© 1997 Meredith Sprunger
© 1997 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
Facing the reality that our culture is no longer Christian, Brian K. Smith in an article in the January, 1997 issue of Theology Today entitled “Christianity As a Second Language” says, “In attempting to think about the situation we face, it is at once obvious that mere tinkering with existing patterns is insufficient. A more radical approach is needed.” (p. 439) He expresses dissatisfaction with current theories of religion and cites George Lindbeck’s [1] cultural-linguistic approach to shed light on our contemporary situation. This view sees religion as a comprehensive, interpretive frame of reference that structures human experience and the understanding of self and the world.
The basic problem of evangelism today is that the Christian cultural-linguistic framework of the church is no longer the cultural-linguistic orientation of society. Shouting louder, Smith points out, is of little value in a society that no longer views the world from the Christian frame of reference. Neither is mainline Christianity’s preoccupation with social action the answer to our dilemma. Translating the gospel answers into currently understandable concepts and slogans “is a broad way that leads to destruction, the destruction of the gospel.” (p. 444)
To become a Christian, one must learn the language and culture of Christianity. There are no short cuts to this objective. We must take our cue from the early centuries of the church and initiate a comprehensive process of instruction or catechesis. It will take time for people to learn the Christian culture and dialect as a second language.
Smith is correct in his analysis of the contemporary religious problem. The methodology of his solution is also sound. The achievement of his objective, however, is seriously limited because the cultural-linguistic framework of traditional Christianity is rooted in a prescientific, outdated cultural-religious orientation. People searching for spiritual truth in our secular society will not be inspired by the battle cries of the Middle Ages. Religious institutions are in desperate need of a new paradigm of spiritual reality. Fortunately, this need has been supplied in The Urantia Book, which purports to be the Fifth Epochal Revelation. It is solidly rooted in the truths of historic Christianity and enlarges our spiritual vision with a view that is relevant to the $21 st century and beyond.
But as Brian Smith and Yale’s Dr. Lindbeck remind us, any new or unfamiliar conceptual-linguistic paradigm will only become indigenous and dynamic in the lives of individuals and society through a period of comprehensive instruction and learning or catechesis. There are currently hundreds of study groups absorbing the cultural-linguistic teachings of The Urantia Book. Thousands of such study groups are needed in the church and society to finally bring about a spiritual renaissance in the 21 st century. We are indeed “now quivering on the very brink of one of [our] most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment.” (UB 195:9.2)
George Lindbeck. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984. ↩︎