NOMINALISM: Christian-Lite ?
Jacob Dean Hempel M.D.
For Christians this phenomenon continues to be an enigma; it isn’t pretty, and neither is it simple or painless. In what follows, I hope to explore this matter with you through the multiple lenses of a biblical, sociological, and demographic perspective.
The Nominal Christian:
By the term “Christian” we mean someone who was first known as a “follower of the way;” later, they were called Christians because they were followers/adherents of Jesus Christ and His teachings.
Definition: To be a nominal Christian generally means being something in name or form only, and not in practice.
Christian Definition: A nominal Christian is one who says he is a Christian, but does not possess a trusting, faithful relationship with Jesus Christ; a relationship made possible by Christ’s atonement on the cross and subsequent resurrection. The church attendance of a nominal Christian is irrelevant; he can attend church weekly or rarely. He may undertake religious activities or even participate in fellowship with other Christians, for example, by being a member of a church. i.e. a nominal Christian is one who appears to be going through the motions of his faith but doesn’t indicate a heartfelt commitment to Jesus Christ.
Some commonly used euphemisms: cultural Christian, consumer Christian, Christian-Lite, Cafeteria Christian (pick and choose), chreaster (Christmas and Easter christian).
Contrasting Terms: Biblical Christian, committed Christian, converted Christian, or believing Christian.
Prevalence:
Johnstone and Mandryk (1) suggest that nominalism is a major issue in our day. They assert that “many traditionally Christian populations know nothing of a personal faith, of true repentance, and a trust in the finished work of Christ for their salvation.” They estimate “that 1.2 billion people are nominal and non-practicing ‘Christians’.” (2.2 billion Christians in world}. In America 75–80% self-identify as Christian.
A Biblical Perspective
Nominal believers were, in fact, apparent and described in Christ’s time, even before they were first called either nominal or Christian. Jesus, himself, in his short three year ministry, describes such individuals in a variety of passages throughout the Gospels (New Testament).
Matthew 7:21–23 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (NIV) (As someone put it, “it’s just that while they professed to be joined to Him, He never professed to be joined to them.”)
Matthew 23: 27 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (NIV)
Matthew 15: 7–9 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” (NIV)
II Timothy 4: 3–4 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (NIV)
Revelation 3:14 Addressed to the Church at Laodicea: “ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm…neither hot nor cold…I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (NIV)
One might well conclude that Christ, Himself, values a deep seated, genuine commitment from the heart of one who professes to be His follower or disciple; that he despises any form of hypocrisy or disparity in belief versus the lived practice of that belief.
A Sociological Perspective
Sociologists have examined diverse religious groups from an organizational or sociological point of view, rather than on the basis of theological differences. From Max Weber, often called the father of sociology, and further expanded by his student, Ernst Troeltsch, has come the “dichotomy of church and sect” where church and sect are perceived as polar extremes or opposites. (2)
Now, if one sees these organizational types as occupying a continuum, not merely as opposites, but with gradations from A to B, another view takes shape. Take, for instance, the dichotomy between theory and practice or black and white. If black (A) and white (B) are seen as a continuum, then as we move along from A to B, we see progressively lighter and lighter shades of gray and finally arrive at white.
Sociologists (3) accept that “the fundamental theme of the religious sect is protest. Such a protest leads to a schism and a breaking away from the parent religious group, be it a church or a denomination. See appendix (4).
Now, if we represent sects by A and churches by B, we see a pattern in which the “newborn” sect (A) gradually evolves along this continuum into a more mature “adult” church (B). This evolving pattern takes place over time as the sect gradually adapts to the surrounding cultural and social realities and becomes attenuated in the process. Finally, as the church, after time, gains new members, and adapts to these often more secular, changing cultural and social realities, this process begins anew.
Shifting cultural and social tides or fears of becoming more secular ( perhaps less spiritual ?) prompt some members to call into question the once evident beliefs and practices of the church, (as perceived by them), which ultimately leads now to a more serious protest movement. This protest movement eventually leads to an open break with the church and the spawning of a new sect which seeks to undo what they perceive to have been perversions of the original purity of the older (mother) church.
From this background, sociologists conclude that “there is a nearly universal tendency of sects, if they survive at all, to change, evolve, and move away from their original “pure” state. They move towards an eventual denominational status and begin to manifest the characteristics of the organization from which they originally withdrew, and which they earlier repudiated.” (5)
According to David Barrett (World Christian Encyclopedia) (6) there are 33,820 different Christian denominations, sects, and orders all presumably laying claim to being rightful heirs of Christianity. Barrett defines a “denomination” as an organized Christian church or tradition or religious group or community of believers, within a specific country, who regard themselves as one autonomous Christian church distinct from other denominations, churches and traditions. Based on these considerations, the question arises, how do we view this evolving process …moving away from the original “pure” state…from sect to church? Is this a form of nominalism? Do these sects become nominal churches, occupied by nominal Christians?
