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Christianity Today, October, 2007 |

Community of Memory

We're on the verge of destroying a key pillar of civilization.

Charles Colson with Anne Morse. | posted 10/15/2007 08:53AM

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If there's one place the community of memory must be maintained—even as the family and other cultural institutions falter—it is the church. We, after all, are people who live by revealed truth. The apostles' teaching was handed down from one generation to the next, faithfully transmitted with meticulous care. During the Dark Ages, Irish monks copied and preserved the Bible and other books. They understood that civilization could not survive if one did not pass down the wisdom of previous generations.

Here we are, hundreds of years later, unable to teach our kids how to defend Christian truth. Unable, or unwilling, because we worship at the altar of the bitch goddess of tolerance.

If we hope to preserve what makes life worth living, we as a church must preserve the ability to know the truth ourselves—to absorb the meaning of Jesus' claim: "I am the truth." And then we must transmit this to our children.

Are we willing to make a heroic effort to stop the continued erosion of the most essential community of memory? The monks did it in an earlier dark age. So can we, if we are willing to stiffen our spines to the task.

Related Elsewhere:

Robert Bellah elaborated on his theory about communities of memory in a Q&A at a California church.

Colson has also written about the "goddess of tolerance" at Breakpoint.

Charles Colson's most recent columns include:

Promises, Promises | How to really build a 'great society.' (August 7, 2007)

Overheated Rhetoric | What should we make of bestselling books blasting Christians? (June 21, 2007)

War on the Weak | Eugenics has made a lethal comeback. (December 4, 2006)

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October 2007, Vol. 51, No. 10

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Ken L.

Posted: October 28, 2007 1:35 AM

This issue will always be a difficult to deal with. I feel we should respect other religions and respect the choice people make, even when their choice is not to believe in the Truth. I also believe, going around arguing (in a confrontational manner) how other religions are wrong or false is not how we should evangelize to those who have chosen other religions/faiths. This DOES NOT mean we should not speak to what we believe and know to be the Truth.We are told to share the Truth and the Gospel with the World. We should distinguish Christianity from other Religoins/faiths because there are ciritical differnces. I think it was Ravi Zacharias who said Christianity, unlike other religons, is not about a bunch of doctrines or beliefs, but rather is a change in the very person, a transformation, to someone new. Christianity is not how to live life by, but is a new way of life. We should speak that with others with confidence.The "balance" between preaching and respect is a difficult one

Paul	Posted: October 27, 2007 10:58 AM

Religion isn't primarily a system of beliefs but a community. Around the world people grow up in different communities with different experiences and perspectives. I see different religions as different human responses through experience to the same overarching reality (a higher power). Therefore, there is no one "right" religion or one "wrong" religion. How can one community's experience (Buddhism, for example) be wrong while another's is right? This is also true at the individual level in that arguing that Christianity is the only true religion is like saying that my wife is the only woman in the world. Furthermore, I might think that my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, but that doesn't mean that every other woman is ugly. Why does one thing have to negate the other? I have never understood this and cannot understand why so many Christians cling to these tribalistic ideas.

Paul	Posted: October 27, 2007 10:55 AM

Religion isn't primarily a system of beliefs but a community. Around the world people grow up in different communities with different experiences and perspectives. I see different relgions as different human responses through experience to the same overarching reality (a higher power). Therefore, there is neither one "right" religion nor one "wrong" religion. How can one community's experience (Buddhism, for example) be wrong while another's is right? This is also true at the individual level in that saying that Christianity is the only true religion is like saying that my wife is the only woman in the world. I might think that my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, but that doesn't mean that every other woman is ugly. Why does one thing have to negate the other? I have never understood this and cannot understand why so many Christians cling to these tribalistic ideas.

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