Conditions for the Great Religion Singularity
Brian D. McLaren
Vol. 1, No. 1
Spring 2019
Pages: 40-49
DOI: 10.33929/sherm.2019.vol1.no1.05
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Abstract
Ministry Research
Brian McLaren, Brian D. McLaren, Religion Singularity, Law of Interdependent Origination, Institutional Christianity, Adaptability, Moral Failure
Applying the Buddhist “law of interdependent origination,” which states that if the conditions are right, a particular phenomenon may exist, Brian McLaren provides ten conditional factors that he believes have contributed to Ken Howard’s “religion singularity” (i.e. the multi-faceted collapse of institutional Christianity). Each condition falls under two main categories: either a lack of rapid adaptability in religious institutions or the moral failure of institutional leaders. The ten conditional factors include authoritarian centralization, betrayal of the religious founder’s non-violence, a history of unacknowledged atrocities, military imperialism, white supremacy, scandals, reaction against scientific inquiry, doubling down on dualism, integrated and change-averse institutional systems, and paralysis and nostalgia.