Relocating God with Diana Butler Bass

Aired Thursday, 5 October 2017, 7:00 PM ET

Relocating God with Diana Butler Bass

The headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in America as many people leave behind traditional religious practices. Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics, and culture, follows up her acclaimed book Christianity After Religion by arguing that what appears to be a decline signals a major transformation in how people understand and experience God. The distant God of conventional religion has given way to a more intimate sense of the sacred that is with us in the world. This shift, from a vertical understanding of God to a God found on the horizons of nature and human community, is at the heart of a spiritual revolution that surrounds us – and that is challenging not only religious institutions but political and social ones as well.

In her book Grounded: Finding God in the World, A Spiritual Revolution, Diana Butler Bass explains how and why faith is no longer a matter of mountain top experience or institutional practice; instead, people are finding new spiritual ground by discovering and embracing God everywhere in the world around us—in the soil, the water, the sky; in our homes and neighborhoods; and in the global commons.

About the Guest: Diana Butler Bass

DIANA BUTLER BASS is the author of nine books on American religion, including Christianity After Religion, Christianity for the Rest of Us, and A People’s History of Christianity. She holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Duke University, has taught at the college and graduate level, and is currently an independent scholar. She was a columnist for the New York Times Syndicate, and blogs for the Huffington Post and the Washington Post on issues of religion, spirituality, and culture. Bass is a popular speaker at conferences, colleges and universities, and churches across North America. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband, daughter, and dog.

Website: http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/