Callum Brown, British Sociologist, notes for the British how “Christian culture retreated from its position of dominance in the rhetoric, thoughts, and demographic choices of the people. The people’s slide from the church seemed to be a slide from all organized faith, and the culture of Christianity slid without much murmur, without any organized atheism, without a battle of the wills between freethinkers and churchmen.” (7)
A Demographic Perspective
Finally, there is one more perspective in the mix! A Demographic Perspective.
Some have called it the most explosive growth of Christianity in 2,000 years! Yet from a global perspective, according to Philip Jenkins, “Christianity is sliding towards supernaturalism with all the earmarks of the ancient world as expressed in the New Testament and as characteristic of the first century.” (8)
What was for so long the former heartland of Christianity (Europe and North America) is now on the decline as the center of gravity of the Christian world has unrelentedly shifted to the global South, meaning Asia, Africa, and Latin America, especially in the decades since World War II. (Jenkins)(8)
On the one hand, many Christians in the global north have gradually moved towards a theological liberalism (attenuation of Christianity or nominalism ?). Yet they have done so with a renewed emphasis on social justice issues and a faith that is more compatible with our current understanding of the world in which we live. i.e. an effort to bring Christianity into the 21st century.
On the other hand, in the global South (Asia, Africa, and Latin America) the trend is towards re-creating a Christian faith of the 1st century. These global South Christians are seeking to re-create their version of what Jenkins (9) calls an “idealized early Christianity” or the restoration of “primitive” Christianity. i.e. to revert back to beliefs and practices reminiscent of Biblical times and the 1st century.
In coming to grips with this global shift southward, theologians have adopted the concept of inculturation as a way to better integrate this explosive embrace of faith as seen in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Inculturation here refers to adapting what one might call a Western version of Christianity to a non-Western and sometimes pagan culture.
As Catholic Archbishop Peter Sarpong of Ghana notes, “the problem is not how to ‘Christianize Africa,’ the old missionary approach, but rather how to ‘Africanize’ Christianity.” (10)
African indigenous /independent churches are major players in this unfolding “new Christianity.” Indeed, David Barrett states that these independent churches make up some 22,000 (almost two thirds) of the aforementioned 33, 820 denominations, sects, or orders. (11)
Jenkins agrees that across southern Africa, some independent churches have retained a wide range of traditional practices, including witchcraft, polygamy, divination, animal sacrifices, initiation rites, exorcism, and the veneration of ancestors. (12)
Some Western observers complain that “what is being transformed here is not merely the trappings of Christianity but the actual core of the faith; that what is being practiced is not inculturation but syncretism, by which is meant the blatant adulteration of Christianity by elements of other religions.” (13)
Others have described this embrace of faith as a “very superstitious kind of Christianity.” (14) Bishop Spong calls it a “thinly disguised continuation of ancient paganism.” (15)
Yet when these same critics ask where these southern Christians are getting “such ideas,” the answer is not hard to find: “From the Bible!”
“In other words, they rightly claim that prophecy, demon possession, exorcism, and healing were, according to scriptural accounts, part and parcel of Jesus’ ministry here on earth.” (16) Jenkins emphasizes, on the other hand, that “however greatly Southern types of Christianity have diverged from older orthodoxies, they have in almost all cases remained within very recognizable Christian traditions. (17)
This then is Christianity dressed in the cultures of the South, notably in Africa. Jenkins predicts that “it is very likely that in a decade or two neither of these components of global Christianity will recognize its counterpart (global North and global South) as fully or authentically Christian.”
Conclusion
There are some who assert that one of the greatest crises that American Christianity faces today is nominal Christianity. (Patton) (18)
So what can we conclude from this complex, multilayered phenomenon? Well, it depends upon whom you ask and how you interpret their response; yet it prompts more questions than it provides answers.
From a Biblical perspective, it is clear from Christ’s teaching that He leaves little latitude, little room to maneuver between one’s Christian belief and its consistent expression in the everyday life of his followers or disciples…i.e very little room for nominalism.
Conservative Christians feel the difference between a nominal Christian and a genuine Christian is not one of a continuum but rather one of a kind. i.e. a crisis or “born again” experience as the starting point. Beyond this, some Christians may well drift towards discounting the Bible as divinely inspired, or disbelieve that Jesus Christ was who He said He was. These attenuations in one’s belief leave the door ajar to one’s thus becoming in time, a nominal Christian.
In the case of the more liberally minded Christian, there has been a softening of traditional Christianity over time. To be sure, these trends also represent attempts to bring the Christian faith into the 21st century. i.e to make it more relevant by adapting that faith to our present understanding of the world. For them, these issues appear to be of equal importance and may even take precedence over a new birth experience.
From a sociological perspective, these studies suggest that in response to shifting cultural and social tides, the evolving sect evolves with some attenuation of its earlier purity as it gradually, over time, moves towards the church. For some, this may well be a pertinent precursor of nominal Christianity. That Christianity is now splintered into some 33,820 denominations, sects, or orders speaks for itself and appears to vindicate these studies.
