The New Reformation – Revolution

Approximately five hundred years ago, a religious renewal was launched on Germain soil in the town of Wittenburg by an Augustinian monk and theologian named Martin Luther. This Reformation, as it came to be called was a revolution heard around the European world. Its result was a split between the Roman Catholic version of Christianity and what we have come to know as Protestant Christianity. Like any great historical event, the reformation was the product of combined forces. [1]

The above paragraph opens the book “A New Reformation” by Father Mathew Fox, and more or less sums up his belief that a “New Reformation” is currently or has been afoot over the last several years. But unlike the revolution that became known as the Protestant Reformation, the current revolution in the Christian faith is more subliminal, less noticeable, possibly due to the lack of media attention that has been given to the movement. Which, in my opinion raises two questions (1) Why does the media fail to notice this modern day great historical event, that might deemed as a silent revolution and (2) what are the combined forces that have resulted in this modern day Reformation?

In his book “Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity,” Bruce Bawer notes how that at the dawn of the 20th century, major news papers at time gave front page space to the sermons delivered by various members of the clergy, but as secularism became more and more prominent in the United States these reports were relegated to back pages and eventually dropped altogether. Bawer explains that while a century ago, most reporters and editors were spiritual people. But a century later, their post modern counterparts are more likely to be more secular minded and even isolated by culture from the vast majority of the faithful that live beyond the cities in the heart land. Attacks by Christian fundamentalists or legalists against a perceived liberal media being so frequent, these contemporary writers and editors, quite possibly, are reluctant to pen anything that might incite vocal elements of the Christian right, including critical evaluations of moderate, Interfaith or Christian Universalism movements that are silently growing exponentially.

Proponents of the so called Church Growth Movement, along with the accompanying but inadvertent commercialization of the church have caused the post modern church to focus on that which provides a more comfortable environment, one unfortunately devoid of the traditional mysticism and spiritualism. Traditional liturgical forms, such as crosses and other icons of faith have been replaced by big screen TV monitors and the church experience in many cases reduced to a media event, a hour of entertainment every Sunday morning. With the traditional elements removed and the establishment of rhetoric equating salvation with earthly financial prosperity, all the while promoting legalistic institutions that inculcate fear, guilt, hate and intolerance, the faith has become simply “religion”, a strict set of rules that might be compared to the rules necessary to belong to some social or country club. A consumer product that can be sold each week to willing customers. But in some of the faithful, this leaves a great void where the love of God and the universal teachings of Christ are noticeably absent. A void that they crave to fill and therefore seek substance that relates to spiritual mysticism.

What Americans are doing today is separating spirituality from religion, with many people disavowing organized practice altogether while privately maintaining some form of worship. The old terms—“atheist” and “agnostic”—are no longer catch-alls for everyone outside traditional belief. In fact, 24% of respondents put themselves into a whole new category: “spiritual but not religious.” That phrase means different things to different people. Some may be members of traditional religions but want to signal that they aren’t legalistic or rigid. At the other end of the spectrum, “spiritual but not religious” can apply to someone who has combined diverse beliefs and practices into a personal faith that fits no standard definition. [2]

The New Reformation will not be naively of the powers and principalities of this world. Instead, it may take these on directly at times, for it knows that the powers and principalities that gather around a punitive Father ideology – fundamentalism and fascism – are always with us. This new church, while looking to many spiritual traditions of the past, will trust the spirit to lead us in new ways for the third millennium. [1]

“Spiritual but not religious” has come to represent the concept of seeking God and the hidden allegory in the timeless words and teachings of Christ. And at times seeking similar teachings in other paths or elements of faith outside of Christianity. For those that discover the plausibility of Interfaith or Universalism, this becomes a divinely inspired epiphany. A sudden awakening or mystical experience that has profound implications for the participant. One that might be compared to the experience that become cliché in the old vegetable drink commercials in which the actor slaps himself on the head and exclaims, “Wow I could have had a V-8!” This sudden realization is extremely prominent in those who have spent a life time in legalistic and fundamentalism Christianity, never before realizing that God’s love, grace and salvation is inclusive and not exclusive.

Nearly half of the public (49%) says they have had a religious or mystical experience, defined as a “moment of sudden religious insight or awakening.” This is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 but much higher than in surveys conducted in 1976 and 1994 and more than twice as high as a 1962 Gallup survey (22%). In fact, this year’s survey finds that religious and mystical experiences are more common today among those who are unaffiliated with any particular religion (30%) than they were in the 1960s among the public as whole (22%). [3]

A majority of all American Christians (52%) think that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. Indeed, among Christians who believe many religions can lead to eternal life, 80% name at least one non-Christian faith that can do so. These are among the key findings of a national survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life from July 31-Aug. 10, 2008, among 2,905 adults. [4]

Of the Five solas or five Latin phrases that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers’ basic theological beliefs, Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, “by scripture alone”) is the doctrine that the Bible is the only infallible or inerrant authority for Christian faith, and that it contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, Sola Scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid deductive reasoning from Scripture. However, Sola Scriptura is not a denial of other authorities governing Christian life and devotion. Rather, it simply demands that all other authorities are subordinate to, and are to be corrected by, the written word of God.[5] Ironically this doctrine has been subjugated and scripture meaning, has taken a back seat to doctrines authored by man due to lack of critical thought, study, and valid logical deduction and reasoning.

Father Matthew Fox writes; “Just as five hundred years ago new scholarship was unleashed to buttress a deeper understanding of scripture and early church history, so today significant scholarship has gifted us with new and substantive information about the words, the people, and the teachings of Jesus, Paul, and individuals in the early Christian community. Mixing these findings with our awareness of the origins of Christianity is part of this study.” [1]

Sola scriptura fails when lack of critical thought, deductive reasoning, and ignorance of the significant scholarship that has been published since the time of Martin Luther through today, becomes pandemic in a laity and at times clergy that refuses to consider that exclusive Christianity is an anti thesis to the teachings of Christ which are undeniably universal. But those that find themselves awakened to alternatives to legalistic as well as original sin/fall redemption theology, often themselves becomeing a part of the great commission and in turn give witness to the virtues of this new revolution or Reformation first referenced above. They share with others the great joy they themselves experienced upon the realization that Christianity is not exclusive but inclusive. Therefore we might conclude that the combined forces of the phenomena of some realizing that there is more to region than (a) legalistic entertainment, (b)perpetuation of the belief that all outside of fundamentalistic Christianity are somehow less than human and unworthy of the considerations of “true believers” (c ) a renewed interest in critical thought and scholarship (d) renewed interest in Christian mysticism, liturgical expression, (e) a general turning away from doctrines that espouse consumerism, materialism, fear, hate, and isolationism, all these things and others that will be the catalyst that ushers in an age of true interfaith relations.

[1]A new Reformation; Creation Spirituality And The Transformation of Christianity, by The Reverend Matthew Fox, 2006 Inner Traditions ISBN 1-59477-123-5

[2]Surprising results from an exclusive PARADE (magazine) poll: How Spiritual Are We? by Christine Wicker, published: 10/04/2009

[3]The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths: Eastern, New Age Beliefs Widespread, Dec. 9, 2009

http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=490

[4]The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Many Americans Say Other Faiths Can Lead to Eternal Life: Most Christians Say Non-Christian Faiths Can Lead to Salvation,Dec. 18, 2008

http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=380

[5] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_scriptura