Blog - Page 314 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Is God Done with Europe?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:03-05:00June 10th, 2005|Categories: The Church|

The Atlantic Times, a German monthly, recently reported that faith in Europe shows new signs of spiritual life. This goes against most popular understanding regarding the influence of Christian spirituality in the lands of the Reformation.

Sociologists like Boston University’s Peter L. Berger argue against this report by saying: “There are a few upturns on some values . . . but [these] are not very dramatic.” He adds, in good sociological fashion, “I do not expect significant changes.”

But religion writer Uwe Siemon-Netto, a contributor to our ministry, correctly notes that “faith is not bound by the rigors of science.” And, Siemon-Netto adds, “Knowledgeable observers claim that for all the disastrous numbers showing religion’s decline in Christianity’s former heartland, the Holy Spirit seems to be at work in France.” Christianity Today noted the same in a recent issue. And well-known Protestant theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg observes that “atheism is in decline.”

Peter Berger does admit that there are some “unquantifiable upturns” in parts of Europe. These upturns include the increasing number of young people from non-religious parents who have shown […]

When Secondary Issues Become Core Issues

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:04-05:00June 9th, 2005|Categories: The Church|

My recent three-part series on fundamentalism (Weekly Messenger May 23, 30 and June 6) has drawn some expected response, both pro and con. I will respond to several comments, on this blog spot, in the next few days. The following comment is a good place to begin:

He (i.e. me) seems to have more trouble with people making secondary issues core issues of the faith, i.e. how you view the gifts of the Spirit, women’sroles, etc. This is a real problem. But the problem of fundamentalism has typically been an anti-intellectualism and adding of traditions to Scripture that are held to have equal authority with Scriptural teaching, i.e. no drinking of alcoholic beverages, no dancing, dressing drably, etc.

I find this comment fairly typical of the response I expected. People who do not "see" the modern evangelical world as I outlined it do not, of course, think that there really is a problem. Is the writer of this comment ready to say that making secondary issues into core issues is, as he admits, a "real problem"? If he says "yes" then why […]

Poeima: A New Church for Tempe

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:04-05:00June 7th, 2005|Categories: Emergent Church|

John Mitchell is a forty-two year old visionary. He has served on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for eleven years. Then for seven years he was a pastor, serving the past four plus years as pastor of evangelism and discipleship in a large suburban evangelical boomer church. His heart is deeply moved to plant a church that will reach 20’s and 30’s, a drifting generation of adults without moorings. John and Deborah Mitchell move to Tempe, Arizona, next week to launch Poeima, a new "emergent" church (www.poeimachurch.com). John and I both think the "emergent" description needs to go sooner than later so I will increasingly try to find ways to refer to this generation, and this type of evangelism, without this not-so-helpful term. But for now, at least, I will call John’s vision "emergent."

John got this burden for evangelism by discipling this particular generation and by understanding several basic things about them. This is a generation that generally thinks "wrong" is an opinion and truth is a "myth." Meaning is what you make it to be and there simply are […]

The Church of Personal Preference

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:04-05:00June 6th, 2005|Categories: Personal|

Most Americans have heard the Burger King advertising slogan for years. It simply says: "Have It Your Way." The idea behind the slogan is clear–Burger King stores will prepare a hamburger just the way you like them. If you want mustard, pickles and lettuce, without the tomatoes, just ask. If you want ketchup, and no mustard, all you have to do is make your wish known. And this additional promise is made clear: "Special orders don’t upset us." Fast and efficient delivery of your meal is always the goal, thus the promise to you the customer.

Sometimes the promises of ad agencies parallel the promises churches make. When we buy into marketing deeply we can begin to believe that the real key to reaching the unchurched is to allow the seeker (customer) to have things his/her way. You can come to our church, we promise you, and here you will get what you were looking for in real religion. And if you make a special request we will bend heaven and hell to meet it. You are the goal, your wish is […]

What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:05-05:00June 4th, 2005|Categories: Politics|

Public policy debates are important for a healthy democracy. Christians need to engage these debates actively, not sitting out the issues that impact good life in our earthly civil communities. Why? The simple answer is that we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

But Christians engaging public policy as purpose, and Christians speaking as partisans who decry the motives and actions of others who "lack faith," are not necessarily the same. This why I spoke against the idea of Justice Sunday in fundamentalist churches around the country a few weeks ago. This issue continues to underscore the distinctions I think we must make when Christians engage the larger public sphere outside the family of the church.

The organizers of Justice Sunday gave the strong impression, by both their words and actions, that those who supported the Senate filibuster over judges were hostile to real Christian faith. This observation about their words and actions is not just my personal impression. The facts bear out this conclusion.

