Comments on: Souls in Transition: Changes in Belief (aka Less God)

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:20:12 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by praxishabitus: More interesting results from research on young adults – Souls in Transition: Changes in Belief http://ow.ly/16myDm from @jonestony blog…

By: Darren King

Darren King — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:10:44 +0000

The challenge with these kinds of surveys is that the language so often (read: always) determines the results. That’s true both in terms of how the original interviewers craft the questions, and then in how those questions are interpreted by those being interviewed. I sometimes wonder about the validity of comparing the answers to certain questions over time, when the very interpretation of what those questions mean has shifted.

This leads me to something I really wonder about above all else: spirituality vs. religion. No doubt in times and generations past, people saw these terms as somewhat synonymous. In other words, in previous generations, for most people religion WAS spirituality.

That’s clearly not the case anymore. So I wonder, as we talk about the failing belief in God, what meaning are we (and young people) ascribing to God? And I wonder if that’s being simultaneously replaced with a growing belief in some “transcendent universe” or “life force”?

And maybe, despite initial appearances, those two aren’t so far apart after all. Again, a lot of it comes down to our definitions.

By: Zach

Zach — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:01:43 +0000

I suspect the more dramatic decline that mainline churches are facing today will be similar to the decline “conservative evangelicals” will face in the years to come. If I were an evangelical, I wouldn’t celebrate these stats. They are just signs for the road ahead.

By: Daniel Mann

Daniel Mann — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:01:30 +0000

Scot and Tony,

While I suspect it’s a matter of both – the Mainline Churches affecting society and society molding the Mainlines into its image – there is also something positive to be said for the Evangelicals, who offer a Biblical Christ and a transforming Biblical faith.

By: Tweets that mention Souls in Transition: Changes in Belief | Tony Jones -- Topsy.com

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:15:48 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tony Jones, Gerardo Marti. Gerardo Marti said: More interesting results from research on young adults – Souls in Transition: Changes in Belief http://ow.ly/16myDm from @jonestony blog [...]

By: Scot McKnight

Scot McKnight — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:28:44 +0000

Tony, that conclusion of Smith’s — not seen until the last chp unless I’m mistaken — was fascinating. I didn’t read the article but I wonder if it is not more dialectical than causative. In other words, has the Mainline liberal theology won in culture or has the liberal culture won in the Mainline? Do you know if the article asks the question from the other way around?