This leader’s guide for Martin Thielen’s The Answer to Bad Religion is Not No Religion provides everything needed to facilitate six weekly sessions and provide options based on the needs of your group.
About the Main Book
If you think the only logical response to bad Christianity is to leave Christianity completely, this book is for you. In an effort to help those who’ve been hurt by or turned off by negative religion, Martin Thielen explains that there is an alternative to abandoning religion: good religion.
Thielen uses personal stories to illustrate the dangers of religion that is judgmental, anti-intellectual, and legalistic. While addressing the growth of the new atheism movement and the “Nones” (people that have no religious affiliation), this book argues that leaving religion is not practical, not helpful, and not necessary. Thielen provides counterparts to the characteristics of bad religion, explaining that good religion is grace-filled, promotes love and forgiveness, and is inclusive and hope-filled.
Martin Thielen is author of the best-selling What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian? and The Answer to Bad Religion Is Not No Religion. He frequently writes for MinistryMatters.com, Circuit Rider, and Net Results, among others. He is Senior Pastor of Cookeville United Methodist Church in Cookeville, Tennessee. He offers worship and preaching ideas at www.GettingReadyForSunday.com.
