Peter Jones: Pagan Spirituality on the Rise
Peter Jones documents the decline of gospel preaching and doctrine in the church and the subsequent decline of the culture:
St. Augustine, in the fifth century, in the last gasps of the decadent Roman Empire, mentions parades “in the presence of an immense throng of spectators and listeners of both sexes” of obscene actors who role-played disgusting acts, joined by the public display of homosexual priests, galloi, priests of the Goddess, known for their cross-dressing, outrageous make-up, flamboyant hairstyles, ritual ecstatic dancing, and the gift of prophecy.This is right up JP's alley.
Update on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 11:29PM by
PRCalDude
PRCalDude
Since decline seems to be on the minds of the faculty of Westminster Seminary and many Reformed pulpits, WH Chellis' helpful essay Augustinian Antithesis helps us to understand the relationship between the church and the culture (City of God in the City of Man).
3 Comments
Reader Comments (3)
Great stuff, very interesting...though I rather like my flamboyant hairstyle.
The verse about worshipping the creation rather than the Creator gets me every time. Like the Lewis quote pulled for my blog earlier today...Well, it seems to me at least the creation, with all of its wonders, helps, or should help, us see the Creator. But then that would put a damper on what D'Souza calls the "pelvic rebellion". *sigh*
Fascinating. Could you post a link to an article you linked at Hot Air a fews months back? It was about the demographic decline of ancient Greece and the attendant panic in the ensuing chaos. A Greek philosopher attriubted it to "a decline in morals". If you remember the one I'm talking about.
Aengus, that might have been Spengler I linked to. Hold on.