[Originally published on thegospelcoalition.org]
“Listen. I gotta break it to you . . . I’m post-Christian. . . . I don’t believe it anymore. I don’t believe any of it.” These are the words former Christian minister Bart Campolo recalls speaking to his famous evangelist father, Tony Campolo, after leaving the faith of his youth. He explained that his journey to secular humanism was a 30-year process of passing through every stage of heresy. In other words, his theology “progressed” from conservative to liberal to entirely secular. He predicted that in 10 years, 30 percent to 40 percent of so-called progressive Christians will also become atheists. Progressive Christianity is tough to define, because there isn’t a creed or list of beliefs that progressive Christians officially unite around. However, progressive Christians tend to reject the historic biblical understanding of marriage and sexuality, and generally deny or redefine doctrines such as the atonement and biblical authority. As a result, Campolo believes that for the most part, progressives have already abandoned Christianity, simply redefining terms in an effort to hold on to some semblance of their faith. He believes the generation behind them will recognize the shallowness of this new theology—and, with nothing invested in remaining a Christian, they’ll basically say, “Let’s just call it what it is,” and leave the faith altogether. De-Conversion Stories The trajectory Campolo identifies isn’t difficult to spot. Husband-and-wife Christian recording duo Gungor recently made headlines when Lisa described her husband’s year-long conversion to atheism in a Buzzfeed video titled, “I Stopped Believing in God after Pastoring a MegaChurch.” The video highlighted the couple’s spiritual evolution from faith to “heretical” to unbelieving . . . and back to belief. Although Lisa’s own atheism lasted only a day, the faith she and Michael have finally come to embrace looks little like historic Christianity. After stating he no longer feels “spiritually homeless,” Michael identified himself as an “Apophatic mystic Hindu pantheist Christian Buddhist skeptic with a penchant for nihilistic progressive existentialism.” CONTINUE READING AT THEGOSPELCOALITION.ORG
18 Comments
Audrey
11/13/2018 11:48:07 am
Loved this article!! Thank you for all the research you are doing on the progressive movement. Looking forward to more of your writings!
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Brian Fisher
11/14/2018 03:10:09 pm
This article (Alisa's most provocative yet) is getting a bit of blowback from the headlining groups on Twitter (which, at times is the intellectual equivalent of jumping into a pit toilet). Snarky, mocking comments, along with customary denials, are, regrettably, par for the course for a group of so-called Christians that one could easily put side-by-side with Kathy Griffin.
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Greg Logan
12/6/2018 01:46:45 am
Brian,
Brian Fisher
12/10/2018 08:51:40 pm
Greg,
Greg Logan
12/11/2018 09:26:35 pm
Brian 11/14/2018 10:46:05 am
Alisa,
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11/14/2018 04:18:45 pm
Well, I do think that Rachel Held Evans has at least some grounds for being annoyed by the TGC piece.
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Alisa Childers
11/14/2018 04:36:34 pm
Hi Clark, I've seen the Pine Creek thing on my testimony, and although I understand why he analyzed it the way he did, that five minute video is not my whole story. It's very much a summary, and deeply metaphorical. (His assertion that I should let myself "drown" could be looked at from a few different angles.) I absolutely affirm that if Christianity is not true, I will abandon it. I would never want to base my life on a lie. However, in my study, I have concluded that Christianity is, in fact, true. It was the evidence that led me there, not some kind of blind faith.
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11/14/2018 05:59:15 pm
That's great, Alisa. Likewise, it is the evidence that leads me to faith as well. Unfortunately, not every Christian sees it that way, and it partly contributes to why we have so-called "progressive Christianity" in the first place.
Greg Logan
11/22/2018 01:34:51 am
To be honest - there is quite a bit of silliness in this article - more religious than Biblical.
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Alisa Childers
11/22/2018 10:26:56 am
Hi Greg, I totally understand your thoughts about using the word, "progressive." I agree it's not a biblical term, and the reason I use it is because that's how progressive Christians identify themselves. I expound upon that more here:
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Greg Logan
11/22/2018 04:08:52 pm
Alisa
Greg Logan
11/22/2018 06:41:51 pm
Alisa
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ERIC D NELSON
12/3/2018 02:18:26 pm
Alisa, I'm sure you've seen some critiques of this article. This is the best one I've run across so far. I think Pete Enns makes some good points that I think you must address if you are writing a book on 'progressive Christianity'.
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Greg Logan
12/6/2018 01:51:25 am
Eric Thanks for sharing the peat and like it was very well done
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Alisa Childers
12/6/2018 06:43:30 am
Hi Eric, I listened to Pete's podcast, and of course I have some strong disagreements. But I appreciate his charitable tone. I'm out of town right now, but I'll respond to it when I get home and post it as a podcast. Thanks for sharing it.
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12/14/2018 01:28:57 pm
Hi Alisa, having read your post and listened to Pete's podcast in response, I think many are interested to explore the areas of your "strong disagreements" further, when you respond to his response. Like you, I think Pete's humble and gracious spirit throughout is much appreciated. The clarity, carefulness and level of thinking Pete provided in his response was helpful. I found it powerfully created more light than heat on this important topic. I, for one, am looking forward to how you engage his thoughts and evidences, hopefully sooner than later.
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Greg Logan
12/14/2018 03:16:03 pm
Chris
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