Reddit mentions of Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind

I’m currently reading this book.

Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UQYA12M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UzLmDb4WR346H

It’s really good. Right up the ally of someone in your situation

First and foremost, realize that they will be in human in their response, in all of their flawed and weird and emotional ways.

In my experience, you will likely come across Christians in many different stages of journey of knowledge and understanding. Some may be very defensive, others may be more open. My advice is to understand what is driving their defensiveness and then you can get them to be more open and thoughtful, which is the point of SE.

Realize that their livelihood and/or their families are tied to maintaining their belief, and you coming in to ask hard questions puts that at risk. Take a look at Daniel Dennet's book, Caught in the Pulpit, to understand the strain this can put on them. https://www.amazon.com/Caught-Pulpit-Leaving-Belief-Behind-ebook/dp/B00UQYA12M/

You may be surprised to find that many may be more open and "liberal" in their theology that their churches. It depends on how much and what they studied in seminary. But many of the things that they learned, they cant share from the pulpit without getting fired. So they may appreciate being able to talk to you about it, but you may still represent a threat if you were to blab to others in the congregation. In the end, you may also discover how they manage the cognitive dissonance for things in Christianity that just don't make logical sense. Of course, the reason isn't that its all false, it's because its beyond our understanding. /s

I had one person describe it as "transrational". Not that it is irrational, just that it is beyond rationality.

Just realize that your SE approach may face an uphill battle, when so much is at stake for them. That isn't to say that it isn't worth the effort. I agree wholeheartedly in what you are attempting to do. Just go into it understanding the emotional stakes, and don't forget to address those, or at least help them realize the emotional stakes that may be clouding their judgement.

edit: I forgot to mention to look out for those who approach it from the realization that saying anything to convince you to join the church will increase their own paycheck if you join and start giving. This is their livelihood, so I have seen preachers adopt different theological positions depending on what they think the other person wants, as long as you join their church.

I'm reading a great book called Caught in the Pulpit. This book disccuses the research from Daniel Dennett an Linda LaScola on atheists/agnostics who used to be clergy. Its fascinating in its own right and replete with deconversion stories that I personally can't get enough of.

One aspect of the book I am enjoying is the discussion of liberal clergy or as you put it "sophisticated" Christians. Essentially, what happens is a clergy member will drift over time from a fundamentalist theological position toward a more liberal theological position for a variety of reasons. This liberal theological position can be expressed as:

• the ability to incorporate scientific facts into your theology
  
• likely to see scripture as more metaphorical/allegories than straight up history.
  
• generally less supernatural based
  
  
  There are other points but these are the big ones that I can recall.
  
  My guess is that liberal or 'sophisticated' Christians are abandoning supernaturalism and biblical literalism while incorporating scientific facts into their theology so that they can remain Christian with less of the "baggage" that comes from a fundamentalist position.
  
  For me, I'm sort of torn. I like religious people who move away from fundamentalist position to liberal positions that allow them to be more humane. BUT it can seem a bit dishonest at times. For instance, these 'sophisticated' Christians attempt to take a 1st - 2nd-century Bible and try to interpret it to reflect their 21st-century morality and ethics.
  
  But check out my book recommendation! It tackles your question head on and give you much more to go on!
  
  Edit: formatting and reworded sentences for clarity