Yesterday's Pure modernity : attending Jesus's churches, but not to his words.
Today's Diverse modernity : not attending Jesus's churches --- but attending to his words.
Robert P. Jones' new book looking at the recent sharp decline in church attendance among America's youngest white evangelicals seems to have nothing but bad news for Jesus's churches --- and nothing but good news - Gospel Good News - for Jesus.
For Jones reports that the number one reason the young stay away from the churches is the churches' intolerant attitude towards LGBTs.
In this, the more tolerant views of the young are more far in tune with Jesus's basic stance than are Christ's churches who act, to evoke a bit overdone biblical cliche, more like the OT's purity-oriented Pharisees than like the NT's diversity-oriented Saviour.
Neither of the two chief protagonists in the Allied conflict over wartime penicillin, Australian Howard Florey or Canadian Henry Dawson, attended church as adults.
But if they had, it would be certain that Florey would be a purity-driven follower of the Pharisee and Dawson a diversity-driven follower of Jesus....
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