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@ 03/04/2008 – 07:36:30
A UCLA study finds that while attendance at religious services decreases dramatically for most students between their freshman and junior years, the students' overall level of spirituality, as defined by the researchers, increases. read the excellent article here
rcorner
philipedwards
Just a correction to your comment. The study was done by UCLA not the Templeton Foundation. The Templeton Foundation gave a grant 6 years ago before the study was undertaken. UCLA is one of the most respected institutions in the academic world and I personally don't think they would let their reputation be sullied by letting a funder influence the study.
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Hi everyone
Some quick thoughts............
Interesting study Philip. And it does have an important message for legacy church dynamics.
But of course it's a study done by a humanist, anti-evangelical organisation, the Templeton Foundation (started by Templeton, who was an evangelist with Billy Graham, but subsequently backslid and renounced Chridstian faith altogether)
Here's an extract:
"The study found that nearly three-of-four students who are now juniors agreed that "most people can grow spiritually without being religious." That's up 12 percent from when these students were freshmen.
"I think you have to realize that we have, on the one hand, the students' individual faiths and practices, and on the other hand, their viewpoints about students who might follow a different faith or no faith. To us, this is a positive finding in the sense that students display a good deal of tolerance for differing approaches to religion and spirituality on the part of their peers. In other words, they're not imposing their own standards upon their fellow beings."
........"We have organizations like the National Council of Churches and other worldwide religious organizations that try to think about how to enhance understanding across different religions and faiths. Looking ahead to the condition of the world down the road, one would hope that this kind of understanding and tolerance would increase with time. That, of course, may not fit certain belief systems, but I think, on balance, that it's reassuring to see that the college experience is associated with an increase in this kind of tolerance and understanding of the other."
In other words what the authors of the study are equating with spiritual growth is willingness to embrace idolatry eg worship Hindu or new age "gods". They are seeing Jesus claim of being the only way to the father as a bad thing, and his followers who embrace his claim as being "religious, not spiritual".
When these people are talking about "spiritual growth" they are talking about an entirely different thing from a Biblical concept of spiritual growth. Biblical spiritual growth would include things such as increase in righteousness and respect for life. But the study makes it clear that the students, who ar experiencing this alleged spiritual growth, typically display more liberal attitudes to, for example, abortion and othre sins.
Now we know that Jesus loves everyone and can forgive anything - but this is an entirely different type of compassion from the counterfeit compassion of the Templeton Foundation. Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and was therefore filled with joy above all his companions - the pre-condition of His forgiveness is repentance. And it's only as a result of repentance that real spiritual growth can occur.