The clergy profession is fundamentally self-defeating. Its stated purpose is to nurture spiritual maturity in the church - a valuable goal. In actuality, however; it accomplishes the opposite by nurturing a permanent dependence of the laity on the clergy. Clergy… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
Adults have their own issues and their own problems, which are understandable, and some adults are working through their own adolescent issues.- — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“From the isolated, individualistic perspective of most white evangelicals and many other Americans, there really is no race problem other than bad interpersonal relationships.” — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“variety of kinds of practices of generosity are positively and significantly associated with five important good life outcomes. Giving money, volunteering, being relationally generous,… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“Persons in their most developed form are conscious, reflexive, embodied, self-transcending centers of subjective experience, durable identity, moral commitment, and social communication who—as the… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
Evangelicals come from all ethnic and racial backgrounds, but nearly 90 percent of Americans who call themselves evangelicals are white. — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“Claude Monet's Water Lilies (The Clouds) consists of nothing more than dabs of different colored paint on a canvas.14 But because of the particular… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“Because evangelicals view their primary task as evangelism and discipleship,1 they tend to avoid issues that hinder these activities. Thus, they are generally not… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“Are we simply self-conscious animals improbably appearing for a moment in a cosmos without purpose or significance? If so, that has implications for life,… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“generosity involved in proactively forgiving other people. This form of generosity, and the positive feelings it evokes in generous forgivers, have been shown by… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
“Some sacred projects are so doggedly committed to advancing their particular, packaged views of believed orthodoxies that they can become blinded to good evidence… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
The clergy profession is fundamentally self-defeating. Its stated purpose is to nurture spiritual maturity in the church - a valuable goal. In actuality, however;… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
The problem is that, regardless of what our theologies tell us about the purpose of the clergy, the actual effect of the clergy profession… — Christian Smith Copy Share Image
