"A few years ago I was standing around the photocopier in Boston University’s Department of Religion when a visiting professor from Austria offered a passing observation about American undergraduates. They are very religious, he told me, but they know next to nothing about religion." - Stephen Prothero, Religious Literacy, 2007
Prothero, a professor of religious studies at Boston University and bestselling author, echoed the Austrian professor’s assessment. Pollster George Gallup similarly terms the United States “a nation of biblical illiterates.”
Over the course of several years, I asked various groups (Naval Academy midshipmen, mid-career military officers, congregations) to name the Ten Commandments. I administered this pop quiz in response to people frequently telling me that they used the Ten Commandments as the source of moral guidance in their lives. The quiz unfortunately discomfited many. Fewer than half of any group to whom I administered the quiz could actually name all Ten Commandments. Some people could only name one or two Commandments. Perhaps the most creative response I received was from a frustrated Naval Academy midshipman who replied, Beat Army!
Concomitantly, I often hear clergy from the Church’s conservative and liberal wings lament the laity’s ignorance of theology, liturgics, and other ecclesiastical subjects. In other words, clergy believe that lay people should receive more instruction in both the content and practice of Christianity. Unfortunately, we clergy have nobody to blame but ourselves for this sad state of affairs. Many of the conflicts in the larger Church and in the Episcopal Church would not have occurred had the clergy been more diligent in teaching the laity. For example, too many clergy over the last three centuries have not dared (or worse yet, cared enough to bother) to introduce their congregations to the historical-critical method of studying scripture. Instead, clergy and laity alike have persisted in a devotional reading of scripture that lends itself to literalism and legalism rather than opening us to the living, loving word.
On occasion, I catch myself taking for granted aspects of belief and practice with which I deal frequently, but that are less frequent for many, e.g., why the Church offers God's blessing on human relationships or the meaning of Holy Baptism. At other times, the press of feeling that I had too much to do in too little time has led me to shorten the time I spend with people. Sometimes I simply tire of preaching about a topic (walking people through the how and whys of prayer book services) and want to focus on what Christianity says about a current issue or what, for me, is a fresh spiritual insight. I also know that some subjects (e.g., death and the burial office) are unpopular, or can make people uncomfortable.
Yet, all of those are ultimately just excuses. My calling is not to be popular or to make people comfortable. The fresh and timely are important, but so is the old, if basic to our pilgrimage as God's people. Feeling overwhelmed and stressed out speaks volumes about me and my desire for people to need me; God only asks that I – or anyone else – accomplish the possible. Being mindful of others, and where they are, what they know, is essential for me truly to love them. In other words, like it or not, teaching is central to a priest’s ministry, a task to which the priest explicitly commits him or herself in ordination.
We clergy should give more thought to comprehensive and consistent teaching. Laity should not hesitate to ask about what they do not understand, e.g., why stand for the gospel reading and not the other lessons, especially since we affirm that the other lessons are “The word of the Lord.” (Historically, the Church thought the gospels to contain Jesus’ words; the gospels arguably testify to Jesus more clearly than do other books of the Bible.) A good beginning, easily implemented, is to include at least one piece of teaching in every homily/sermon.
Similarly, the laity need to take Christianity more seriously, expending the time and effort to learn not only the Ten Commandments but also to read the Bible by benefitting from the historical-critical method, the story of the Church for the last two thousand years, the debates that shape our thinking about God, etc. A good beginning, easily implemented, is to read at least a substantive book a year on Christianity or to participate in a meaningful Christian education program annually.
5 comments:
Excellent points, George. To tell you the truth, I could only name 7 of the 10 commandments off the top of my head---and that's pretty bad for a former fundamentalist! ;-) (Of course I had to go look up the missing ones---so thanks for the nudge...)
Most of the Episcopal churches I have attended have done a TERRIBLE job of adult Christian education. We tell the kids the Bible stories and then pretty much stop once they are confirmed. (That is not the case in the present parish, but it has been an anomaly in my experience.)
If we want a theologically and Biblically literate membership, we are going to have to provide them the tools and the guidance to get there. I think Education for Ministry is one of the most important---and underused---tools the Episcopal Church has to do that. IME, it requires strong clergy support, however---people hear "4 years" and get nervous. If the priest is gung-ho about it, we have a much easier time recruiting new students.
Pax,
Doxy
Interesting ... however, I am so completely fed up with "organized religion" in general and the fanatic, wing-nut evangelical "amerikan taliban" in particular that I do not want to hear the words "Bible", "Jesus", "God", etc. I have no qualms at all with anyone's beliefs or absence thereof; I just don't want them in my face with it. I want the same respect for my beliefs, whether or not religious in their eyes, and those of others that they demand for themselves ... how do these ignorant fools, who believe in a literal Bible [of course the "New" one], that man and dinosaurs played together, that creationism or "intelligent design" are valid concepts to be taught in public schools ... along with abstinence as the only righteous means of birth control, and other equally ridiculous myths, fairy tales, and misstatements of fact, ever expect to win credence in the eyes of an educated public EVER ! In the long run they are, not only their own worst enemy, a clear and present danger to this country and to our Constitution.
Since you appear rational and open to the possible short comings of Christianity [and others] and its clergy, I would strongly recommend you examine http://www.MilitaryReligiousFreedom.org and contact its founder Mikey Weinstein who -I'm sure- would be most happy to discuss this and other matters with you and provide you with perhaps another point of view.
In response to USNA Ancient,
Respect for persons is basic to Christianity. That respect includes honoring a person’s choice to disassociate him or herself from organized religion. I’ve looked at the Military Religious Freedom website and find myself saddened but unimpressed. Pushing religion on others is wrong. That wrong is especially egregious when the potential converts are in a vulnerable, e.g., students at a military academy who are both young and subordinate to those pushing religion. However, as you discern I expect imperfection from everyone, clergy, religious adherents, and others. Therefore, inappropriate behaviors and activities do not surprise me. Nor do those behaviors and activities help me in a search for truth. Conversely, appropriate behaviors and activities that respect persons do not assist in the search for truth. The truth of religion lies in that which the various major faiths hold in common, e.g., the existence of a reality greater than self, the liberating and life-giving power of that reality, and the impetus that reality provides for us to love one another (an impetus that scientists, incidentally, now suggest also has genetic roots).
I empathize with USNA ancient in many of his comments. I feel the Church does a poor job of teaching us about morality and ethics. There are too many Church leaders who seem to want power and not truth. They use the bible and the word "God" to make their ideas the only solution without any discussion or comment. This is like many of our leaders using the word "American", "democracy" and "patriotic" to get approval from the people.
The church seems to be trying to move us towards a more theological form of politics and remove the individual from making their own decisions.
A poll last year showed that more people wanted the clergy to steer them in the direction for voting in the election. I don't want most clergy trying to make decisions I should be making without any justification other than they said so.
Now I would approve and desire the way you have held seminars about war, Islam, Iraq, etc. It was both fascinating and informative. The only issues was with limited or no real feedback or interaction by those few and fewer each week in attendance.
What I really fear is what was recently shown on the HBO show with Bill Maher. The talk with Jeff Sharlet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3npWdChcGo
About the book. "The Family"
http://jeffsharlet.blogspot.com/
makes me nervous about our leaders and country.
Unfamiliar with Jeff Sharlet and the Christian Mafia, I watched the You Tube video. Those people are scary, irresponsible, and far removed from anything that I would recognize as Christianity. People need to speak out against these people. However, I strongly disagree with Bill Maher's comment that the Bible is "an evil book." The Bible is what one makes of it, a window through which God speaks to people or a tool for manipulating people, sometimes for good and othertimes for evil.
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