The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive? [Hardcover]

Arthur J. Bellinzoni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2006

Christianity has endured for two thousand years, weathering the challenges of clerical corruption, religious wars, internal schism, and scientific criticism. Today, however, there is increasing evidence that institutional Christianity is succumbing to the growing secularism of contemporary society. Both church attendance and the number of clergy have noticeably declined. Will Christianity survive for another thousand years, or even a hundred years? In this probing assessment of the state of Christianity, biblical scholar Arthur J Bellinzoni boldly asserts that Christianity must break with the past and offer a new vision of the future if it hopes to survive. Addressing four issues of central concern, Bellinzoni advocates a radical rethinking of the Christian message.First, he suggests that the God concept must move beyond obsolete notions of a personal God and take its inspiration from such diverse sources as science, Taoism, Moses, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Buber. Second, Bellinzoni urges a more sophisticated approach to the Bible, one that values its timeless elements but is not afraid to discard its many antiquated features. Third, he recommends a new emphasis on Jesus' social ethic, arguing that this could lead to a dramatic redistribution of the world's wealth and greater respect for the planet. Fourth, Bellinzoni criticises the persistence of obsolete myth in Christianity, demonstrating that, without its mythical embellishments, Christianity still offers a relevant understanding of the meaning of human existence. A work of erudition that is also completely accessible to the lay reader, "The Future of Christianity" provides a stimulating critique that forward-thinking Christians will welcome.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[T]houghtful and challenging book...must be taken seriously by all those who take the continued influence of Christianity for granted." -- R. Joseph Hoffmann, Chair, Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion; Professor of Religion, Wells College

About the Author

Arthur J. Bellinzoni (Aurora, NY) is professor of religion emeritus at Wells College; the author of The Sayings of Jesus in the Writings of Justin Martyr; and the editor of The Two Source Hypothesis and The Influence of the Gospel of Saint Matthew on Christian Literature Before Saint Irenaeus.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 195 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591024064
• ISBN-13: 978-1591024064
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,741,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Future of Christianity, June 14, 2006

By 

Susan J. Thompson (North Salem, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive? (Hardcover)

Finally! a book for the layman that goes to the very heart of christianity in raising fundamental questions about our outdated concept of a personal god, the role of the Bible, the divinity of Jesus and the status of ancient mythology in the Christian message. Bellinzoni, professor emeritus of religion at Wells College, says it is time for us to give up our first century world view, think and behave like children of the enlightenment and retrieve Christianity from Christian extremists. In rattling the cage of an archaic, male dominated, narrow-minded tradition, he asks us to address the tough questions, break with the past and find a Christianity that is in sync with reason, science and human rights. As churches lose both members and clery, Christians must take the lead and recast their religion to make it relevant.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, June 24, 2006

By 

Turhan Tirana (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive? (Hardcover)

This book is amazing in its focus and the precision and clarity of its analysis. It may rock your belief system, especially if you tend to take Scripture literally but even if you accept it more metaphorically. You won't be able but to agree with the analysis of the author, a distinguished academic.

I'm referring to what for me is the heart of the book -- a study of the New Testament, especially in the origins of the life of Jesus as we know it in the Old Testament. Jesus' early followers were so stunned by the void his disgraceful death left them, Dr Bellinzoni writes, that they turned to the Old Testament for explanation. From there they built a story of Jesus' life and resurrection. The OT gave them the authority they needed and also helped them argue that Jesus' life had been predicted. The result ended up in the synoptic gospels the Christian world has taken as truth for two millennia.

By analyzing passages from both testaments, Dr. Bellinzoni gives you the bridge. It's shockingly clear. All you need to do to check it yourself is to open your own Bible and follow the logic. If such an analysis has been done before, it can't have been any more compelling than Dr. Bellinzoni's.

From there, Dr. Bellinzoni goes on to discuss significances and, eventually, his theme, which is that if main-line Christianity isn't to continue to lose membership and become, in effect, a minor sect in the panoply of world religions, it will have to push through sweeping reforms to make itself relevant to today's understandings of science and today's needs, not those of Roman Palestine. He believes this can be done.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good at what it does, but not at what it purports to do, August 27, 2006

By 

Paul - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive? (Hardcover)

If this book was entitled something like "Why Jesus was Only a Man" I would probably give it 4 stars, because it is an effective scholarly critique of the orthodox Christian view of the Bible with some philosophical weaknesses. But the book's bizarre title suggests that it is something it is not: an explanation of why Christianity in its present form will decline unless deep doctrinal changes are made.

The content that the book (mostly) succeeds in delivering, the historical critique, consists of an exposition and application of the "historical-critical method" of analyzing ancient texts. One of the premises of the historical-critical method is that supernatural claims should be automatically excluded as explanations for stories about historical events. Bellinzoni is no philosopher; his attempted defense of this methodological premise is either lacking or missing altogether. Yet it is this premise that orthodox Christians tend to dispute most vigorously. As a result Bellinzoni will have difficulty reaching out to the audience whose mind he most dearly wants to change: that of orthodox Christians.

As for the book's title, Bellinzoni delivers very little in the way of analysis about the decline and fall of Christianity, and what needs to change for it to survive. He says things like 'how can anyone in the 21st century be expected to believe in a three-tiered universe' consisting of earth, heaven and hell. Bellinzoni never manages to answer his rhetorical question, again exposing his weakness as a philosopher.

If you are interested in a scholarly skeptical analysis of the Bible that challenges the basic claims of orthodox Christianity, this book is not a bad introduction. But don't expect it to deliver on the promise of its title.