An appetite for smoked-salmon canapés and pinot noir was all that was required of guests at the evening’s gathering, which was held at Trinity’s rectory, a town house on Charlton Street that was built by John Jacob Astor in 1826 and was acquired by the church in 2004, for five and a half million dollars. It joins Trinity’s considerable portfolio—the church owns six million square feet of office space between Houston and Canal Streets.
[snip]
In a lecture, “Prophecy, End-Times, and American Apocalypse: Reclaiming Hope for Our World,” Barbara Rossing, a New Testament scholar at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, suggested, “We need a novel whose heroes are rooted on the earth, living in sustainable communities, maybe practicing Permaculture gardening.” Another perspective on the end that may or may not be nigh was provided by Jürgen Moltmann, an octogenarian theologian from Tübingen, Germany, who sat in a wing chair in the rector’s parlor, glass of wine in hand, and dismissed current anxieties about environmental apocalypse—widely held among secularists who dismiss the Rapture as nothing more than a song by Blondie—as misplaced. “One should not speak about the end of the world if what one means is the end of our culture,” Professor Moltmann said, pointing out that the dinosaurs may have been extinguished but life on earth went on. “If you are mankind-centered, it’s a catastrophe; but if you are life-centered it is that while one life ends, another begins.”
The pinot noir of the Apocalypse
Saturday February 3, 2007
Ever wonder why Episcopalians and other liberal Protestant churches are increasingly irrelevant to contemporary culture? You could hardly do better than this un-make-uppable Talk of the Town item from the New Yorker, about a gaggle of walking cliches gathered at Trinity Church, Wall Street to figure out how to counter those dreadful fundamentalists who have the bad taste to believe in the Apocalypse. Mind you, I don't subscribe to the "Left Behind" eschatology, though I do believe in traditional Christian eschatology, but still, give me a room full of fervent Rapture-believers over this precious bunch anyday. Excerpts:
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Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Susan S.: Your unwillingness to acknowledge the differences between Evangelicals and Fundamentalists is quite common, but it's simply wrong. But both groups are frankly more orthodox in adherence to the traditional creeds than the mainline denominations who don't regard basics like the divinity of Christ as important. As for your demeaning of conservatives, why is it that folks like you always choose symbols, such as "nondenominational megachurches" and "store-front Pentecostals," over substance? The great majority of megachurches are denominational, and the extremely vast majority of Evangelicals do not attend them - only about 3%. And at the 1,000 attender level, non-evangelical protestants are almost identical to evangelicals. About 15% of non-evangelicals attend churches of 1,000 or more. The number is about 14% for evangelicals. And I don't know why you have to pick on storefront churches. Do you have any actual data regarding how many churches this includes? Kannbrown65: Your list of what Evangelicals allegedly have suggests you are also just spouting talking point stereotypes. The vast majority of Evangelicals strongly reject prosperity theology. Those who hold to it are the most likely to have their bullhorns turned up to 11, attracting the attention of various news media. As far as the emotional stuff...you don't get out much. And how is that different from large ornate old churches with massive pipe organs, big stained glass windows, professional choirs, orchestras, etc.? Speaking of Episcopal churches, you should visit St. James in Chicago sometime. They have lots of classical music concerts. I guess the extremely wealthy liberals in their Gold Coast high rises (just another form of gated community) have to have their entertainment. Rod: I don't know if I'll be able to find it, but I recently ran across some research from the Episcopal church that confirms the stereotypes of elitism. Even blogger Hugo Schwarz once joked that the vestry meetings at All Saints in Pasadena were just an excuse for a catered wine and cheese party.
Here's the goods: http://www.episcopalatlanta.org/cgd/demo.html http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/CDR_EpiscFACTreport.pdf
I wrote: "Even blogger Hugo Schwarz..." Uhhh, make that Schwyzer. It's late. I'm tired.
First of, being an atheist, I tend to notice those who are noticeable. If you're not being noticeable, well, don't expect me to come looking for you. And if the ones with the bullhorns are getting attention, maybe there's something that needs to be done. What I know is that there's whole television stations devoted that. I walk into a Christian bookstore (and yes, I do), that sort of thing is what I'm seeing. I don't know where the stained glass and pipe organ crowd (the crowd that I grew up in, by the way) are, but they're not getting alot of their books in those sections. I have to get the 'Light and Life Publishing' or the Westminster Publishing catalog to find it. And sorry, I don't know where you grew up, but pipe organs just don't really seem to inspire the same type of emotion in most people as, oh, the Pentacostal youth minister leading a bunch of crying folk with raised hands in the repeated worship choruses that have an easy rock beat. I'm not talking about being impressed, or appreciating a performance. With the Charismatics, there's more of a.. participatory nature to it. Not saying you should join in, or that high levels of emotionalism is something to be sought. But a rousing chorus of 'A Mighty Fortress is our God' on the pipe organ just ain't the same for many people on the emotional Richter scale as 'Open the Eyes of Our Heart'. Though tastes, obviously, differ. By the way, not all liberals are wealthy. I score pretty high on that scale, and I make less in a month than most people make in a week. You just don't rake in the big bucks working at a homeless shelter. So, no Pinot Noir (well, since I live at the shelter, and its dry, that's not an option anyway), or gated communities (never even been in one). I wasn't raised rich, either. No brie or wine for me.
Oh, and so, if you disagree with Prosperity Theology, I'd suggest taking that up with those propagating it. And with its rapid spread (probably along with alot of heart break or feelings of guilt) in Africa and Latin America. Given the economic conditions in those countries, I have a feeling quite a few people, once they get past the point where the donations feel like wealth in sheer comparison to their previous poverty, are going to feel less than blessed.
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