Leaving...

I read in an article that most young adults leave church not because of emotional or social forces (like they've been hurt, or even abused), but because their intellectual questions were not taken seriously or even answered...'just believe' still operates.

The great and frustrating irony in this is that modern rationality has its roots in Christian theology which from the start was a rational enterprise; God's creating was orderly, we in his image are to look after it. This includes coming to understand it. No 'spirits' to appease, no monsters to be scared of, no incantations to be learnt.

So, I wonder about both the education of people newly Christian, and the teaching of children in Sunday School and youth groups. I worry that its all Bible stories or affective responses to portions of biblical text. It should include Christian foundations, church history, the inputs to theology, at least.

I reflect on my own Sunday School years and while there were some teachers who responded to the questions of we young teenagers, mostly it was a kiddie entertainment routine.

At every age we need to equip children to think about their faith and to reason through questions it brings up.