J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, has summarized […]

The Problem of Fundamentalism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:05-05:00June 2nd, 2005|Categories: The Church|

Over the past two weeks I have written two semi-academic articles on the dangers of fundamentalism. (See the Weekly Messenger, May 23 and May 30, at www.reformationrevival.com. You may sign up for these free weekly e-mails if you do not currently receive them.) Another article, "The Dangers of the Fundamentalist Ditch," will be published on June 6, as the third and final installment in my series.

A writer is sometimes biased about his own work. I feel these three articles are some of my more important written work over the past five years. Now, it may not be my best work. I leave that to my readers to decide. However, I sense it is important work precisely because the ideas expressed in these articles are needed to help readers understand why the evangelical movement cannot afford to keep falling back into the traps of fundamentalism, either that of method or theology. What is needed is a fresh recovery of healthy evangelical orthodoxy that embraces the whole church and its Great Tradition.

Almost every week I […]

In America Even Catholics Are Cultural Calvinists

By John Armstrong|2005-06-01T07:25:11-05:00June 1st, 2005|Categories: Politics|

A few years ago Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, lamented at a gathering of bishops and other Catholic leaders, that in America even Catholics are "culturally Calvinist." By this Cardinal George acknowledged the simple fact that America cannot be analyzed apart from what Stephen H. Webb has called, "the way providential theology has shaped its understanding of foreign affairs" (American Providence: A Nation with a Mission, New York: T & T Clark, 2005). America’s power in the world, Webb maintains, cannot be understood unless you consider the role of providence in its historical self awareness.

The rise of evangelical interest in politics over the past three decades is not the beginning of this role. In some ways it is simply the continuation of a long historical tradition of mainstream American Protestantism. Webb believes that we can best frame the present debate as between providentialists and anti-providentialists, not between liberals and conservatives. I find this insight immensely helpful.

Let me put this another way. The question boils down to this: "Is God using America to do something special in […]

Memorial Day Reflections: Can Politics Change Culture?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:05-05:00May 30th, 2005|Categories: Politics|

By training, I am a historian. At least I like to think so. I had good teachers, and I still love the subject. I dabble in it, even professionally, and even get asked to lecture occasionally. I am also a keen observer of American political debate. I have a horse in most political races, and it is generally the one that could be labeled conservative, though not rigidly so. I also believe in what professor Stephen H. Webb has called "American Providence." (Perhaps more about Webb’s historical thesis later this week.) Simply put, God cannot be removed from American life and politics if one has a robust view of providence, as I think I do.

As we celebrate Memorial Day I am struck as an American, and a historian, at how divided we are as a nation. No one doubts that we are divided, at least politically. Think red and blue states. But we are increasingly divided at the more basic level of community values and national vision. In the end I think it is safe to say that the unique American […]

Soul Searching Among America's Youth

By John Armstrong|2005-05-27T07:46:44-05:00May 27th, 2005|Categories: Renewal|

Most American teens indicate that religious faith is very important in their lives. That is truly good news. In addition, they are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and other adults than is commonly thought. The bad news is that religion is deprioritized and poorly understood by teens. This is the conclusion of Christian Smith, the Stuart Chapin Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair of Sociology at the University of North Carlina, in the much acclaimed new book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford University Press, 2005).

Smith’s study is based upon the most extensive and ambitious national study ever conducted among American teens about their religious and spiritual lives. Kendra Creasy Dean, the author of another important study of youth, calls Soul Searching "a bombshell, and that is one long overdue." It shows, she says, that our assumptions about youth and religion have bene profoundly wrong. Instead of finding general apathy or hostility the study shows are that America’s teens are very interested in faith. There is further good news here, […]

What Should We Make of the Blogging Rage?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:25:06-05:00May 26th, 2005|Categories: Current Affairs|

Kevin Maney, in a weekly technology column in the Wednesday edition (May 25) of USA Today, suggests the present growth of blogging will chill out relatively soon. His piece is actually a very funny spoof on the growing rage for blogs. Had I read Maney in March I might have hesitated to begin this business of regularly writing blogs.

Maney concludes about the blog business:

"So, yeah, blogs are cool. Anything that gives people a voice benefits society and makes us all better and smarter–and, as bloggers have proved, makes established information outlets more accountable. But blogs don’t seem to be the second coming of the printing press. They’re just another turn of the wheel in communications technology."

Maney pokes fun at the notion that this is a great new revolution that will "change everything." He notes that every new technology is significant for a time, and alters the dynamics of society and business to varying degrees. Blogs are doing that as well. But, as Maney properly notes, "each technology has also gone through a cycle of superhype, followed by […]