Non-offensive theology

The Answer to Bad Religion Is Not No Religion: A Guide to Good Religion for Seekers, Skeptics, and Believers
by Martin Thielen
Westminster John Knox Press
Feb 2014  


What does Thielen's conversation add to conventional wisdom?  A great group of stories that will touch readers who have probably experienced similar situations.  What the book does not add is light for thinkers, seekers, those who are suffering, and the desperate.

Thielen talks a lot about characteristics of bad religion, of no religion, and of good religion.  He speaks of "the kind of religion that turns many people away." What he leaves out is a recognition that true Christian faith can and does offend many (Romans 9:33).  The book also leaves out an understanding of a powerful Creator who provides steadfast grounding for belief and practice.  Ultimately Thielen's ultimate good is utilitarianism and reason. 

What's different about this book:
 Answer provides a good discussion of the United Methodist denomination's virtues and values.  The part about the Wesleyan Quadrilateral shares that denomination's "four sources of theological authority:" Scripture, tradition, experience, and reason.  Unfortunately the only one of those four authorities that transcends man's human, fallible ability to think and reason is Scripture -- and Thielen eviscerates the Bible as something a person can trust or rely on.

Among the book's argument for good religion is the usefulness that good religion provides.  This brought to mind Screwtape's admonition (in C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters) that Christian belief could easily be destroyed by confusing believers to view "Christianity as a means."

I fall back on the trite but tellingly true concept that Christianity, authentic Christianity, is not a religion but a relationship.  I saw little of a trusting, humble relationship in this writing.

What I'll do now that I've read the book:
I am re-visiting and re-confirming the foundations of my own faith, and I am comparing my understanding of an Almighty and Omnipotent Sovereign.  Not much is said about this Essence in this book, and I conclude that this work is less helpful than others I could purchase and share.
 

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