This past Thursday Yale Divinity School hosted a one-of-a-kind event: The Future of Faith. This two-part event featured author and scholar Diana Butler Bass and New York Times Op-Ed columnist Ross Douthat. The first hour,”The Future of Faith: Two Views,” was moderated by Bob Abernethy, host of Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. The second hour, “Future of Faith and Church Life,” was moderated by Lillian Daniel, a writer and United Church of Christ pastor.
Bass’ latest book is “Christianity After Religion: The End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening” (2012 – one of my top two books of 2012, read my review). Douthat’s latest book is Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (2012 – read my review). Their differing perspectives created controversy only after Bass offered her response to Douthat’s New York Times editorial, “Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?. The Yale event provided an opportunity for each thinker to share more about her/his perspective, and for the two to be in conversation about the important topic of the future of the faith.
Session 1: The Future of Faith: Two Views
Session 2: Future of Faith and Church Life
So What?
Events such as this are rare, but those streamed live and then made available to the general public free of charge as recordings are rarer still. Regardless of your perspective, I encourage you to invest some time in the coming days to watch one or both of these hour long conversations.
- Prior to viewing these conversations, how had the work of Diana Butler Bass and/or Ross Douthat influenced your perspective on the future of the Christian faith?
- How did viewing some or all of the video content from the Yale event affirm or challenge your prior assumptions about the future of Christianity in America?