church moment might point to the success of a cafeteria style type of Christianity that caters to a variety of ecclesial preferences, traditional, evangelical, fundamental, progressive and conservative. Who will point out that their appeal is to meeting the spiritual needs of their member but their social needs, and in some their economic needs. Mega churches are generally found in larger urban areas and, for a lack of a better way to say this, run what is almost a Christian one stop shopping center.
This is not to say that they don't engage in meaningful outreach, but their primary goal in outreach is to enlarge their consumer or congregational base. They are often headed by a charismatic preacher who exudes a sense of personal confidence and success by being a part of a large and success-driven congregation. While such mega-churches appear to argue against the notion of an overall hemorrhage of church membership, they are known to quickly fall apart when some sort of scandal in the institution involve its charismatic leader. The church of personality invariably stands on shaky ground.
TRADITION
Any group of humans who gather over a long period of time will develop traditions. Just as individuals develop habits, groups develop traditions. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with traditions. What makes traditions so appealing to the institution of the Church is that they are not only intoxicating but also indoctrinating. Indoctrination is where things become problematic.
On Instagram, the Roman Catholic Church has reels that promotes their liturgical traditions as being aesthetically appealing. In those reels there is no mention of what they teach. It is the aesthetic aspect of worship and ritual that is offered as an intoxicant to the viewer. Traditions are intoxicating in that they offer a person a sense of belonging, comfort, and familiarity.
Evangelicals are known to eschew the notion of traditional liturgical worship. They promote the ideal of worship as something spontaneous and freeform. Having experienced such settings, one can identify the idea of spontaneity as a tradition regarding how worship is conducted. Ironically, there is a tradition of of how freeform worship is conducted; how prayers are said, how members are to vocally or physically respond to sermons and hymns; particularly, in Pentecostal churches. Physical responses to worship is a form of indoctrination. People know when to say, "Amen" "Praise God," "Say it preacher." Such responses reinforce teaching and accomplish indoctrination.
Praise music, in particular, is an intoxicant within an evangelical setting, which has now spread to many mainline churches. As an organist, I am undoubtedly biased about praise band music, but I am just as leery of many traditional hymns that have been around for centuries. Martin Luther is a prime example of a theologian who used hymns as a teaching tool to indoctrinate the uneducated. Hymns are powerful reinforces of dogma.
All liturgical and freeform types of worship have this effect. Worship is used as teaching tool as much as it is used to glorify God. Repetition ingrains belief. Over time, one doesn't need to follow an order of service in the missal, the prayer book, the bulletin or the large screen televisions. Congregants know what to say, how to say it, what to sing, and how to sing. There is a sense of comfort and familiarity in being able to do so. The problem is when the comfortable and familiar is based on a faulty premise.
DOGMA
Dogma is the bedrock of Christianity's theology and traditions. They define God as a tripartite God of three persons in one Godhead (a perpetually confusing dogma). God the Father is the creator of heaven and earth. The Son, Jesus Christ, was born of virgin and it both "true God" and "true Man who was crucified (sacrificed) for us to pay the price of our sins. Last, but not least, is the Holy Spirit, who inspires and reveals truth to us unworthy humans.
Dogma is the result of trying to figure out who Jesus was and establishing a consistent church doctrine that the both clergy and the emperors of the late Roman and Byzantine Empire could promulgate as the true faith of the church. Remarkably it continues to enthrall some the faithful to this day, but it is struggling to maintain its hold on people in a fast changing world that eons different from the time when Christian dogma was formulated.
For centuries dogma has dictated what is moral by elucidating what is specifically immoral. Throughout the centuries sexual behavior has been rigidly controlled by Church leadership under the ancient religious premise that who controls the bedroom controls the culture. This has been effective for most of human history.
It is only recently that this has been in any way been significantly challenged. Nevertheless, the jury of history is still out as there is a re-emergence fostered by the Roman Church and Evangelical Churches in the United States to once again control the bedroom, deny women control over their bodies and lives, and push homosexuals back into the closet.
Dogma is entrenched in the minds of Christian as being the result of divine revelation given to the Church, based on a reading of Matthew 16:18-19 where Jesus, after Peter declaring Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, says, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
It is doubtful that Jesus said this about Peter. The Gospels of Mark and Luke tell the same story Jesus saying he would build his Church on Peter. Nevertheless all churches from the Church in Rome to the Church of the Latter Day Saints believe they have been given a divine mandate to speak on God's behalf when it comes to matters of faith and morality.
