The Juvenalization of American Christianity

Mortification of Spin

Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

Religion & Spirituality

4.4 • 853 Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

Join us in this enlightening episode as Todd and Carl welcome Thomas Berger, a distinguished professor of ministry and missions at Huntingdon University, to discuss his insightful book, The Juvenilization of American Christianity. What exactly is “juvenalization?” Juvenilization is the process by which the beliefs, traits, developmental characteristics of adolescence become normative or celebrated for people of all ages. – Thomas Bergler Delve into the fascinating exploration of how youth ministry has shaped the modern church, its unintended consequences, and the cultural shift towards therapeutic faith. Discover the historical roots of adolescence, the impact of pop culture on spirituality, and the importance of intergenerational worship. If you are interested in the evolution of church practices and the future of faith communities, be sure to tune in. Thanks to the generosity of Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, we are pleased to offer three copies of Thomas Bergler’s book to our listeners. Enter here for the opportunity to win one. Show Notes: Books by Thomas Bergler: The Juvenalization of American Christianity From Here to Maturity: Overcoming the Juvenilization of American Christianity Recommended by Thomas Bergler: Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Mortification of Spin, a casual conversation about things that count with Carl Truman and Todd Pruitt, a podcast of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
0:29.2	Let's join this week's conversation.
0:31.6	Thank you. Well, you are listening to Mortification of Spin. My name is Todd Pruitt. I'm the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
0:56.8	And I'm joined, as always, by my friend and co-host, Carl Truman, of Grove City College in Western
1:02.5	Pennsylvania. Carl, great to see you. Good to see you, too, Todd. You and I were both in
1:07.9	Savannah, Georgia recently, but I didn't get to see you. I had to leave before you got there.
1:11.9	No, I gather you carefully avoided me. You left just hours before I arrived. Exactly. I've heard this guy's schick so many times. No, I had wanted to see you, but couldn't be there. But this was the first time I'd ever been in Savannah in the fall. I've
1:28.6	always been in Savannah in July and August. I like it better in the fall. It was very beautiful.
1:33.2	The weather was lovely. For bald guys, it's always a bit rough. I have to take a hat everywhere
1:38.5	I go these days. But Savannah was very beautiful. It was great. The only downside is I had to spend
1:43.4	time with Terry Johnson.
1:45.1	Right.
1:45.7	This program religiously, I know.
1:47.4	Other than that, it was a great weekend.
1:49.7	Absolutely. Well, our guest today is Thomas Berger.
1:54.4	Professor Berger is the Professor of Ministry and Missions at Huntington University in Indiana.
1:59.3	And he's written a really fine book that I read with great interest.
2:04.6	It's called the Juvenalization of American Christianity.
2:08.6	And I read it with great interest, not only because I'm interested in 20th century church history,
2:13.6	but because he writes very well about the development of youth ministry.
2:21.4	And that's not the entire topic of the book, but he helps to kind of show the impact of
2:29.3	youth ministry on churches, both its renewal and the positive impact, but also some of those unintended
	...

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