Idolatry of the Written Word

Last updated on: May 2, 2013 at 10:39 am by Andre E. Johnson

Idolatry of the Written Word 2013-05-02T10:39:00-05:00 Andre E. Johnson

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Christianity is shipwrecked on the rock of “biblical authority.” Twelve hundred people a day leave the church. Porn addiction, alcohol abuse and domestic violence are epidemic in conservative parts of America. The Bible, once an asset, has become a liability. Why? Idolatry of the written word.

Connie Barlow, my science writer wife, and I have been traveling North America for 11 years as evangelists for big history and religious naturalism. We have addressed more than 1,700 religious and non-religious groups — ranging from Catholic, Protestant and evangelical Christian churches, to New Thought, New Age and Eastern spirituality groups, to Unitarian Universalists and secular high school, college and university students. Our passion, our calling, is to show how a fully evidence-based view of human nature, death and the trajectory of big history can inspire us to cooperate across political and religious differences in service of a just and thriving future for all.

Our commitment to proclaiming the wonders and practical benefits of a deep-time perspective has never wavered, even as the core elements of our message have continued to evolve. Currently, I’m on a crusade to counter our culture’s rampant idolatry of the written word. In practice, this means that, like the New Atheists, I am prone to point out the scriptural injunctions in my own tradition that modern sensibilities rightly recognize as morally repugnant.

For example, even the most conservative of Christians alive today do not respond to our disrespectful sons by inviting neighbors to join in stoning them to death. Nor do we advocate capital punishment for the sin of working on the sabbath. No western voice rises in support of ancient Middle Eastern customs of slicing off the hand of a thief or beheading blasphemers. In spite of scriptural admonitions, we apply modern moral reasoning — secular reasoning — that has emerged through the centuries as cultural conditions themselves evolve.

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