
The Church Trap
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Narrated by:
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Charles Henderson Norman
About this listen
Churches today are caught in a sociological trap. Parishioners want to keep comfortable status quo organization. Churchmen feel the pressure to modernize, to "get where the action is". This book is a provocative and zesty analysis of the problem. Dishonest to God? The churches have followed corporations in emphasizing fat figures and solid annual growth. If religion were sold like stocks you would have the "high fliers" like the booming Southern Baptists and the Roman Catholics, the "blue chip" denominations - Episcopalians, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians - and then those with small growth potential, like the Jews.
The "sick" clergy: Most clergymen of the various faiths, needless to say, are not alcoholic or homosexual. On the other hand enough clergymen have these problems to cause concern, and beyond the slippery labels of neuroses there are enough inward tortured people in the clergy to make church authorities wonder what in heaven is wrong.
The future: One of the basic models for churchly change is ecumenism, but although ecumenism may look good on the drawing board, it has some very formidable hurdles before it . There is no sign in the heavens that the organized religions in America will be granted a resurrection.
©1968 and 2003 Arthur Herzog III (P)2014 Arthur Herzog IIIListeners also enjoyed...
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What did you love best about The Church Trap?
Arthur Herzog's way of describing all.Who was your favorite character and why?
This is a Non Fiction bookWhat does Charles Henderson Norman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His Great Voice.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The entire bookAny additional comments?
Arthur Herzog's perspective comes partly from having an Episcopal Mother, and a Jewish Father. He sometimes joked he was Episcopal with the Map of Israel on His faceReligion in America - The Church Trap
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