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Redeemer Church

Redeemer Church
Looking for a church in the Omaha area? Come check out ours on Sunday mornings at 11!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

In defense of religion?!!

It is refreshing to hear a couple well-spoken guys defending religion in the public arena. I have personally voiced my opinion on the pariah that the word "religion" has become. Now Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck are doing the same, not only through Christian publishers (see Why We Love the Church), but through the mainstream media as well.

From the Washington Post: "Here's what Bono, Oprah, and the guru speakers on PBS won't tell you: Jesus believed in organized religion and he founded an institution. Of course, Jesus had no patience for religious hacks and self-righteous wannabes, but he was still Jewish. And as Jew, he read the Holy Book, worshiped in the synagogue, and kept Torah. He did not start a movement of latte-drinking disciples who excelled in spiritual conversations. He founded the church (Matt. 16:18) and commissioned the apostles to proclaim the good news that Israel's Messiah had come and the sins of the world could be forgiven through his death on the cross (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:14-36)."

2 comments:

truthinflux said...

Do you see a difference between "organized" religion and "institutionalized" religion? I am not much for institutions, but find organization difficult to deny in terms of Scripture.

Jared Totten said...

I suppose I haven't given much thought to that. Perhaps if you would define your terms (organized vs. institutionalized), that would be a good place for us to start from!