Really enjoying reading Spirituality Revolution. Tacey makes some great observations about the rise of spirituality and the fall of 'religion' in the West which have given food for thought especially in light of today's Guardian which carries two stories about Christianity. The first entitled religion doing more harm than good, the second focusing on the growth of some church groups particularly Polish churches and Pentecostal congregations in London- the Beeb also reported earlier this week that Pentecostalism in the UK has outgrown Methodism.
One point which Tacey makes in his book is that there should be a decline in religion in the West. We should expect less people to go to church because church doesn't work for what Tacey calls 'youth spirituality'. Saying that, the growth of Pentecostalism is in some respects more worrying than the decline of traditional churches: while it may work for what is a very small percentage of the population, this model of spirituality alienates the majority of us and gives false hope to the rest of the church that if they shout/sing louder, revival is just round the corner and they can keep ignoring the metaphysical questions that young people are asking.
Preacher in photo in particular and pentecostalism in general is bad news for long-term future of Christianity:
1.If you don't take every word of the bible as literal truth then you aren't saved!
2.There are no mysteries - they have an answer for everything.
3.Prosperity theology - enough said.
4.You come to God for a miracle - but if don't receive it's because you haven't enough faith!
5.They love to ask for money.
6.They love affluent lifestyles.
7.Jesus was wealthy while on earth - to say he was poor is a lie.
8.They don't like honest and open questioning - you must believe what you're told - it's like being in the Communist Party!
Posted by: semerkhet | December 31, 2006 at 03:56 PM