All Is Forgiven

Americans in recent years have seen the appearance of brochures enumerating the social and psychological advantages of attending the Protestant Church - with no mention whatsoever of spirituality or faith in God. This study explores how new ideals have reshaped Protestant thinking.

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In recent years mail deliveries have included a new kind of invitation to Protestant Christianity: slick brochures enumerating the social and psychological advantages of church attendance--with no mention whatsoever of spiritual striving, suffering, or faith in God. Does this kind of secularity prevail not only in direct-mail Christianity but also in mainline Protestant churches? Finding the sermon to be the centerpiece of Protestant worship, Marsha Witten looks for the answer to this question in an in-depth analysis of preaching on an important New Testament text: the Parable of the Prodigal Son.