Berger: religious affirmation of secular values

Friday, January 15, 2010
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
    —John 9:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There is a continuum of values between the churches and the general community. What distinguishes the handling of these values in the churches is mainly the heavier dosage of religious vocabulary involved... Another way of putting this is to say that the churches operate with secular values while the secular institutions are permeated with religious terminology... An objective observer is hard put to tell the difference (at least in terms of values affirmed) between the church members and those who maintain an ‘unchurched’ status. Usually the most that can be said is that the church members hold the same values as everybody else, but with more emphatic solemnity. Thus, church membership in no way means adherence to a set of values at variance with those of the general society; rather, it means a stronger and more explicitly religious affirmation of the same values held by the community at large.
    ... Peter L. Berger (b. 1929), The Noise of Solemn Assemblies, Garden City: Doubleday, 1961, p. 41 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cannot remake myself; only You can. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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