Dogma Drives the Christian Life

For most Americans, Christianity is moving rapidly to the margins of life. As I contemplate the future shape of American Christianity, it seems to me that there is both bad news and good news. The bad news, in light of Christianity's marginalization, is that we have no idea what "after Christendom" might actually look like. Indeed, it is possible that it will look like nothing in particular, given the state of constant flux in which we now seem to live. The rise of the therapeutic self has created a world driven by subjective emotions. Technology has given us the cult of the "expert" and the notion that we can solve all problems if only we exert our wills with sufficient power. Meanwhile, the disappearance of the distinction between public and private continues to disrupt Western society, and its long-term effects are largely unpredictable.