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Apologia Report 19:33 (1,216)
October 1, 2014
Subject: Modern society "has made a scapegoat of faith"
In this issue:
ATHEISM - a growing enthusiasm for "playing church"
DEITY OF CHRIST - serious problems with the case that Bart Ehrman makes in How Jesus Became God
VIOLENCE - refuting claims that religion is the primary source of violent conflict
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ATHEISM
"Nonbelief System" by Josh Sanburn -- profiles Houston Oasis <houstonoasis.org >, "a church that's not a church" and its executive director, Mike Aus, "who regularly leads the group," along with Jerry DeWitt, "a visitor who heads a similar gathering in Louisiana. ... Just a few years ago, they were Christian ministers active in the pulpit. Today they're both nonbelievers leading secular Sunday services. ...
"Oasis is designed to appeal to those who long for the rituals of old-time religion but have lost faith in its doctrines.
"Oasis is one of a growing number of so-called atheist churches in the U.S. Most are connected to Sunday Assembly <sundayassembly.com>, a London-based organization on a globe-trotting mission to launch 100 assemblies in 15 countries by the end of the year. About a dozen are already operating in the U.S.; almost twice that many are planning to open.
"But whereas Sunday Assembly is largely a top-down movement, atheist churches are also sprouting from the ground up. ...
"The rise of atheist churches is part of a growing willingness by many atheists to adopt secular versions of religious practices. It's also a result of more everyday nonbelievers, and even clergy, 'coming out' as atheists and reflects a modest mainstreaming of atheism across the U.S. ...
"While 1 in 5 Americans claim no religious affiliation (up from about 1 in 6 five years ago), almost 6% now explicitly identify with atheism (the lack of belief in God) or agnosticism (the view that knowledge about God is unknowable), up from 4% in 2009. ...
"For years, Aus preached at a progressive, nondenominational church in Houston, and he readily admits to having been a 'cafeteria Christian.' 'I never believed in hell,' he says. 'Ever.' ...
"As nonbelievers have increasingly come out publicly, [the New Atheist] hard-line approach has given way to a more accommodating stance toward believers. ...
"A number of atheists, however, are against the very idea of an atheist church, including Bill Maher, possibly the country's best-known nonbeliever. 'It undermines the whole point of atheism, because the reason why people need to get together in religion is precisely because it's nonsensical,' Maher says, arguing that people of faith need strength in numbers to support their belief systems."
Sanburn concludes that "their weekly ritual, free of any predetermined belief, is something else too. It's something they can all believe in." And this tips us off to something Sanburn may not have realized as he describes the sort of belief these people are rejecting: "Alain de Botton <alaindebotton.com>, author of Religion for Atheists [1], argues that religion should be understood as an explanation of the origins of the world and the afterlife as much as a set of rituals and social practices. Chad Seales, a professor of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin, says that in the study of religion, 'belief is a bit overrated. The practices are what shape us.'" Time, Aug 4 '14, pp52-53.
The hunger for this kind of community without Christ reminds us of a tongue-in-cheek term that expresses the common spiritual error: "Churchianity." Sanburn makes one wonder if these former believers ever truly knew the real thing.
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DEITY OF CHRIST
"Why the Followers of Jesus Recognized Him as Divine" by Craig A. Evans -- if you're not familiar with this name, you should be. Evans has been cranking out great apologetics resources for some time now. Here, Evans responds to Bart Ehrman's book How Jesus Became God [2] and concludes that Ehrman's worldview forces him to reject the resurrection of Christ and consequently, the deity of Christ in the bargain.
Along the way we pick up a few details behind the interesting same-day occurrence of HarperCollins co-releasing (albeit, through a different imprint) the counterpoint book, How God Became Jesus [3], on which Evans was a collaborator.
In this feature, Evans points out several problematic facets in Ehrman's case and addresses two: "Did the historical Jesus claim to be divine?" and "Was Jesus Buried?" The end notes direct the reader to additional significant resources. Christian Research Journal, 37:3 - 2014, pp43-48.
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VIOLENCE
Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, by Karen Armstrong [4] -- writing for Library Journal (Sep '14 #2, p83), Augustine J. Curley (Newark Abbey, NJ) reports: "Believing that it is far too easy to make religion a scapegoat rather than trying to see what is really going on in the world, Armstrong ... offers a well-written historical summary of what have traditionally been viewed as 'religious' wars, showing convincingly that in pretty much all cases it was not so much religion as it was political issues that fueled the conflict. Her's is a scholarly rejoinder to [the thinking] which blames most of the world's ills on religion. Addressing both Eastern and Western religions, Armstrong argues that fundamentalism is not in itself a violent phenomenon, and that the aims of secular societies have led to more wars than has the promotion of religion. The book is particularly timely, given the number of conflicts in the world today that are viewed as religious-based. VERDICT Prolific religious writer Armstrong offers a well-written treatment of the perceived connection between religion and violence that will appeal to the serious layperson seeking to understand the role of religion in the development of society."
Kirkus (Sep '14 #1) adds: "Comparative religions expert Armstrong ... provides a comprehensive and erudite study of the history of violence in relation to religion. The author's global perspective is epic in scale and begins with the very dawn of human history. She begins the book by asserting, '[m]odern society has made a scapegoat of faith,' and she ends by noting that the 'problem lies not in the multifaceted activity that we call ‘religion' but in the violence embedded in our human nature and the nature of the state.' Armstrong also takes pains to explain that religion, as it is defined and discussed in modern society, is a construct of Protestant-influenced, Western culture and would not be understood by most cultures through time. Instead of a personal choice, religion has long been an ingrained aspect of most cultures, subject to the needs of societal survival along with every other aspect of a culture. Armstrong sees agrarian society as the source of most violence through history, in which a ruling minority controlled an agrarian majority by force while also attempting to expand territory. Religion served as a way of comprehending and handling the violence inherent in such societies. The rise of secularism - which, as the French Revolution handily proved, could be quite violent in its own right - created a void in which religion, and especially fundamentalism, could arise in a juxtaposing, visible role. This new role for religion has brought about the 'religious violence' of modernity, whether it was Jonestown's 'revolutionary suicide' or the spread of Islamic fanaticism. Armstrong leads readers patiently through history, from Mesopotamia to ancient India to the Palestine of Jesus to the China of Confucius. As always, her writing is clear and descriptive, her approach balanced and scholarly. An intriguing read, useful resource and definitive voice in defense of the divine in human culture."
Last, we like this related line from Publishers Weekly (Sep '14 #2, n.p.): Armstrong "relates - at length - contemporary terrorism to politics and regional histories: 'As an inspiration for terrorism ... nationalism has been far more productive than religion.'"
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion, by Alain de Botton (Pantheon, March 2012, hardcover, 320 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/7obyata>
2 - How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee, by Bart D. Ehrman (HarperOne, 2014, hardcover, 416 pages) <www.ow.ly/tGmuW>
3 - How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature - A Response to Bart D. Ehrman, edited by Michael F. Bird, Craig A. Evans, Simon Gathercole and Charles E. Hill (Zondervan, 2014, paperback, 240 pages) <www.ow.ly/tNSKa>
4 - Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, by Karen Armstrong (Knopf, 2014, hardcover, 528 pages) <www.ow.ly/C1PZQ>
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