Very glad to have a piece out in the latest issue of Plough, on what Reformation projects of rechristianization can teach us about ministry in the post-Christian West. ⚓️ - ThreadSky

benjamindcrosby.bsky.social • 129 days ago

Very glad to have a piece out in the latest issue of Plough, on what Reformation projects of rechristianization can teach us about ministry in the post-Christian West. ⚓️

Reposted from Dori Moody

"How do you nurture genuine faith when everyone thinks they know what Christianity is, but actual knowledge and commitment are lacking?"

@benjamindcrosby.bsky.social covers so much that I have long pondered.
www.plough.com/en/topics/fa...

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beneliest.bsky.social•129 days ago

this is, once more, really good, thank you!

here's what makes me pause, though: I'm reading through Charles Taylor's A Secular Age with a group and he argues that precisely this work of Reform started the path of secularisation. what do you make of that?

benjamindcrosby.bsky.social•129 days ago

Thank you!! It’s a very fair question, and I have to confess that I’m not really enough of a Taylor expert to address it well. My instinct is probably to be a little suspicious of claims that the Reformation led of necessity to secularization in Taylor’s sense…

benjamindcrosby.bsky.social•129 days ago

…that even if there is a relationship between the 16th c transformations and 18th-20th (and really mostly 20th) c secularization, it is a contingent one that could have been otherwise.

benjamindcrosby.bsky.social•129 days ago

But would be curious to hear your thoughts!!

beneliest.bsky.social•128 days ago

First, I want to say, that Taylor doesn't make a claim of necessity. He tells a huge zig-zag story (his expression) about the past 500 years, in which every step creates new possibilities, that might run contrary to original intentions. 1/

beneliest.bsky.social•128 days ago

Like the capital-R Reform of the 15th/16th wants everyone's piety to run at the same speed and thus paves the way for the early modern ideas of a societal order without reference to God (whereas before order was seen as dependent on God which made unbelief difficult). 2/

emccarth.bsky.social•128 days ago

Really appreciated this, Ben

lily1304.bsky.social•129 days ago

If you're writing in Plough, does that mean you're against LGBTQ equality in the church? Because Bruderhof doesn't allow queer people to join.

benjamindcrosby.bsky.social•129 days ago

It doesn’t, no. I’m LGBTQ affirming.

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