Throughout my time as a parish pastor, the church has been shrinking. Frankly, it’s dying. I know enough church history to realize that the church has often had its ups and downs. But this time is different. It’s not going to recover. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

The church has actually been in decline for quite a while. The Reformation is usually viewed as a dramatic church renewal effort. Protestants eliminated many church abuses and cleaned up its doctrine and, in response, Roman Catholics did much the same. That was at the ecclesial level.

At the grass roots, however, it introduced an incredible time of chaos. Hundreds of thousands died in the religious wars that followed. The reassuring myth of the church as the singular repository of Truth was shattered by the rise of multiple churches all making that claim. At the same time, the Renaissance and Enlightenment gave increasing support to the view that the human mind was the final arbiter of truth. Autonomous claims to authority, whether by a king, a pope, or the Bible, were increasingly rejected.

As a result, in Europe religious participation began a long, steady decline which has continued to the present day. The new upstart United States resisted this trend, at least for a while. In fact, American churches experienced significant growth after World War II. But starting in the early 1970s, Christian denominations began to shrink. For a while, evangelicals and Roman Catholics seemed to resist this trend. But by the turn of the century, churches were shrinking on nearly all fronts.

All of this has been documented, analyzed, discussed, and agonized over in countless places and by countless authorities. It’s old news. Yet within the church, hope remains. There is still talk of renewal and reform. Most of this talk is about repackaging the product to make it more appealing to our postmodern age. What isn’t understood, though, is that the problem is not with the packaging but with the product itself.

This is why I say, this time is different. People in growing numbers are consciously rejecting traditional Christianity, in whatever form (packaging) it’s presented. And I say that’s a good thing because I believe that orthodoxy, the official Christianity established in the 4^th century with the blessing of the Roman emperor Constantine, has always been a mistake. It’s taken a long time but the evidence is growing and increasingly accepted that traditional church Christianity is both fundamentally wrong and not what Jesus and the earliest Jesus movement were about.

To put it most simply, the mystics got it right and the doctrinal theologians got it wrong. The gospel, the good news message of Jesus, was not about an idea but an experience. The kingdom, Jesus’ metaphor for the presence of God, is not out there somewhere, he said, but all around and within us, here and now. In Mark 1, Jesus declares that this is the good news, that the kingdom is “at hand,” at our fingertips, if only we have the faith to see it.

All this is finally coming into focus, though most in the church, and especially the clergy, haven’t gotten the memo. The story of how this has come about is complicated, of course. But here are some of the reasons Christianity has gotten to this point and why it can’t go back.

1) Rise of medieval mysticism. During the High Middle Ages, a growing number were realizing that life was more than toiling in the fields during the week and going to church on Sunday. The staleness of the church and the despair brought by the plague led to a quest for an experience of God which transcended the church’s rituals and doctrines. The preeminent name from this period is that of Meister Eckhart, who uniquely combined scholarly theology with mystical experience. Rejected by most church authorities, he was welcomed by lay people, especially in his native Germany. His writings, and those of other mystics from the period, then largely disappeared, but not for good.

2) Enlightenment skepticism of Christianity. Starting in earnest in the 17^th century, the church’s long attempt to resist Enlightenment philosophy and science resulted in nothing but mockery and ridicule. As an autocratic institution, the church was increasingly out-of-step with democratic and populist ideals. Science upended many long held religious beliefs and principles. Applying new critical study methods to the Bible and theology exposed gaping holes in their history and content. The church’s domination of Western culture began to unravel.

3) Study of non-Christian religions. The expansion of European empires and the modern spirit of curiosity led to new interest in non-Western cultures, including religion. East Asian religions, especially, began to be investigated for their own sake, rather than to understand how to convert their adherents to Christianity. Religious texts were translated and teachings and practices studied. Christianity began to be seen as just one of the world’s many religions, not fundamentally different from them or necessarily superior.

4) Revival of Christian mysticism.  Dissatisfaction with traditional church Christianity led to renewed interest in its mystical traditions. Its parallels with the Asian non-theistic teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism, soon became apparent. The works of Meister Eckhart and other mystics were translated and published. The result was that someone like the great 19^th century German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, could make the then astonishing claim, “Buddha, Eckhart, and I all teach essentially the same.”

In the 20^th century, mysticism became the subject of serious study in the American William James’ classic, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). In England, Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism (1911) introduced the subject to a general audience. After World War II, the English American and Episcopal priest, Alan Watts (1915-1973), launched a decades-long effort to introduce east Asian philosophy with a Christian accent via books, lectures, radio and TV programs, which are still popular today. Meanwhile, the American Roman Catholic monk, Thomas Merton (1915-1968), popularized through his books the contemplative wisdom and practices of the monastery and their parallels in Zen Buddhism. (And in one of the great ironies of the time, it was the Zen master D.T. Suzuki who introduced Merton to Meister Eckhart.)

5) The Nag Hammadi Library and the Gospel of Thomas. In 1945 near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi, a farmer discovered a buried sealed clay jar containing thirteen volumes of ancient Christian texts. Their burial was likely a 4^th century attempt to save them from destruction by orthodox church authorities who had condemned the texts as heretical. Their discovery sparked new interest in ancient non-orthodox Christian communities. The realization grew that these churches were stronger and more numerous than previously realized and that the development of early Christianity was far more complex than previously believed.

