The Hartford Appeal and the State of the American Church

This coming Thursday (7/9/2020) I will give a short talk at Eighth Day Institute's inimitable Hall of Men. In this talk I'll be presenting on the remarkable, energetic, unflappable life of one of my heroes, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, public theologian and founder of First Things.

In preparation for my remarks, I've gone back over Fr. Neuhaus's books and one in particular stuck out to me. In 1975, Fr. Neuhaus, in collaboration with famed sociologist Peter Berger and a score of other notable intellectuals and theologians, authored Against the World For the World: The Hartford Appeal and the Future of American Religion. The Hartford Appeal, as it came to be known, was a decisive indictment of the American Church and its lack of theological nerve to confess the irreducible transcendence of a holy God -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit. More captivated by popular cultural nostrums than the exacting gospel of Jesus Christ, the American Church had, the authors feared, slouched toward Gomorrah. It was time for a reckoning.

The Hartford Appeal was a sharp prosecutorial document of the highest order. It perceptively identified each of the violations of the American Church and gave fuller meaning to them in brief subsequent paragraphs. Furthermore, it provided a number of substantive essays by some of the most luminous minds in the group, all of whom explained how the Church arrived at this point in time and what it needed to do to move passed it.

At this point you might be asking why I find this document so interesting. Here's my response: Nothing has changed. After 45 years, the same egregious sins named by the Hartford Appeal are still pulling the legs of the American Church back to Egypt.

For those readers among you who are interested, I'd encourage you to read the 13 Theses of the Hartford Appeal and, as difficult as it may be, look to see which ones are indicative of your church. When you find one (or more), write it down in your journal and start praying for your pastor and your church. Now more than ever in recent memory we need churches who are "not ashamed of the gospel."

The Hartford Appeal:

The renewal of Christian witness and mission requires constant examination of the assumptions shaping the Church's life. Today an apparent loss of a sense of the transcendent is undermining the Church's ability to address with clarity and courage the urgent tasks to which God calls it in the world. This loss is manifest in a number of pervasive themes. Many are superficially attractive, but upon closer examination we find these themes false and debilitating to the Church's life and word. Among such themes are:

Theme 1: Modern thought is superior to all past forms of understanding reality, and is therefore normative for Christian faith and life.

Theme 2: Religious statements are totally independent of reasonable discourse.

Theme 3: Religious language refers to human experience and nothing else, God being humanity's noblest creation.

Theme 4: Jesus can only be understood in terms of contemporary models of humanity.

Theme 5: All religions are equally valid; the choice among them is not a matter of conviction about truth but only of personal preference or life style.

Theme 6: To realize one's potential and to be true to oneself is the whole meaning of salvation.

Theme 7: Since what is human is good, evil can adequaltey be understood as failure to realize potential.

Theme 8: The sole purpose of worship is to promote individual self-realization and human community.

Theme 9: Institutions and historical traditions are oppressive and inimical to our being truly human; liberation from them is required for authrneic existence and authentic religion.

Theme 10: The world must set the agenda for the Church. Social, political, and economic programs to improve the quality of life are ultimately normative for the Church's mission in the world.

Theme 11: An emphasis on God's transcendence is at least a hindrance to, and perhaps incompatible with, Christian social concern and action.

Theme 12: The struggle for a better humanity will bring about the Kingdom of God.

Theme 13: The question of hope beyond death is irrelevant or at best marginal to the Christian understanding of human fulfillment.

Here are some of the more recognized signatories to the Hartford Appeal:

• Peter L. Berger

• Father Avery Dulles, S.J.

• Dr. Stanley Hauerwas

• Father Thomas Hopko

• Dr. George A. Lindbeck

• Dr. Ralph McInerny

• Dr. Richard J. Mouw

• Pastor Richard John Neuhaus (He authored and signed it when he was still Lutheran)

• Father Alexander Schmemann

• Dr. Robert Wilken

If you're interested in learning more about Fr. Neuhaus, then I encourage you to attend the Hall of Men this Thursday (7/9) at The Ladder (2838 E Douglas Ave.) at 8:30 p.m. Bring a pipe and stay for a pint as we toast the life of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus!