The Experts

Continued from page 1

. "In 1900 the educational and media establishments would have been favorable toward Christianity; in 2000, they are hostile to Christianity. That is...why we have these controversies all the time. The people who run those institutions are not in harmony with the country...

"Christianity can compete with Islam, using arguments and persuasion, in the open marketplace of ideas or just say `We all believe in the same God.'"

Hal Taussig, coordinator of the doctoral program in early Christian studies, Union Theological Seminary, New York:

"The complex consciousness that's now emerging goes beyond the old fundamentalist-modernist split...so the postmodern recognition of multiple perspectives relativizes the impact and importance of the analytical tradition...Inasmuch as my neighbor is a Muslim from Pakistan, it's not nearly as easy for me to assert that Christianity has all of the truth; I see those neighbors living a life of integrity and faith...

"(Traditional religiosity) is now appreciated for its rootedness. It's a way people can say, `This is who we are in this particular sociocultural setting. It has an integrity in that setting.' But we are careful not to imply that it's the only one."

D.R. Williams, assistant professor of patristics and historical theology at Loyola University, Chicago:

"Before we can responsibly go into the future, we must go back. The formation of a distinct Christian identity in years to come will not be successful unless we deliberately reestablish the link to those resources that provide us with the defining `center' of Christian belief and practice...

"My concern is that free-church Protestant(ism) is so prone to fragmentation because there is no centricity to it. Current evangelical Protestantism is but a mere shadow of what the Protestant Reformation was all about. The key focus of the (evangelical) faith is the Bible, the individual Christian and a community of faith which works not from any historic legacy."

David Roozen, co-director of the Center for Social and Religious Research, Hartford Seminary:

"Experience has become a new point of authority. People say, `If I can feel it, if I can touch it, then it must be true...The shift also helps explain why Holiness and Pentecostal Churches, which were at the margins and nearly invisible in the first half of the century, have done so well and have moved into the middle class. It helps explain why the more liturgical denominations-- the Lutherans, Episcopalians and Catholics--have had a more stable membership than the United Church of Christ...The big question is whether the old-line groups that have been heavily invested in cognitive approaches to religion can make the transition. It will be interesting to see...

"I would say that the fortunes of religion will follow the same route as race relations. If the United States can figure out a good way to affirm racial and ethnic difference in a constructive and unified way, I think that will bode well for religion. If, however, racial difference continue as a point of conflict in society, I think religion will continue to struggle in terms of having a unified impact on society."

William J. McKinney, president of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif.:

"Today what are you describing when you are talking about religion, it isn't so clear anymore...We will continue to see the spread of radical pluralism."

Francis MacNutt, a former Dominican priest and founder of Christian Healing Ministries Jacksonville, Fla.:

"Things were pretty institutional up until this century, not just the Catholic Church but also the Protestant churches. What's opening up in all these traditions in different ways is the lay people are being energized."

Luke Keefer, professor of church history, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio:

"Nobody saw two world wars and a great depression coming down and yet those things shaped the soul of the American people. Events that will shape religion in the 21st century are largely unknown and unanticipated...The groups that are most likely to make an impact in the 21st century are those that have a doctrinal identity and history and an openness in terms of atmosphere and methodology."