Considering the direction my life has taken, the "findings" of this survey do not surprise me.
I was a believer for many years, my initial course of study in college was Bible and theology. I wanted to read and study the Bible in its original languages to better understand its meaning. Influenced by the likes of CS Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, Josh McDowell and many others, I wanted to know the Bible so I could defend my faith. By then end of college I was bordering on agnosticism, ten years later I uttered those fateful words to myself, "I do not believe in God." It took another ten years to embrace that mindset and say I was an atheist. It was the only rational conclusion after reading and studying the Bible.
"The key, he said, is “adjusting our outreach” to reel in the next generation,,,[w]e have to find where they are hurting, what questions millennials are asking."
Why must one assume that people who are are skeptical of the Bible are "hurting"? Why not just accept the fact that fewer people are buying into the mythology and the dogma that surrounds it. Instead of realizing that the message is flawed, that Christianity has no answers especially in regards to suffering and "evil," the answer for them is to change the way they present that same myths.
"[W]e just can’t hand them a Bible and expect them to find the answers. We have to get out the word to give God’s word a chance. It’s urgent.”
I like Bart C's summation of the last point made. I think it explains the "unreality" religionists live in: "If people read the bible for themselves, they will see the grotesque horrors that Judeo-Christian religion has wrought and endorses; the contradictions; the scientific absurdities! Next thing ya know they will begin to think, reason and question. We must intercede, muddle it up and camouflage it, lest we find ourselves in the supernaturalist minority. IT'S URGENT!"
Bible Study: Skeptics Now Equal Believers With Daily, Engaged Readers On The Decline
See also:
New Survey Says Only Half of Millennials Look to Religion for Guidance While More Than a Third Don’t Talk to God
No comments:
Post a Comment