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Evidence of Heartfelt Spiritual Longings
One thing we can be sure of: we are in for another round of talk about how religion has become a “commodity” that people shop around for in our “consumerist” culture. This is too bad, because that kind of rhetoric misses some important realities. People often shop around for a religious affiliation out of a sincere and heartfelt desire to satisfy deep spiritual longings. Many parents, for example, may be content with their own traditional patterns of worship, but they know that their children are turned off by those patterns. So they look for something that the whole family can commit to. Is that treating religion as a mere “commodity”? Hardly. It is struggling to find resources that will help them deal with some of the most profound and intimate issues of their lives. And even those who have gone from a religious affiliation to no affiliation at all—even these folks are still inclined to say, “But I still consider myself a very spiritual person.” There is nothing brand new in all of this. St. Augustine said it well in the prayer at the beginning of his Confessions: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” The Pew survey has given us yet another confirmation of the spiritual restlessness that all of us know in our deep places.
By
Richard Mouw
|
February 27, 2008; 1:34 PM ET
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Posted by: Olivia | April 7, 2008 3:12 PM
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Prof. Mouw,
You yourself identify with the "seeker" movement and talk about the "marketplace" of religious ideas. Talk about commercialization! There's nothing particularly editifying about reducing man's deepest and most profound hopes to the crass commercialization of a seeker's church (or a series of them), thereby permitting people to become spiritual or religious dilettantes.
Posted by: Olivia | April 7, 2008 3:08 PM
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This man is a mormon apologist. Not a true Christian. Please disregard anything he says.
Posted by: MOUW TSE TUNG | March 7, 2008 6:56 PM
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By the way, Prof. Mouw,
Your recent article for Christianity Today, on the so-called resemblance between the various Protestant denominations and the religious orders found in the Catholic Church demonstrates that you have absolutely no understanding of Catholicism. You would be well advised to refrain from any further writing about Catholicism unless and until you acquire some solid foundational understanding of the subject.