Knowing More God
November 13, 2009
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!When I hear people talk about what is wrong with organized religion, or why their mainline churches are failing, I hear about bad music, inept clergy, mean congregations, and preoccupation with institutional maintenance. I almost never hear about the intellectualization of faith, which strikes me as a far greater danger than anything else on the list. In an age of information overload, when a vast variety of media delivers news faster than most of us can digest – when many of us have at least two email addresses, two telephone numbers, and one fax number – the last thing any of us needs is more information about God. We need the practice of incarnation, by which God saves the lives of those whose intellectual assent has turned as dry as dust, who have run frighteningly low on the bread of life, who are dying to know more God in their bodies. Not more about God. More God. – Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
Posted in Books, Failure of the Church, Quotable Quotes
November 17th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
What a marvelous quote! I bet there’s more where that one came from, so… you’ve just lengthened my “must read” list.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
e2c–> It’s a WONDERFUL book and it’s on my list of books to savor over Thanksgiving….along with the turkey
November 17th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Question for you: I’ve got this now, as an ebook, and am wondering what chapter this quote comes from?
Thanks in advance for your help, and *no* rush on the answer, either!
November 17th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Anita – you can just call me “e.” That works fine!
(I don’t like using my given name on the web for anything other than professional reasons/publications – thus the varied usernames.)
November 18th, 2009 at 12:33 am
E–> I don’t know the page number since I’m reading it on my Kindle app but it’s in the chapter “The Practice of Wearing Skin.”
November 20th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Not more about God. More God. – Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
Indeed, not wanting to fill my head with more ideas, man’s theories, or conclusions about God, 26 years ago I chose to attend a discipleship school versus divinity college. This girl need more experience and less theory, more heart & less head, the mystery of the spirit instead of clarity of words.
I loved that the school was called Intensive Christian Training(ICT)–”a school for the heart not the head.” It changed my life & my loving God forever!