These sociological studies imply that a variable degree of nominalism is predictably inevitable as the more traditional “purist beliefs” of the sect gradually evolve, confront, and collide with the more secular, cultural and social realities, over time, and now in the 21st century.
From a demographic perspective, a legitimate question arises. Namely, does this explosive shift of Christianity to the global South, especially in Africa, but also in Asia and Latin America, spell nominalism, syncretism, or will it distill out in time as a more authentic Christian faith not unlike that spawned in the 1st century?
By 2050, according to Jenkins, the “old stereotype of Christianity as un-Black, un-poor, and un- young” will undergo a reversal in type when it is projected that 80% of Christians in the world will be either black or latino as compared with 20% white.” They are also apt to be both poorer and younger. (20)
· One overriding, though not solitary issue, continues to plague this phenomenon: namely, how does one define, with any real assurance, what are the indispensable requisites for being a committed Christian in the 21st century? While first called “Christian” in the 1st century, we are now living in the 21st century along with some 33,280 cohorts; each struggling to adapt to the surrounding social and cultural realities of our time while, at the same time, seeking to maintain an integrated sense of sound doctrine put into practice in the daily lives of the believers. Concurrently, in the global South, a burgeoning population of Christians seek to restore their version of Christianity, as it is perceived by them, to have existed in the 1st century.
To paraphrase Philip Yancey, “Jesus formulated certain principles of living for his followers that are impossible to keep, and then charged us to keep them.” (21)
Fortunately, it is not for us, but rather for God, Himself, to ultimately make the critical judgment about these distinctions between an authentic (genuine) and nominal Christian.
What seems most clear is the poignant reality of human frailty which insidiously undermines one’s capacity to put into practice, in everyday life, what one seeks to believe; and all this, while also living in the midst of compelling, complex, intertwined social ,cultural and secular challenges.
From the side of humanity, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!
Jacob Dean Hempel, M.D.
APPENDIX
Characteristics of the sect: (See Johnstone) (4)
1. Often small (at least initially) and draw disproportionately from the lower social classes.
2. Sects tend to be overtly and deliberately emotional In nature, encouraging the mystical and even ecstatic experiences of their members.
3. Sects tend toward more fundamentalist beliefs and may discourage intellectual pursuits as a threat to spiritual purity.
4. The prayers of sects suggest a firm belief that the divine is ever-present, ever-ready to act in everyday life.
5. Sects tend to be led by charismatic lay people who usually have limited, if any, formal theological training.
6. Sects emphasize purity of doctrine and usually demand a return to the original religious teaching. This usually means renouncing the doctrinally perverse aberrations that the sect accuses the established group of having allowed to contaminate the true religion.
7. Sects tend to concentrate on other-worldly issues (salvation, deliverance, judgment, heaven or hell) and discount or depreciate this world’s concerns.
8. Sects gain new members primarily through conversion.
Characteristics of the church:
1. Churches are typically well developed organizations with deep roots in society. 2. Churches are usually formal bodies that intellectualize religious teachings and restrain emotionalism in their services.
3. Churches offer believers a formal liturgy and set prayers in ways that portray the divine as remote from daily life.
4. Churches use leaders drawn from trained professionals who have successfully completed a specific course of study in an authorized seminary or divinity school.
5. Churches may have compromised and accommodated their doctrines and practices to the secular society.
6. Churches gain new members more often through birth and hence the commitment of members is based largely upon cultural and family ties.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World: 21st Century Edition p. 13–14
2. Ronald Johnstone, Religion In Society: A Sociology of Religion, 7th Edition, p 90
3. Ibid, p. 86–87
4. ibid, See appendix
5. Ronald Johnstone, Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion, 7th Edition, p 95
6. David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian
Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).
7. Callum Brown, The Death of Christian Britain, (Routledge, 2000) (US) (UK)
8. Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom…The Coming of Global Christianity (New
York, NY Oxford University Press, 2002 p.9.
9. Ibid, p. 37 10. Kenneth L Woodward, The Changing Face of the Church (Newsweek, April 16, 2001)
11. David B.Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia
12. Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom…The Coming of Global Christianity (New York, NY)
Oxford Press, 2002 p. 120
13. Philip Jenkins, The Next Christianity, (The Atlantic Monthly, October 2002) p. 62
14. Gerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen, Post-christianity in Africa, (London: C. Hurst, l968
15. Bishop Spong, “Delivers a Fiery Farewell,” CC, February 17, 1999
16. Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom…The Coming of Global Christianity (New York, NY)
Oxford Press, 2002, p. 128
17. Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity, (New York, NY Oxford Univ Press 2006)
18. C. Michael Patton, Reclaiming the Mind, October 28, 2008.19
19. Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom…The Coming of Global Christianity, New Yor
20. Philip Yancey, Grace Notes, Zondervan Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, MI p. 142