Faith deconstruction, also known as deconstructing faith, evangelical deconstruction, the deconstruction movement, or simply deconstruction, is a phenomenon where people unpack, rethink and examine their belief systems. This may lead to dropping one's faith all together or may result in a stronger faith. There is no end goal for deconstruction.

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coined the term for the process he was experiencing when leaving the church. The word is adapted from the writing of Jacques Derrida. It is closely related to the

exvangelical Exvangelical is a social movement of people who have left evangelicalism, especially white evangelical churches in the United States, for atheism, agnosticism, progressive Christianity, or any other religious belief, or lack thereof. The hash ...

movement.

Description

The term can have a range of meanings. Alisa Childers defines deconstruction as "the process of systematically dissecting and often rejecting the beliefs you grew up with." Tyler Huckabee, writing for ''

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'' magazine, defines it as "a process of re-examining the faith you grew up with." John Stonestreet and Timothy Padgett note that it is used both descriptively (covering everything from the deconversion of

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, through the soul searching of

Derek Webb Derek Walsh Webb (born May 27, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter who first entered the music industry as a member of the band Caedmon's Call, and later embarked on a successful solo career. As a member of the Houston, Texas-based Caedmon's C ...

, to the theological revisions of Jen Hatmaker and

Rob Bell Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest ...

), or prescriptively ("recommended, especially to those questioning what they’ve grown up with, as a ''courageous'' thing to do"). There is broad agreement that the term is derived from Jacques Derrida's philosophical concept of deconstruction. Notable advocates of faith deconstruction include internet comedy duo Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal (who published multiple podcast episodes detailing their spiritual deconstruction), John D. Caputo (who in 2007 wrote ''What Would Jesus Deconstruct?: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church''), and

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. Prominent former Christians who underwent deconstruction include Joshua Harris (who briefly offered a course on deconstruction), Abraham Piper, and Marty Sampson. As of February 2022 there were 293,026 posts on Instagram utilizing the hashtag #deconstruction.

Responses

After preaching a sermon in which he equated deconstruction with leaving the faith, Matt Chandler clarified that it "doesn’t mean doubt or theological wrestle or struggling through church hurt." John Cooper has stated, "It is time that we declare war against this deconstruction Christian movement... There is nothing Christian about it. It is a false religion." On the other hand, Tyler Huckabee argues that it can result in "deconversion", or "in your faith looking more or less the same it always did" but "most often, it's somewhere in between—rethinking the things you’ve always believed and coming to a new, different understanding of parts of it." Huckabee goes on to suggest that

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

's own theological revolution "fits into the paradigm of what researchers would call deconstruction today."

Criticism of the term

Carl Trueman Carl R. Trueman (born 1967) is a Christian theologian and ecclesiastical historian. He was Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he held the Paul Woolley Chair of Church History. In 2018 T ...

, argues that the "(mis)use of the Derridean d-word gives the whole a specious veneer of intellectualism and a certain superannuated postmodern chic."

Description

Responses

Criticism of the term

See also

References

Further reading