Join us on December 6th and 7th at the household of Dick and Londa Amundson in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for a discussion of literature and film with Dr. Greg Jesson, TENTMAKERS scholar in residence. The books up for discussion at this mini retreat are:
Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, by Ross Douthat (see intro below)
The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century by Francis Schaeffer
Dining with the Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity by Os Guinness
The film we will watch is The Emperor’s Club (2002)
This will be a very stimulating retreat as we all listen to others and share our views.
Our time will begin on Friday, December 6 with supper being served at 6:00 PM with discussions going to about 9:00 PM.
Saturday, December 7, Greg will be the keynote speaker at the Friends of TENTMAKERS Breakfast from 8 AM to 10 AM at the Embassy Suites Minneapolis Airport and will then resume the discussion at Dick and Londa Amundson’s home at 11 AM to about 4:30 PM with a late brunch being served.
THERE IS NO COST FOR THIS EVENT! You will have an opportunity to make a donation to cover the cost of the experience.
Intro to Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat
Since the end of the Second World War Christianity in America has been in unparalleled transition, drifting far and fast from its historical roots. Douthat argues that America’s greatest problem is not too much religion or even its increasing secularism, but “bad religion” that has hijacked traditional Christianity. Once stripped of its historic message of God providing personal slavation and transformation through the death and resurrection of Christ, “new age Christianity” has nothing to offer except get-rich schemes and superficial religion that are only inspired by self-centered impulses. Clearly, this kind of religion will never help correct society since it is just a reflection of the most disastrous and destructive trends in society.
From the back of the book: “In a brilliant and provocative story that moves from the 1950’s to the age of Obama, Douthat explores how bad religion has crippled the country’s ability to confront our most pressing challenges and accelerated American decline.”
To get an idea of this author's qualifications, it will be helpful to see Douthat in a dialogue with the furiously anti-religious Bill Meher. You will be surprised how easily and insightfully Douthat responds to Meher’s canned flurry of his standard anti-Christian challenges. For once, Meher is left speechless!