Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening - Hardcover

Diana Butler Bass

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062003739 ISBN 13: 9780062003737

Publisher: HarperOne, 2012

Synopsis

In her latest book, religion expert Diana Butler Bass offers a fresh interpretation of this transformation and identifies a new spiritual awakening taking place inside and outside the church. Based on new research and a careful reading of history, CHRISTIANITY AFTER RELIGION argues that traditional Christianity has focused on three prescriptions, in this order: - This is what to believe (theology) - This is how to behave (practice) - This is who you are (experience and community) However, as modern people began to increasingly question their basic beliefs about their faith, disillusionment ensued and Christians began leaving the church as national studies reveal. Spirituality, by contrast, works in the reverse: people experience a connection to the divine directly and through community, are moved to change and serve others, and eventually discover what they believe. CHRISTIANITY AFTER RELIGION shows how this new bottom-up approach represents the real mission and message of Jesus and explains the dramatic spiritual awakening we are witnessing today. Replete with both statistical analysis and the testimonies of grassroots movements around the country, Bass's latest book shows us how to approach our own faith with a newfound freedom that is both life-giving and service driven. CHRISTIANITY AFTER RELIGION will appeal to both the news media and the large audience that made her first Harper book, Christianity For the Rest of Us, a success.

About this title

Review:

"Bass has done it again! She's spot on-prophetic, compelling, and most importantly, hopeful."--Rob Bell, author of Love Wins

"Bass explains how experience, connection, and service are replacing theology as keys to the next Great Awakening. It's a fascinating story."--Bill McKibben, author of Earth and founder of 360.org

"Interesting, insightful, impressive and important."--Marcus Borg, author of Speaking Christian

"Join Bass in rebuilding religion from the bottom up!"--Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation and author of Falling Upward

"It is one blockbuster of an analysis that is also a delight to read."--Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence

"Of Bass's many excellent books, this is the most substantive, provocative, and inspiring yet. . . . it leads to a powerful finale of sage guidance for the future."--Brian D. McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity

"Bass ably analyzes the struggle for awareness and change that defines spiritual awakening."--Publishers Weekly Religion Bookline (starred review)

"Refreshing, evocative, well informed and original."--Harvey Cox, author of The Future of Faith

..".an important and life-giving book, written by ... one of our finest religious writers."--Parker J. Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak

"Diana reminds us here that, before every great awakening, folks say it is impossible... and after every great awakening, folks say it was inevitable."--Shane Claiborne, author and activist

From the Back Cover:

The data is clear: religious affiliation is plummeting across the breadth of Christian denominations. And yet interest in "spirituality" is on the rise. So what is behind the sea change in American religion? With the same comprehensive research and insider reporting that made Christianity for the Rest of Us an indispensable guide to cultivating thriving churches, Diana Butler Bass offers a fresh interpretation of the "spiritual but not religious" trend.

Bass--who has spent her career teaching the history, culture, and politics of religion, and engaging church communities across the nation--brings forth her deep knowledge of the latest national studies and polls, along with her own groundbreaking analysis, as she seeks to fully comprehend the decline in Christian attendance and affiliation that started decades ago--and has increased exponentially in recent years.

Some contend that we're undergoing yet another evangelical revival; others suggest that Christian belief and practice is eroding entirely as traditional forms of faith are replaced by new ethical, and areligious, choices. But Bass argues compellingly that we are, instead, at a critical stage in a completely new spiritual awakening, a vast interreligious progression toward individual and cultural transformation, and a wholly new kind of postreligious faith.

Offering direction and hope to individuals and churches, Christianity After Religion is Bass's call to approach faith with a newfound freedom that is both life-giving and service driven. And it is a hope-filled plea to see and participate in creating a fresh, vital, contemporary way of faith that stays true to the real message of Jesus.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0062003739
• ISBN 13: 9780062003737
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272