John Allen on the Church of the Future

Rod Dreher gets even more excited about John Allen's book, after reading a review by Philip Jenkins. Is apostolic Christianity fated to become more Pentecostal, as Jenkins seems to think?

I remember MW telling me his parents were members of the Charismatic movement; he read Ronald Knox's Enthusiasm, and was impressed by it. Many have cited the book as a good response to Charismatics and others who claim that we have entered a new age of the Holy Spirit. With the breakdown among Catholics of traditional forms of worship and their replacement by services that are more sentimentalized, Catholics have not been protected from being moved by spiritualities that place an exaggerated value on feelings. Leon Podles rightly talks about the feminization of the Church (and of worship), and Rod Dreher is aware of the case Mr. Podles makes. Yet he is also persuaded by Jenkins and Allen. What does he not make the connection between the two? In the global South feminism may not be as strong, but the lack of proper catechesis and liturgical instruction can lead to the same problems with respect to worship and spirituality that exist in the United States and the post-industrial North.

One may be able to predict what Church membership will be like based on demographics alone, but one cannot predict what orthodox Christian life will be. Journalists or social "scientists" can only study and report on what is a supernatural phenomenon from a limited viewpoint that cannot penetrate beyond appearances, without any distinction between what is authentic and what is not. They can look at trends, populations, groups, cultures, and other objects of sociology, but there is something missing which impairs their judgment and they are in danger of overreaching in their conclusions. Unless they study with the eyes of faith, they cannot differentiate between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, orthopraxy and heteropraxy.

As for the place of ecclesial movements, I remain unconvinced that they point the way to the future of the Church. For me, they are, at best, a temporary solution to the spiritual problems afflicting the Church.