Blog
I want to invite you into a conversation around exploring ideas with me.

Straight From The Horses Mouth

Posted Jun 9 2010 by Jonathan Brink in Christianity, Interesting Stuff with View Comments

Len Hjalmarson quotes Brian McLaren and Peter Senge.

“Why are books on Buddhism so popular, and not books on Christianity?” Brian, feeling somewhat on the spot, pushed the question back to Senge. Senge suggested his own answer:

“I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief. So I would want to get Christian ministers thinking about how to rediscover their own faith as a way of life, because that’s what people are searching for today. That’s what they need the most.”

What do you think?

Tags: Category: Christianity, Interesting Stuff

Jonathan Brink - I am an author, coach, speaker and consultant. I work with communities and networks looking to engage God's mission in the Way of Jesus. He recently published, Discovering The God Imagination: Reconstructing A Whole, New Christianity. (CreateSpace, 2010)

  • http://apprising.org Ken Silva

    “Christianity presents itself as a system of belief.”

    I think it's a tired old straw man who needs to retire.

  • http://apprising.org Ken Silva

    “Christianity presents itself as a system of belief.”

    I think it's a tired old straw man who needs to retire.

  • http://www.calacirian.org sonja n a

    I think that Christianity would be far better off presenting itself as a way of life … since that's what Jesus preached and we seem to have gotten a bit off track somewhere along the way.

  • http://www.calacirian.org sonja n a

    I think that Christianity would be far better off presenting itself as a way of life … since that's what Jesus preached and we seem to have gotten a bit off track somewhere along the way.

  • http://www.blogoneanother.com/ Jon Reid

    Really? I'm certain my non-Christian friends would agree. But your non-Christian friends may be different. Why don't we ask them and find out?

  • http://www.blogoneanother.com/ Jon Reid

    Really? I'm certain my non-Christian friends would agree. But your non-Christian friends may be different. Why don't we ask them and find out?

  • http://topsy.com/trackback?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2&url=http://jonathanbrink.com/2010/06/09/straight-from-the-horses-mouth-48-2/ Tweets that mention Straight From The Horses Mouth « Jonathan Brink — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jonathan Brink, Gene Anderson. Gene Anderson said: oops…sorry @jonathanbrink…forgot the post to ur blogpost on "system of belief" as compared to "way of life" http://bit.ly/bVdEZy [...]

  • http://jonathanbrink.com/2010/06/09/is-christianity-a-system-of-belief/ Is Christianity A System Of Belief? « Jonathan Brink

    [...] today I posted about Peter Senge, who said: “I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of [...]

  • roy donkin

    interesting question… Stephen Prothero, in his book “God Is Not One,” talks about the 8 most influential religions in the world today. He places Islam above Christianity, even though there are more Christians than Muslims in the world, because he sees Islam as an entire way of living while Christianity is more about a list of beliefs.
    As was posted on the other thread, our way of living by definition flows from our beliefs… which leads me to think that “Christianity as a system of beliefs” is really seen by most people as a system of propositions to which one doesn't really need to adhere as long as you *say* you believe them.

  • roy donkin

    interesting question… Stephen Prothero, in his book “God Is Not One,” talks about the 8 most influential religions in the world today. He places Islam above Christianity, even though there are more Christians than Muslims in the world, because he sees Islam as an entire way of living while Christianity is more about a list of beliefs.
    As was posted on the other thread, our way of living by definition flows from our beliefs… which leads me to think that “Christianity as a system of beliefs” is really seen by most people as a system of propositions to which one doesn't really need to adhere as long as you *say* you believe them.

  • Eric

    Well, speaking as Jon R's designated non-Christian sparring partner ;-) , I would tend to agree. Many of my experiences with Christianity (starting with high school in the 80s) have been with people who wanted to put me down for daring to have other beliefs, and I see that trend increasing with the radical Right in today's politics. I know there are people who *practice* Christianity as a way of life, not as a belief system, but they are much less visible in society today. (I wish that it were otherwise.)

  • Eric

    Well, speaking as Jon R's designated non-Christian sparring partner ;-) , I would tend to agree. Many of my experiences with Christianity (starting with high school in the 80s) have been with people who wanted to put me down for daring to have other beliefs, and I see that trend increasing with the radical Right in today's politics. I know there are people who *practice* Christianity as a way of life, not as a belief system, but they are much less visible in society today. (I wish that it were otherwise.)

  • Eric

    Well, speaking as Jon R’s designated non-Christian sparring partner ;-) , I would tend to agree. Many of my experiences with Christianity (starting with high school in the 80s) have been with people who wanted to put me down for daring to have other beliefs, and I see that trend increasing with the radical Right in today’s politics. I know there are people who *practice* Christianity as a way of life, not as a belief system, but they are much less visible in society today. (I wish that it were otherwise.)

blog comments powered by Disqus