Where to Now Saint Paul?

Book excerpt: The Church is Dying. ">Absolutely Not! The Baptists expect to lose half their churches in the next 20 years. They revamp their message, but nothing works because they can’t face the real problem that plagues all churches. According to the Christian website, www.gotquestions.org, few young adults have a “biblical worldview,” because they don’t believe in Satan, hell or that Christianity is the only true religion. The problem is that Christianity has an identity crisis that gives young adults good reason to doubt the church. Joseph Ratzinger (pope) quit his first seminary because it conceded that two separate and opposing Christianities existed in the second century. One was the Jewish Christianity of Jesus and the other was the Roman gentile Christianity of Paul. They noted that Paul was “indifferent to the teaching of Jesus... and the opponent of the religion of love, Christ came to announce to the world.” Jesus’ Christianity had no judgment, Satan, hell, Easter or Christmas for 300 years! These were not the teaching of Christ, but pagan traditions added by the Romans when they commandeered the religion later. These facts don’t discredit Jesus Christ at all! Bishop John Spong of Newark says “the church has always dangled us between their imaginary heaven and hell as a control tactic.” This savvy, secular world gets it, and is unmoved by the church’s brimstone threats. They know it has nothing to do with the religion of Jesus Christ. The church is dying, but as they say, “When God closes a door, He always opens a window.” So now, Christian Spirituality, more like original Christianity, is a star on the rise.