Therapeutic Deism MTD Professor James Dalziel Dean of Education Morling College amp Professor University of Divinity jamesdmorlingeduau Moralistic Therapeutic Deism MTD coined by Christian Smith to describe common religious beliefs among US teenagers ID: 632043
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Slide1
Reflections on
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD)
Professor James DalzielDean of Education, Morling College & Professor, University of Divinityjamesd@morling.edu.auSlide2
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
“MTD” coined by Christian Smith to describe common religious beliefs among (US) teenagers
A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go
to heaven when they die. Slide3
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
“[God is] something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he's always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the
process”MTD a “parasitic faith” attached to a range of religious beliefs (not just Christianity), but “Christian MTD” is a version of itSimilar ideas common among adults – teenagers similar to adults in this kind of thinking about religion.
For a
good summary, see
http://adam4d.com/mtd
/
and articles at the end of these slides.Slide4
Why MTD? (from Adam4D)
Why Moralistic
Therapeutic Deism?Moralistic: We should be good, moral people. Not born-again followers of Jesus Christ – just, you know, “Good people”Therapeutic: The goal of this religion is to provide therapeutic benefits to its adherents. Not to worship, adore and obey the living God. God wants us to feel good about ourselves and to have high self-esteem.Deism: God exists and created the world, but then just
kinda
leaves us alone until we need him to fix a problem or provide us with something.Slide5
Smith on MTD
“This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of sovereign divinity, of steadfastly saying one's prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God's love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, et cetera. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other
people.”Slide6
Mohler on MTD
“This radical transformation of Christian theology and Christian belief replaces the sovereignty of God with the sovereignty of the self. In this therapeutic age, human problems are reduced to pathologies in need of a treatment plan. Sin is simply excluded from the picture, and doctrines as central as the wrath and justice of God are discarded as out of step with the times and unhelpful to the project of self-actualization
.”Slide7
Mohler on MTD
“religion should be centered in being "nice” –a
posture that many believe is directly violated by assertions of strong theological conviction.”Slide8
Mohler on MTD
“We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our
missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible…. We now face the challenge of evangelizing a nation that largely considers itself Christian, overwhelmingly believes in some deity, considers itself fervently religious, but has virtually no connection to historic Christianity.”Slide9
JKA Smith on MTD & practices
“there can be a gap between how we act and how we think about how we act. That doesn't mean we might not be disappointed on both counts, but it should alert us that measuring what young people
say is, at best (at best), only a measure of what they think…. What is really needed is the education of their loves, and that …takes practice: it takes the ethos of a community with embodied rituals and practices that inscribe virtue--not just the intellectual capacity to parse some moral dilemma, but the
wants
that pull us toward ends that are
good… And such virtue is caught more than it is taught; it is absorbed more than it is deduced”Slide10
Kenda Dean on MTD
Four problems of MTD:MTD reduces Christian ethics to being nice
MTD is all about me and my comfort and happinessMTD cannot withstand “shipwreck”MTD offers few resources for hopeSolutions? (for churches)
A return to robust Bible teaching
Move away from a self-focused Christian life
Slide11
MTD and Christian Education
Key words may mean different things to MTD students (God, heaven, sin, prayer, happiness, purpose)Need to listen afresh to what
students are really sayingExclusive religious claims (eg, Jesus is the only way) conflict with MTD ideologyMTD religion is about being “nice”; exclusivity = conflictMTD is weak on hard times (“shipwreck”)Addressing MTD is not just a cognitive issueEncouraging acts of service (“practice”) may be key
MTD is common among adults, not just students
Implications for
the spiritual development of staff
Slide12
MTD Resources
Best general summary:http://adam4d.com/mtd/
Main academic summary (better than book): https://www.ptsem.edu/uploadedFiles/School_of_Christian_Vocation_and_Mission/Institute_for_Youth_Ministry/Princeton_Lectures/Smith-Moralistic.pdf Kenda Dean on MTDhttp://kendadean.com/moralistic-therapeutic-deism
/
Albert
Mohler
on MTD
ht
tp://www.christianpost.com/news/moralistic-therapeutic-deism-the-new-american-religion-6266
/
JKA Smith on MTD
and Brooks’ “The Social Animal”
http://forsclavigera.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/contradictions-of-david-
brooks.html