Article July 7, 1980 Issue

"A question of earnest import"

PATRICIA O'BRIEN

It is Sunday morning. In the United States over one hundred million radio listeners and fourteen million TV viewers are participating in what has been termed "hand-on-the-dial" religion.^{The Christian Century, March 1, 1978;} Sitting at home in front of television or radio sets, they form a vast congregation or "electronic church." Tried and true entertainment and promotional methods supply the techniques to produce slickly packaged presentations. For many people, these programs supply what they feel is a genuine religious experience.

And yet this mass-media approach to worship does raise some questions. Isn't there a danger that manipulative entertainment techniques, emotionalism, charismatic personalities, and hype could obscure the need for individual devotion to the Supreme Being? Might not radio and TV, by their very natures, foster a passive, complacent view of worship? Many Christian churches are worried about these crucial issues.

How important is it for each of us to worship God on a daily, personal basis and to attend church? How should we go about worshiping Him? This is such a significant subject that Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, observes, "It has long been a question of earnest import, How shall mankind worship the most adorable, but most unadored,—and where shall begin that praise that shall never end?"^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 106;}

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"A question of earnest import"

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access