R.R. Reno, "After Establishment," First Things, Nov 2011: 5-6.
"The Church's power lies in her universal gospel message, not in whatever institutional power she temporarily manages to acquire and that she holds precariously at the permission of others....
"We live, as many have said, after Christendom. Our age is secular.... With the loss of the status and influence [of the church]... comes an opportunity to engage the city of man in a new way. ...
"It's not so much Christianity that will carry weight in the public square as Christians, faithful men and women whose moral and social ideals are shaped and formed by the Church. Today, it is what the churches bear witness to, what their pastors say from their pulpits and their people say in their lives, that will ensure Christianity's continued influence in modern secular society - and perhaps expand, deepen, and refine that influence."
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