Religious Naturalism and the Future of Christianity

Abstract. Loyal Rue suggests that religion is not about God as such but about the cultivation of personal and social well-being. Religion may employ cultural resources that include concepts of supernatural agencies, but religion's essential functionalities are not dependent on that particular r...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Braxton, Donald M. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2007
In: Zygon
Year: 2007, Volume: 42, Issue: 2, Pages: 317-342
Further subjects:B Sacrifice
B Christianity
B ecological collapse
B Sacramentality
B religious naturalism
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Summary:Abstract. Loyal Rue suggests that religion is not about God as such but about the cultivation of personal and social well-being. Religion may employ cultural resources that include concepts of supernatural agencies, but religion's essential functionalities are not dependent on that particular resource. I largely endorse Rue's view of religion and employ Rue as a guide to thinking through its consequences for the future of Christianity. For Rue, two challenges face Christianity: the erosion of confidence in personal-god concepts and the ecological crisis engulfing the planet. In the face of these twin momentous changes, I suggest ways in which certain cultural tropes in the Christian matrix will rise to the fore and others will erode.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2007.00317.x