8 of 8

The power of the Judeo-Christian tradition is that it charts a moral reality larger than private inclination. …It suggests that not all choices are equal: some lead on to blessing, others to lives of quiet despair.It may be that religious leaders can no longer endorse, but instead must challenge the prevailing consensus—the role of the prophet through the ages. In which case the scene is set for a genuine debate between two conflicting visions—between those who see the individual as a bundle of impulses to be gratified and those who see humanity in the image of God; between those who see society as a series of private gardens of desire and those who make space for public parts which we do not own but which we joint ly maintain for the sake of others and the future. No debate could be more fundamental, and its outcome will shape the social contours of the twenty-first century.

David G. Myers is professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. The article is adapted from The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty by David G. Myers, published this month by Yale University Press. © 2000 by the David and Carol Myers Foundation. Reprinted by permission.Illustration by John S. Dykes

The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, from which this article is excerpted, can be ordered fromAmazon.com or other book retailers. David Myers's Web site offers more resources for his book, including interviews, links to social renewal organizations, and more excerpts. He also has pages on psychology and religion, biographical information, and his other books.Yesterday's Washington Times ran an article on Myers and his book.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

first page |  8 of 8

share this page

April 24 2000, Vol. 44, No. 5