Some More Quotes

Horton interacts with Marsha Witten's review of Baptist preaching. Here are some quotes.

"Of course no one has to explicitly deny any article of the Christian creed in order to shift the focus from the public truth content of Christianity to the subject, pragmatic, and therapeutic categories of 'how-to' religion. Christ may still be called Savior, but we really save ourselves by knowing and following the steps of the new birth and 'victorious living.'"

"As a result of these processes, says Witten, 'A religion's teachings no longer give meaning to their adherents' life in the world; their life in the world determines both the meanings and meaningfulness of their creed.'"

"Increasingly, Americans came to see church--with its appointed means of grace as secondary to 'Bible classes, prayer meetings, and benevolent groups--in other words, parachurch organizations.' Therefore, faith became increasingly privatized, with opportunities to express one's feelings, the language of faith 'frequently laced with sentimentality.'"

"The consistent message running throughout these sermons is, reach out to God; become vulnerable. But there is nothing here that would give a reason as to why 'receiving God into the heart' is ' the only possible recourse to realizing true selfhood.'"