Protestant pastors should believe in God
Pastors who say they do not believe in the existence of God have no place in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PCN), says Jan-Gerd Heetderks, chairman of the PCN.
Not believing can be a theological language game, “but this is not in the interest of the church attendant”, says Heetderks. Pastors should therefore never say it in that way.
A huge gap between academic and “common” belief is created here - or should we say detected? Strikingly, Heetderks seems to refer to a recent sociological research about the beliefs of pastors in the Netherlands, in which one out of six of the respondents said to doubt the existence of God. This news caused a stir in the religious and secular press, but surprisingly the sociological researchers made no attempt to debunk the confusion. Thus both popular opinion and “common” believers were affirmed in their idea that a 19th-century religious studies image of the sacred is identical with the authentic Christian God. Ironically, this is exactly one of the points of criticism of those pastors who are convinced that the non-existence of God is one of the most sacred things to believe and to share with others. As one of them said to me: “They never ask me what I do believe; what is sacred to me.”
“She who prays hears nothing”. You still got thirteen days to go.
