Great article. It reminded me of a discussion I had on this app a few months ago, with a Greek Orthodox guy over whether or not Orthodox Christianity is a “masculine” faith:
As a counter argument, there is a problem in Evangelical Christianity that leaves men feeling unsatisfied to a greater degree than women. The common trope is that Christian housewives have to drag their husbands to church or go without them.
Orthodoxy isn’t a “masculine church” in the sense that it excludes the feminine, but it is masculine in that it allows men to spiritually engage with their faith in a way that appeals to their manly sensibilities.
Men want a God that loves them, but they don’t want wimpy boyfriend Jesus. Go in a nondenominational megachurch and that’s the kind of Jesus you’re going to find. Men want great leaders to follow and serve. They want to worship Jesus Christ as their God and king. Contemporary evangelical Christianity does not really offer anything like this.
That brings up an interesting point. I remember, long ago, before Mark Shea went crazy, him talking about how muscular and masculine evangelicalism is compared to Catholicism, sort of feminine, receptive form of Christianity. It rang true to me. I did admire how the protestants Seemed more likely to hoist a crusader flag, and go into a spiritual battle.
But now, it seems like that form of masculine Christianity is at best a “cope,” as the kids say. It’s all the external hallmarks of masculinity, but none of the real transformative internal rigor that we truly respond to.
An Orthodox friend of mine had a good takedown of “muscular Christianity” that I don’t remember (I’ll have to pry back out of him sometime). My reckoning is just that it’s not 1900 anymore, and the Teddy Roosevelt archetype is no longer common enough to represent any actual group of people. The guts cowboy church stuff feels like guys at the end of their rope trying to preserve a masculine Protestant identity.
I mean no offense to Protestants, I just don’t think they have all the tools they need in their arsenal to effectively wage this war. It’s not like Orthodox guys are all dripping with testosterone, but the Church does give them a way to engage with their faith in an intuitive, learn-by-doing kind of way. It’s a church where guys can drag their wives inside and not always the other way around.
We have lots of young men coming into our parish. Lots of them are big guys. We’re thinking of starting a football team. We already have an offensive line and defensive line and a few linebackers and a Samoan guy who can play quarterback.
Great article. It reminded me of a discussion I had on this app a few months ago, with a Greek Orthodox guy over whether or not Orthodox Christianity is a “masculine” faith:
As a counter argument, there is a problem in Evangelical Christianity that leaves men feeling unsatisfied to a greater degree than women. The common trope is that Christian housewives have to drag their husbands to church or go without them.
Orthodoxy isn’t a “masculine church” in the sense that it excludes the feminine, but it is masculine in that it allows men to spiritually engage with their faith in a way that appeals to their manly sensibilities.
Men want a God that loves them, but they don’t want wimpy boyfriend Jesus. Go in a nondenominational megachurch and that’s the kind of Jesus you’re going to find. Men want great leaders to follow and serve. They want to worship Jesus Christ as their God and king. Contemporary evangelical Christianity does not really offer anything like this.
💯
That brings up an interesting point. I remember, long ago, before Mark Shea went crazy, him talking about how muscular and masculine evangelicalism is compared to Catholicism, sort of feminine, receptive form of Christianity. It rang true to me. I did admire how the protestants Seemed more likely to hoist a crusader flag, and go into a spiritual battle.
But now, it seems like that form of masculine Christianity is at best a “cope,” as the kids say. It’s all the external hallmarks of masculinity, but none of the real transformative internal rigor that we truly respond to.
An Orthodox friend of mine had a good takedown of “muscular Christianity” that I don’t remember (I’ll have to pry back out of him sometime). My reckoning is just that it’s not 1900 anymore, and the Teddy Roosevelt archetype is no longer common enough to represent any actual group of people. The guts cowboy church stuff feels like guys at the end of their rope trying to preserve a masculine Protestant identity.
I mean no offense to Protestants, I just don’t think they have all the tools they need in their arsenal to effectively wage this war. It’s not like Orthodox guys are all dripping with testosterone, but the Church does give them a way to engage with their faith in an intuitive, learn-by-doing kind of way. It’s a church where guys can drag their wives inside and not always the other way around.
Bingo.
We have lots of young men coming into our parish. Lots of them are big guys. We’re thinking of starting a football team. We already have an offensive line and defensive line and a few linebackers and a Samoan guy who can play quarterback.
Boom. Front-line warriors and and offensive line!