'When God Talks Back' To The Evangelical Community

[BridgeTheGap]

While attending services and small group meetings at The Vineyard, an evangelical church with 600 branches across the country, anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann noticed that several members of the congregation said God had repeatedly spoken to them and that they had heard what God wanted them to do.

In When God Talks Back, which is based on an anthropological study she did at The Vineyard, Luhrmann examines the personal relationships people developed with God and explores how those relationships were cemented through the practice of prayer.

"The way I think about it as an anthropologist, I don't have the authority to pronounce on whether God is real or whether God is not real," she tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "I don't feel like I have a horse in that race. I don't feel I have the authority to say whether God showed up to somebody or did not. I do think that if God speaks to someone, God speaks to the human mind. And I can say something about the social, cultural and psychological features of what that person is experiencing."

Poll numbers show that more Americans are experiencing God through personal relationships. The Pew Foundation found that nearly a quarter of Americans are what they call "renewalist" Christians, which means they have an interactive sense of God's presence. Another study cited by Luhrmann found that 26 percent of all Americans say they have been given a direct revelation from God.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/26/149394987/when-god-talks-back-to-the-evangelical-community

[cbayer]

1. The terms she uses are understandably vague and could cover a lot of territory.

The effect this study had on the writer's personal perspective are also interesting. She writes this in such a kind and thoughtful way.

Thanks!

[benld74]

2. That percentage DROPPED significantly once they went BACK ON their daily meds,,,,,,

[Geoff R. Casavant]

3. The half-in-jest statement I remember . . .

. . . was that, "I feel led" is pretty much synonymous with "I want to . . . ."

[BridgeTheGap]

4. And remember: George Bush said God told him to invade Iraq.

How in the hell was he able to get away with that!

[trotsky]

5. Four Republicans claimed that god told them to run.

As of yesterday, all four were out of the race.

That god, he's a damn fine troll.