Scot McKnight has apparently gotten a pre-release copy of Four Views on Christian Spirituality, which examines Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, and Liberal/Progressive/Mainline Protestant views of spirituality.
Over at Jesus Creed, Scot talks about the section on mainline spirituality. He is pretty tough. He ends by saying, “There’s no gospel there.” There are some reactions to this in the comments.
I would just say that in my experience as clergy in one of these denominations, there is a big difference between spirituality at the seminary, clergy, and judicatory level and spirituality at the congregational level. Most congregations include at least a few evangelicals and social conservatives. In rural areas there are even a few clergy who are not liberals.
The first commenter says, “I never detected quite this extreme. I wonder if this is really the message from the pulpit in such churches or if you have to be in the in-group to know this is what the leadership believes.” Exactly.
Also, a balanced view would have to acknowledge that, although you can find yourself marginalized for differing from the in-group, you also are allowed to openly struggle with your faith.
They are going to release the book on May 8. My plan is to blog about the four views then. Let’s see what the book actually says. Being familiar with the mainline, I am more interested in the other spiritualities. It looks like the four authors speak for their perspectives and then react to the other views.
I will be going from a book published in the roaring twenties to a book hot off the presses in 2012.
theoutwardquest 