The Gospel of Thomas soon became the “star” text of the collection. It is now widely accepted that it dates from the time of the canonical gospels and presents Jesus as a teacher of wisdom and spiritual truths. Awakening to the reality of God’s presence within and around us is the text’s theme, with no mention of Jesus’ crucifixion or anything like the “Jesus story” that dominates the biblical gospels. Nonetheless, many of its passages have parallels in those gospels. Thomas presents a significantly different picture of Jesus than that found in the New Testament and a growing number have come to find its message more compelling.

6) Decline of voluntary organizations. The loss of church vitality was masked for many years by the attraction people felt for participating in social and service organizations. As the appeal of those groups waned from the 1970s on, those who had little interest in the church’s religious and spiritual offerings began to drift away or not join in the first place. “Belonging” to the church began losing its appeal and significant church membership losses followed.

7) Invention of the Internet. While social media has received much deserved criticism, the creation and growth of the Internet suddenly made vast amounts of information universally available. People could now learn about almost any topic imaginable. It also became possible to easily connect with others anywhere in the world who had similar ideas and concerns. Thus, the church’s weaknesses in both theory and practice became impossible to hide and alternative, non-orthodox viewpoints could easily be found. Online spiritual and religious communities formed through websites, social media, and with the growth of video platforms like YouTube and meeting services like Zoom.

8) Rise of nonsectarian nondual spirituality. In 2000, Oprah Winfrey, through her talk show and magazine, recommended a book called The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Sales skyrocketed into the millions and soon Tolle was a principal voice in a movement that promotes spirituality apart from any specific religion. Others had preceded him, of course, (like Alan Watts and Ram Das), and many soon joined him.

Type phrases like “nondual spirituality” or “unitive awareness” into a search engine and be prepared for a flood of responses. Today there are dozens of English-speaking spirituality writers and speakers with significant followings and recognition. In addition, there are countless people, often young, with YouTube channels and websites addressing much smaller audiences on spiritual topics. Also, a growing number of scientists believe nonduality and the related topic of consciousness are pointing to dramatically new ways of understanding reality. The organization SAND (Science and Nonduality) sponsors conferences and other activities to explore the intersection of science and spirituality.

Books, magazines, websites, YouTube videos, and in-person and online conferences and retreats are all used to spread this spiritual understanding and create communities of people seeking to incorporate into their lives. Many of its teachers and practitioners view the adoption of nondual spirituality as humanity’s best hope for transcending its current multiple crises.

This story is largely unknown and little understood by the vast majority of churchgoers and clergy. A few efforts to inject spiritual and nondual teachings and practices into the church have had modest success. Probably the best known is the Center for Action and Contemplation, founded by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr (who also got a boost from Oprah Winfrey). This ecumenical organization provides teaching and leadership training for the combining of spiritual practice and social renewal efforts.

Following in the footsteps of Thomas Merton, three Trappist monks formulated a simple spiritual practice appropriate for anyone called centering prayer. One of them, Thomas Keating (1923-2018), went on to found an organization to promote it, called Contemplative Outreach, which relates primarily to Roman Catholic communities. An Episcopal priest, Tilden Edwards, founded the Shalem Institute to promote spiritual practices among mainline Protestants.

Beyond these few people and organizations, there are only a smattering of others working to develop a nondual, unitive Christian spirituality. No denomination or significant church leader even recognizes this growing spiritual movement outside the church’s door. Yet there is growing awareness within the church that its traditional message of supposed “good news” that Jesus died for our sins so that by faith we can go to heaven is, frankly, a dead letter, going nowhere in today’s culture. Yet it remains the foundation of the church’s teaching and practice.

The Jesus of John’s gospel makes the bold claim, “I came that people may have life, and have it abundantly.” While in the gospel of Thomas Jesus laments, “The kingdom is spread across the earth but people do not see it.” Unitive or nondual awareness is our spiritual awakening to that kingdom, that divine reality that is all around and within us. It is the discovery of our true nature and liberation from the confusion and suffering of our false self, our ego. It is the experience of what Jesus meant when he said that we have to lose our life in order to find it. It is to know Jesus’ “abundant life.”

Nondual spirituality is a growing movement around the world. It will continue to grow with or without the church’s interest, involvement, or approval. This despite that fact that Jesus, the Bible, and Christian mystics are significant elements of its teaching and practice, along with spiritual writings and teachers from throughout history and around the world.

For it is what Aldous Huxley called “the perennial philosophy,” a tradition of wisdom known across the globe, transcending its religious and cultural divisions. Though often lost or distorted, it has been continually renewed and speaks now to our shrunken and distressed world more poignantly and meaningfully than ever. It shares the hope and vision of Jesus that we all would be one, united in the one Spirit that is our true identity and, in Meister Eckhart’s words, the ground of all being. Eckhart also said, “God is at home. It is we who have gone for a walk.” Spirituality is our path back to our true home and to the God who created us and loves us for all eternity.

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