A bigger problem than heresy: folk religion

Last updated on: August 18, 2011 at 7:25 pm by Roger E. Olson

A bigger problem than heresy: folk religion 2011-08-18T19:25:51-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We’ve been discussing the concept “heresy” here and it is a notoriously difficult one to pin down or find agreement about. However, I worry that a bigger problem for the American church, especially, is folk religion. Sure, the two concepts overlap somewhat. But American folk religion (and I’m sure it has its analogies elsewhere) is rampant within the churches (all denominations) and outside the churches.

So what is “folk religion?” I’ve described it and responded to in in some detail in one of my books: Answers to All Your Questions: The Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith (Zondervan). I’ll define it briefly here. Folk religion began as a sociological concept; it hasn’t found its way into theology on any large scale yet. One of my authorities for describing it is sociologist of religion Robert Ellwood.

According to Ellwood and other sociologists of religion, folk religion is unreflective religious belief based largely, if not exclusively, on feelings (e.g., comfort), traditional folk ways (e.g., funeral practices), cliches (e.g., bumper sticker slogans) and devotional literature (including poems, songs, religion fiction, etc.). It thrives on urban myths (“evangelegends”) and unverifiable stories passed around among the faithful. It is unreflective and even resists reflection (especially critical reflection).

An example is beliefs about life after death and the future based primarily on what makes people feel comfortable about death, stories about “near death experiences,” and spiritualism filtered into the fabric of folk culture and from there into the churches. (Spiritualism was a powerful force in American life throughout much of the 19th century; Mary Todd Lincoln hosted seances in the White House. Many Protestant churches adopted spiritualism. In one county in Ohio during the Civil War the majority of Protestant churches were practicing spiritualism. Certain spiritualist concepts such as the “silver cord” that unites soul and body and breaks at death filtered into popular hymnody and remain there.)

Recently there has been a new flood of books, films and TV documentaries about so-called “near death experiences” (which are really alleged experiences of actual bodily death in which the disembodied soul or spirit has some conscious experiences before returning to the body). The little book Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo (a Wesleyan minister) and Lynn Vincent (Thomas Nelson Publishers) is selling like hot cakes and making some even secular best-seller lists. (I see it in all the airport bookstores!) Last evening, ABC television’s Primetime Live: Beyond Belief show featured stories of death experiences–including that of the show’s journalist host.

What concerns me is that many, perhaps most, contemporary Christians (at least in America) seem to be basing their beliefs about life after death on these shows and books. I have even met evangelical Christians who seem to base their beliefs about life after death on movies like What Dreams May Come (starring Robin Williams). One thing seems almost universal among these stories–that death is a friend and, especially if you’re a Christian (or for non-Christians just a good person), where you go immediately after bodily death is the fullness of “heaven” with pearly gates, streets paved with gold, God sitting on a throne, etc., etc. (Of course the details vary. My point is not about the details.)

The theological problem here is twofold and the two aspects are closely related. First, very little sound biblical teaching is being carried out in many Christian churches about death and life after death. For example, the Bible does NOT portray death as a friend but as the “last enemy.” People are being allowed, if not encouraged, to base their personal views on stories read or seen on TV or in movies. Funeral sermons are being adjusted to fit these folk religious visions of life after death. (For example, “Our dearly departed loved on has flown from this shell in which he lived for seventy years and is now in heaven with all the saints surrounding God’s throne worshiping him forever and ever.”)

Second, these folk religious beliefs about life after death come into conflict with Scripture and Christian tradition (and few seem to care!). I’ve taught theology to mostly Christian students (raised in Christian churches and homes) for almost 30 years now and I can confidently say there is one biblical and traditional doctrine that has almost disappeared among them and their families. (I find this to be true when I teach about this subject to adult Sunday School classes as well.) That doctrine is called “the intermediate state.”

In my next post here I will lay out the biblical bases for this doctrine.

I am finding that most American Christians think that when a person dies he or she goes immediately to “heaven” in a conscious, disembodied state to remain there forever with the Lord. People equate “paradise” with “heaven” (as the “new heaven and new earth”) and conflate the two. There is little or no understanding of the future resurrection, judgment, new creation, etc. These biblical images and concepts are simply drawn forward into life after death so that all the “dead in Christ” are believed to be already experiencing the fullness of heavenly redeemed existence.

I propose the reason for this is that people do not generally like to think of their deceased loved ones as in some vague intermediate state called “paradise” awaiting the fullness of heaven. They want immediate gratification for their deceased loved ones; they want them to be enjoying all that heaven offers and Jesus promised right away. The result is that the New Testament blessed hope of resurrection of both the individual’s body and of creation itself (Romans 8) has dwindled away. What has replaced it is a gnostic-like belief in the body as a prison of the spirit and of salvation as release from bodily existence.

To be continued…

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 2, 2011

Some random thoughts about that awful but necessary word "heresy"

Next Post

August 5, 2011 Folk religion and life after death part 2

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prayed three times a day facing Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ezekiel Micah Jonah Daniel