The hyper-spiritualization of Christianity has been terrible for civilization. Catholic Christianity at least is supposedly sacramental, emphasizing the presence of God in creation. Something we practice in our rituals but which hardly trickles over at all into daily praxis. Thread: - ThreadSky

rbratten.bsky.social • 33 days ago

The hyper-spiritualization of Christianity has been terrible for civilization.

Catholic Christianity at least is supposedly sacramental, emphasizing the presence of God in creation. Something we practice in our rituals but which hardly trickles over at all into daily praxis.

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rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

Take something the Jubilee Year which in the Jewish tradition meant forgiving literal debts, liberating literal captives. In Christianity we spiritualized it so it's about forgiveness from sin. Liberation from sin. No difference in actual life. Just complete some rituals and claim forgiveness.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

We emphasize sin as a spiritual blight we need liberated from, focusing on rituals of repentance that are supposed to reflect inner realities. This is "sacramental." But it would be a lot more sacramental if oppressors had to do reparation. If we focused on doing real material healing and repair.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

So people got really comfortable with checking ritualistic boxes that make them spiritually and morally acceptable in their own eyes. As long as they do those things (accept Jesus as their personal Lord and savior if evangelical, go to confession and communion if Catholic), "I'm OK and you're OK."

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

So as Christians we genuinely believe ourselves to be good people above reproach for having checked those boxes. Growth and development and learning? No need. Then when we get called on saying something racist or propping up unjust structures we get mad. How dare they criticize me, a Christian!

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

I'm imagining some nice church lady who back in 1996 made a racist comment and someone said "you know that's racist" and she got so offended by this she's been letting that offense stew and simmer until it bubbles over into overt white supremacy and MAGA.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

Flannery O'Connor was almost onto this except her own racism kept her from seeing it. She depicts the Good Christian Lady affronted at anyone criticizing her. But can't envision real repentance. Only violence. Yet note the violence is always physical. She sensed that material change is necessary.

mcprando.bsky.social•33 days ago

(Not to be too much of an abstraction-head, oh, wait) it seems to me a major theme in understanding both the history of theology *and* weird ideas/shifts in Christian cultures generally is emphasis creep via repetition - i.e., preacher A makes Y claim dramatically, but is famous so 1/

mcprando.bsky.social•33 days ago

what he executed as rhetorical flourish gets repeated as catechesis. (Woe to us if this process repeats esp. over centuries)

The relevance (if any) is that both your Prot & Cath examples underwent centuries of truncation + polemic restatement + brainless repetition in the wake of the Reformation./2

gregsendi.bsky.social•33 days ago

As individuals, as a culture, as adherents to an idea, we are what we do and create. Full stop. We are not the things we wish for, justify or explain. If you care for someone, you are a caregiver. If you wish someone would somehow be cared for, even if you wish for it with passion, you are nothing.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

This is a hard one right now because one feels so helpless in the face of this onslaught of injustice.

gregsendi.bsky.social•33 days ago

Yes. It absolutely feels like watching a plane crash. It feels like "wishing this weren't happening" is the best one can do. But that's actually not true. The feeling that things are sadly inevitable is a kind of toxin secreted on the skin of malignancy to paralyze the impulse to do more than wish.

johnwfarrell.bsky.social•33 days ago

Exactly. It's a pretty low bar.

peter-stevens.bsky.social•33 days ago

I am going out on a limb to say that we aren't opposed to both. Spirituality and Action.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

In theory. But the action part has been seriously truncated.

midwestgrandma7.bsky.social•33 days ago

Over the centuries Christianity evolved into just gazing vertically, toward the heavenly reward. This also removed responsibility in this life for justice (a nice out for the powerful class). This is a far cry from the Jewish tradition forming Jesus: an expectation that we would heal this world.

john-of-arc.bsky.social•33 days ago

Isn’t this the whole point of the Jewish prefiguring of Christianity? Judaism was a this-worldly foreshadowing of an otherworldly Christianity.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

That makes Judaism seem like the Real Deal and Christianity seem like a fake spinoff.

john-of-arc.bsky.social•33 days ago

No it doesn’t. They are both the real deal. Jesus (ie Christianity) was/is the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. The prophecy was real, and the fulfillment is real.

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

Christians are going to need to work harder to demonstrate this because in the US right now the majority of Jews oppose fascism while the majority of Christians support it.

I'm both Catholic and Jewish BTW and I'm not seeing one side of my religious identity live out its own claims very well.

john-of-arc.bsky.social•33 days ago

Ha! That's another matter entirely. Christians in the US are extremely naive and have poor prudential judgment. They are very easily taken advantage of by hucksters who appeal to religion.

johnwfarrell.bsky.social•33 days ago

That doesn’t excuse them. And if you look at European history, it doesn’t excuse the Christians there either.

midwestgrandma7.bsky.social•33 days ago

Judaism is not a pre-figuring, but a whole & authentic faith tradition still in covenant with God. The words that Jesus, a faithful Jew himself, left us clearly imply that we are to help heal this world. Why? Out of love for God. That alone should be our first motivation. The desire to live forever

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

Taking Jesus out of his Jewish context has really contributed to all this.

midwestgrandma7.bsky.social•33 days ago

My cradle Catholic self has been changed fundamentally by the wit and wisdom of scholar Amy-Jill Levine. All Catholics should be reading her! And I got to meet her at last summer's Outreach Conference & give her a hug!

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

I just interviewed her last week! She is so good.

The interview will be in USC soon.

midwestgrandma7.bsky.social•33 days ago

with Him flows naturally from that. Jesus made it clear: Love God and love your neighbor. Always entwined.

helenaclaire.bsky.social•33 days ago

And not original to him. He was quoting Torah.

https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-shema-and-the-commandment-to-love-god-in-its-ancient-contexts

marktheo.bsky.social•33 days ago

Excellent points, so true, thanks!

punnypastor.bsky.social•33 days ago

Interesting thread. I have tended to view it as the rise of individualism in Christianity. The whole 'personal relationship' idea---which may be consistent with your viewpoint. Faith is about ME and not about my relationship with others, the world, creation, etc. Does this make sense?

rbratten.bsky.social•33 days ago

I can see this but I think it happened much earlier: when Christianity became the religion of empire and suddenly it got real awkward to talk about casting the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly.

punnypastor.bsky.social•33 days ago

Good point. So you are going to way back.

skepphilo.bsky.social•33 days ago

When you have a god that is a personal savior that is completely independent of outside social influences it breeds this mentality. Other mystery religions operate the same way. When it shifts from a god of a community to a god of an individual, you get individuals

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