Those making the case against the church and arguing for reform include:

Helmut Thielicke and his critique of the distance between expressed belief and actual belief.

Hans Kung in his book, Christianity: Essence, History, and Future, (Continuum, 1995) argues that just as Christianity has had several paradigm shifts in its history, now it is time, once again, for another shift.

Charles Freeman attributes the dark ages to the rise of the institutional church.

Gary Pence: Healing Religion's Harm

Reformers have arisen in the past, and doubtless will do so again. As a Lutheran, with that heritage of reform - conservative reform that brought the church back to its origins - I know it can happen again.

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