one of my teachers and intellectual heros, robert bellah, wrote that students on occasion come to him and ask him what church to attend, adding they were not sure they believed in god. he didn't tell them what church to go to, but he did tell them not to worry about believing beforehand. 'i tell them that if they become part of the life of the church then they will begin to see how the word is used and what it means. believing in god, i say, is not something one decides in the privacy of one's room, but something one comes to in a living community, for christians, the church.' lovely. not exactly 'no salvation outside the church' but rather no spiritual coherence outside the church. that was, i think, bellah's worry with the woman he famously discusses in habits of the heart. therein, bellah writes (p. 221) "sheila larson is a young nurse who has received a good deal of therapy and who describes her faith as 'sheilaism'. 'I believe in god. i'm not a religious fanatic. i can't remember the last time i went to church. my faith has carried me a long way. it's sheilaism. just my own little voice'."
this helps to make sense of why so many americans believe in god and so few go to church. we're a nation of religions of one. just my own little faith. but set next to bellah's vision which has in its background not only emile durkheim but also alasdair macintyre, we find a profound way to think about the power and meaning of the gathered community of the faithful in congregations?
anon, and +peace
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