Overall, Christian dogma is chiefly concerned with defining what is necessary in this life to ensure one's salvation in order to obtain eternal life in heaven. On the surface that sounds good, but what becomes necessary to obtain salvation in this life is to first and foremost recognize one's unworthiness and inability to ensure salvation on one's own; that one must submit to the order of the Church, which is the Body of Christ on earth, to be constantly repenting if not consistently repentant, to receive the means of grace as offered in the sacrament and lead, to the best of one's inadequate abilities, a humble and blameless life by keeping one's body as temple of God; avoiding sex outside of marriage, gluttony, drunkenness, etc., and caring for one's neighbor, the poor, the homeless, etc..
While more progressive churches are less concerned about condemning people because of their inadequacies, what is listed in the preceding paragraph is still on the books and in the The Holy Bible. Forgiveness is very much a part of Jesus' teachings and all denominations recognize this, but given Jesus' comment to Peter in Matthew 16, the Church (all denominations) believe they hold the keys to the Kingdom and thus forgiveness is contingent on the dictates of the Church (or so Matthew would have it.)
THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
While Christian dogma is believed, in part, due to revelation by the Holy Spirit. Such inspiration comes through the inspired scriptures of the Holy Bible. While a growing number of Christian denominations are stepping away from the idea that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God, it remains for most Christian denominations the authoritative Word of God that reveals God's will for humankind. Even those who consider themselves Progressive Christians refrain from questioning the scriptures from which dogma is derived.
For example, the accounts of virgin birth of Jesus, the purpose of Jesus' crucifixion, and his resurrection in the Gospels are treated as authentic events that give authorization to the dogmas based on them. Likewise, the Epistles attributed to Paul are also considered authoritative.
While the Old Testament is considered superseded by the New Testament in Christianity, it remains authoritative; especially, where Jesus is silent on a given subject and gives authority to the teachings of and about Jesus in the New Testament. The doctrines, dogma and traditions of the Church are deeply rooted in the Holy Bible, which in the current century and the last century is proving to be problematic.
The Holy Bible is an amazing collection of writings that reflect an evolving understanding of God against the background of human history. This is particularly true of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. As discussed in my previous post, the New Testament, the uniquely Christian Scriptures reflect both a monotheistic and polytheistic understanding of God and Jesus set against the background of the conflict that occurred between Jews and Christians during the time of Paul's ministry, and more importantly the split between Jews and Christians that occurred after the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The authority of Holy Bible has largely remained unquestioned for eighteen hundred years.
Christian denominations of every stripe consider the Holy Bible the bedrock of Church doctrine and dogma. Therein lies the challenge the Christian Church of today is encountering. Apart from religious institutions, I am not aware of any institution that relies on the absolute authority of documents that are thousands of years old which are not verifiable today.
BLEEDING OUT
Jesus said, " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matt. 24:35 and Luke 21:33) . Perhaps Christianity will continue till the end of time, but the hemorrhaging of church membership calls to mind another saying in the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1 where we read, 'To everything there is season." The notion of a Post-Christian world exists. Religions can die and Christianity, being a religion can die. Yes, Jesus' words may not pass away, but the religion that bears his name may very well do so.
Christianity is losing authenticity and credibility among its followers. The institutional church can no longer whitewash its history or impose unbelievable as fact or truth. Salvation theology and dogmas based on the doctrine of original sin are not tenable in the nuclear age. Sacrifice as the means of saving people from their unavoidable sins is wrongheaded. It is no longer tenable to require belief in the virgin birth of Jesus, his sacrificial death on a cross, his resurrection and ascension as historical facts which have only served to occlude the message of Jesus' teachings (his sermons and parables).
There is a deep vein of hypocrisy associated with the institution Church. Being reliant on scriptures that are two to three thousand years old has turned theology into a navel gazing activity. The polarity of differing perspectives of Christianity by differing Christian denominations cannot stand, as Jesus himself remarked, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (See Matt. 12:25, Mark 3:25, and Luke 11:17).
Christianity needs to stop insisting on believing the unbelievable as sign of faith. This is not to say the the Bible should be ignored, but rather that it should be understood as work of human ingenuity. Christianity has done little to advance an appropriate understand of its scriptures in the light of today's world. Christianity struggles with this because so many Christians are convinced that belief in the unbelievable is necessary in order to have eternal life. This is not something Jesus, as a Jew, would have taught. In this regard the New Testament is proving to be harder to believe than the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament.
At the present time, a number of Christian denominations are doubling down on their traditions, dogma, and the inerrancy of the Holy Bible. They seem to be winning in the United States with overturning Roe V. Wade, and rolling back protection on LGBTQ rights and the rise of White Christian Nationalism being serious contender in U.S. politics. Winning in these areas is not helping Christianity as a whole. They have become a reason for disengagement for many one time Christians and is and will continue to cause Christianity to hemorrhage members along with insisting on belief in the unbelievable.
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Next post: Recalibrating Christianity.
Norm
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