{"product_id":"almost-christian-what-the-faith-of-our-teenagers-is-telling-the-american-church-9780195314847","title":"Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church","description":"Based on the National Study of Youth and Religion--the same invaluable data as its predecessor, \u003cem\u003eSoul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers\u003c\/em\u003e--Kenda Creasy Dean's compelling new book, \u003cem\u003eAlmost Christian\u003c\/em\u003e, investigates why American teenagers are at once so positive about\u003cbr\u003eChristianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003cem\u003eSoul Searching\u003c\/em\u003e, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that American teenagers have embraced a Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. But far from faulting teens, Dean places\u003cbr\u003ethe blame for this theological watering down squarely on the churches themselves. Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy to forget, offering little and demanding less. But what is to be\u003cbr\u003edone? In order to produce ardent young Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission and model an understanding of being Christian as not something you do for yourself, but something that calls you to share God's love, in word and deed, with others. Dean found that the\u003cbr\u003emost committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful story about God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach\u003cbr\u003eto Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePersuasively and accessibly written, \u003cem\u003eAlmost Christian\u003c\/em\u003e is a wake up call no one concerned about the future of Christianity in America can afford to ignore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKenda Creasy Dean\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture, at Princeton Theological Seminary. She worked on the National Study of Youth and Religion and is the author of several books, including \u003cem\u003eThe Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending in Youth Ministry\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ePracticing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50555997716754,"sku":"9780195314847","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e0887206-a359-49fa-918e-1e1153ff4c45.jpg?v=1731746611","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/almost-christian-what-the-faith-of-our-teenagers-is-telling-the-american-church-9780195314847","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}