By way of a side note, I found Diana's discussion some nine years ago in 2012 quite refreshing as an newly emergent Christian having lately become disappointed with how my former involvement in (conservative) evangelicalism was heading.
Beginning in the 1970s, Diana remembers how emerging (or later, progressive) Christians split from defining themselves by belief-statements to seeing themselves in a relationship with God, sans a formalized (or codified) Christian religion. This movement later came to be described as "Spiritual but not Religious" (SBNR).
During Diana's short presentation she explains what she means by her observations re the trending movement occurring through all Christian churches and non-Christian religions around the world.
Secondly, and as importantly, in the 20 minute Q&A, Diana then makes several pertinent observations about Christianity which predictably describe the unfolding drama we have come to see in the years ahead.
Overall, I have found Diana's dated discussion quite refreshing to remember Christianity's baseline fundamentals of inner-reawakening as versus the external trappings too many Christians identify with to their faith's harm.
See what you think...
R.E. Slater
September 1, 2021
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Christianity After Religion:
Diana Butler Bass at All Saints Church, Pasadena
February 12, 2012
All Saints Church, Pasadena, CA - Diana Butler Bass in the Rector's Forum at All Saints Church, Pasadena presenting "Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening." - February 12, 2012
"Some contend that we're undergoing yet another evangelical revival; others suggest that Christian belief and practice is eroding entirely as traditional forms of faith are replaced by new ethical, and areligious, choices. But Bass argues compellingly that we are, instead, at a critical stage in a completely new spiritual awakening, a vast interreligious progression toward individual and cultural transformation, and a wholly new kind of post-religious faith." [from http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/ ]
Diana Butler Bass, one of contemporary Christianity’s leading trend-spotters, exposes how the failings of the church today are giving rise to a new “spiritual but not religious” movement. Using evidence from the latest national polls and from her own cutting-edge research, Bass, the visionary author of A People’s History of Christianity, continues the conversation began in books like Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity and Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, examining the connections—and the divisions—between theology, practice, and community that Christians experience today. Bass’s clearly worded, powerful, and probing Christianity After Religion is required reading for anyone invested in the future of Christianity.
