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August 17, 2006
"A Heretic's Guide to Eternity": Chapter 2...
Before I get into Chapter 2, I’d like to mention that the discussion forum for “A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity“ is now open. Pop on over to see what others are talking about.
Chapter 2 of “A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity” is called “Grace Beyond Religion.” It gives an overview of what, exactly, religion is, as well as some examples of how our culture has manipulated religion — and our concept of grace — into our own “brand.”
What Exactly is Religion?
Religion, at its most basic, provides a way of understanding the relationship between humans and the divine. But it’s incomplete, so over time, elaborate systems, doctrines, and dogmas are developed to fill in the missing details. In fact, the desire to have our religions cover every aspect of human lifeis so strong that even when the sacred texts are silent, we’ll find a way to make a connection.
Grace is a subject that I’m sure most Christians, if honest with themselves — find a little hard to define. Spencer gets into this subject more in Chapter 3, but he makes a pretty important statement about humanity’s abilities to mold a concept (even something as important as God’s grace) into something that might make more sense to us.
Truth be known, most Christians have conceived of a God who is less forgiving and less compassionate than they are. If we can see a tiny baby and say it must be welcome in heaven, what does it say if God (or at least the God we’ve created) doesn’t have a desire to show mercy and grace to the most fragile of us? Religion always wants to keep people out until they jump through some kind of hoop to prove they are in.
Chapter 2 ends by ushering a call to reject “brand religion,” or religion that is “consumer-driven.” But, as Spencer points out, many people in Western culture have already begun to do this.
To some extent, the verdict on “brand religion” is already in. Consumers vote with their feet and their resources, and they are not buying what is being offered… According to the Barna Research Group, almost twenty million people have walked away from branded Christianity in the past five years. Their departure can no doubt be attributed at least in part to the way the story of God in Christianity has been packaged and presented to the marketplace.
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