For those who have ears to hear! The following quote comes by way of Kendra Creasy Dean in her book, “Almost Christan: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church” (2010), p. 70. Dean was one of the researchers for the “National Study of Youth and Religion.”

“Creeds are articulated beliefs. The theologian William Placher defends the importance of creeds by citing Lionel Trilling:

‘It is probably true that when the dogmatic principle in religion is slighted, religion goes along for awhile on generalized emotion and ethical intention — morality touched by emotion – [but] then it loses the force of Its impulse and even the essence of Its Being…

‘Even if I have a warm personal relationship with Jesus, I also need an account of what’s so special about Jesus to understand why my relationship with him is so important. If I think about dedicating my life to following him, I need an idea about why he’s worth following. Without such accounts and ideas, Christian feeling and Christian behavior start to fade to generalized warm fuzziness and social conventions.'”

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