Hi Bill Walker

Thank you for your comment at Provoketive Magazine (http://provoketive.com). We’re creating a space of rich conversation about life, faith, justice and culture without judgment. Our desire is to provoke the reader’s imagination through conversation and open up spaces of dialogue, learning, and hope.  We want to invite you to come back soon and continue to participate in the conversation. 

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Jonathan Brink
Provoketive Magazine

You posted the following comment:
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"What nerve has it touched in people that it would generate 6 million hits in two days and countless responses?"  

I'm in agreement with what you all have said so far I think - especially the "idolatry of doctrine" aspect.  In addition, It seems to me the nerve here is in part the same nerve that kicked off the Reformation and that still defines so much of American evangelicalism in a one-sided way - namely, "salvation by grace through faith alone." And when you add the alleged bipartisanship (i.e., Christianity ~= GOP) while also getting tough on sexual sin, this strikes a chord with the same millions of people that podcast Mark Driscoll's sermons (and in turn don't mind the gender-exclusive language). And still further, most 20's and 30's will strongly identify with the expressed disapproval of highly adorned church buildings and a lack of social justice initiative among many religious folks.  

The biggest shortcoming of this brand of Christianity in mind, however, is that it's still individualistic to the core.  It's a "personal relationship with Jesus," as Cody indicated, so much so that even concern for the poor and the common good is necessarily relegated to the periphery - despite being mentioned as a kind of important accessory.  It's "It is finished" theology, in other words, with "why have you forsaken me" left conspicuously absent.