Remnant Christianity in a Post-Christian World: Plight of the Modern Church

by W. Paul Jones

Overview

The contemporary Christian church is in critical decline, both in membership and finances. All attempts at reversal are failing, primarily because of the consuming socioeconomic-secular dynamic in which society is immersed in its self-destructive course. Consequently, Christian imagery is losing its conceivability and credibility, and past motivations that once encouraged belief have lost their appeal. Without these as points of contact, the demise of the institutional church will be relentless, despite all efforts to halt it. Yet, as at other crisis points in history, the divine promise has been to raise a "faithful remnant" with sufficient promise to outlast whatever the societal demise. After carefully analyzing the ingredients of our societal crisis, the author develops the contours of a "Remnant Church" to be set in place now within the present institutional churches. This necessitates distilling a vital spirituality and discerning the heart of a preservable tradition, sufficient to claim both personal and communal commitment. Thereby prepared for the long haul, the Remnant Church can emerge as a prophetic alternative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725294868
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	11/03/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	366
File size:	953 KB

About the Author

W. Paul Jones, known for serving with humor, creativity, and compassion as resident director of the Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center, is an Emeritus Professor of Theology, an ordained United Methodist for forty years, a Trappist Family Brother, and a Roman Catholic priest. His ecumenical work focuses on the relationship between spirituality and social justice and is particularly concerned with the dilemma of the contemporary church. He is author of fourteen books, some award-winning, and numerous articles.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This extraordinary book is the most comprehensive summary I know of analyses and data covering the United States today. Jones describes a nihilistic postmodernism, a rapacious capitalism, the plutocratic destruction of democracy, the illusory construction of our sensibilities and appetites, and more! These dynamics are basic to the diminishment of our churches and an ongoing assault on the common good. Into this morass Jones offers a significant remnant strategy for dying churches.”

—Tex Sample, Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri



“Rarely in the pages of one book do we find both a penetrating and solidly informed analysis of our present cultural situation and a visionary prescription for the church’s future. Spurning efforts to reverse declining interest in the church by quick fixes, Paul Jones draws upon his long experience as a theologian and spiritual director to outline how a remnant church of the future, based on ‘pure faith,’ can bear witness in a post-Christian world.”

—Neal F. Fisher, President emeritus and Senior Scholar in Theology, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary



“All of us who are paying attention are sensing the coming of a spiritual winter that calls into question all that we believe. In this book, which is both challenging and comforting, W. Paul Jones analyzes the forms of idolatry that contemporary society presents to the church and the reasons why people of faith must prepare to live as a remnant people in a new reality. No one is better equipped with the gifts of mind and spirit than W. Paul Jones to help us understand what is happening to the church and why, and what it will mean for all of us to live faithfully in a post-Christian world.”

—William Boyd Grove, Bishop, retired, the United Methodist Church



“I have participated in the church-growth models that Jones criticizes, spending much of my career working to increase numbers of people in church. But I also admit that those models have done little to ease the decline and the lack of authentic discipleship that he accurately describes in the twenty-first-century church. Given the hurt and division of our time, we need voices advocating for deeper spirituality and authentic discipleship. Paul Jones’ vision for remnant community is not only biblical but compelling as well.”

—Bishop Bob Farr, Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church



“After a frank and brutally honest assessment of the impact postmodernism has had on Christianity, the church, and our culture, Jones offers a deeply compelling and hopeful path forward for Christian faith. This is one of the most spiritually honest and meaningful books I’ve read in a long time.”

—Adam Hamilton, author of The Lord’s Prayer: The Meaning and Power of the Prayer Jesus Taught

Editorial Reviews

This extraordinary book is the most comprehensive summary I know of analyses and data covering the United States today. Jones describes a nihilistic postmodernism, a rapacious capitalism, the plutocratic destruction of democracy, the illusory construction of our sensibilities and appetites, and more! These dynamics are basic to the diminishment of our churches and an ongoing assault on the common good. Into this morass Jones offers a significant remnant strategy for dying churches.”

—Tex Sample, Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri



“Rarely in the pages of one book do we find both a penetrating and solidly informed analysis of our present cultural situation and a visionary prescription for the church’s future. Spurning efforts to reverse declining interest in the church by quick fixes, Paul Jones draws upon his long experience as a theologian and spiritual director to outline how a remnant church of the future, based on ‘pure faith,’ can bear witness in a post-Christian world.”

—Neal F. Fisher, President emeritus and Senior Scholar in Theology, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary



“All of us who are paying attention are sensing the coming of a spiritual winter that calls into question all that we believe. In this book, which is both challenging and comforting, W. Paul Jones analyzes the forms of idolatry that contemporary society presents to the church and the reasons why people of faith must prepare to live as a remnant people in a new reality. No one is better equipped with the gifts of mind and spirit than W. Paul Jones to help us understand what is happening to the church and why, and what it will mean for all of us to live faithfully in a post-Christian world.”

—William Boyd Grove, Bishop, retired, the United Methodist Church



“I have participated in the church-growth models that Jones criticizes, spending much of my career working to increase numbers of people in church. But I also admit that those models have done little to ease the decline and the lack of authentic discipleship that he accurately describes in the twenty-first-century church. Given the hurt and division of our time, we need voices advocating for deeper spirituality and authentic discipleship. Paul Jones’ vision for remnant community is not only biblical but compelling as well.”

—Bishop Bob Farr, Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church



“After a frank and brutally honest assessment of the impact postmodernism has had on Christianity, the church, and our culture, Jones offers a deeply compelling and hopeful path forward for Christian faith. This is one of the most spiritually honest and meaningful books I’ve read in a long time.”

—Adam Hamilton, author of The Lord’s Prayer: The Meaning and Power of the Prayer Jesus Taught

From the Publisher