Evolution

Now we arrive at the heart of my argument, or at least what I hope will be the heart of my argument.
The greatest problem in the Church, and especially in theology, is that it refuses to evolve. I don't mean to suggest the Church ought to radically alter its stance or go the way of popular opinion. The Church does need to have a position, and it needs to be an anchor of sorts for Christians. Truth, as we understand it, does not change, which is something the Church very much holds on to.
But therein lies the problem. I don't mean we need to take a "survival of the fittest" approach to intellectual or spiritual ventures, but we need to be flexible. It is incredibly arrogant to assume that we know all truth, in the first place, and in the second, if we actually wish to learn the truth, we must be open to it. As society is evolving, so is our understanding of the world. Something like the concept of "two natures, one person" or "three persons, one nature" may have made sense to ancient Christians, but it means nothing to us today, while on the other hand we have a much more expansive understanding of the universe than did first-century Christians. 
Of course here we have an obvious conflict. On one hand, Christianity must be based in something, in a faith in Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Savior that has existed for nearly 2000 years. On the other hand, we cannot hold onto this faith blindly and dismiss all other facts about the world we live in. Some men and women, especially in the sciences, hold these two things in tension somehow, but there is something truly disingenuous about believing on Sunday that the world was built in seven days only a few thousand years ago and believing the rest of the week that the universe is billions of years old. 
It is my opinion that Christianity needs to do two things: First, it needs to re-evaluate its tenets of faith and decide which doctrines and dogmas are really necessary to be "Christian" and which are merely appendages. This should be done with real seriousness and an attempt to root out any dogma that stands as purely polemic. Second, Christianity needs to find a way to incorporate our new understanding of truth in a way that is meaningful and life-giving.
I think most Christian dogmas are appendages. Even the Chalcedonian Creed (Nicaean Creed) has superfluous material in it, including "consubstantial with the Father." We need a bare-bones set of doctrines which will probably include the Incarnation, the moral truth of the Bible, the virgin birth, and probably a few other things. We will have to work hard to take out needless dogmas like the infallibility of the pope or even apostolic succession.
Then, we will have the more difficult task of integrating our newer understandings of the world into this faith. Of course faith includes things such as miracles, so understanding biology does not negate God's ability to be made flesh through a virgin. However, we can understand the universe as created by God over time, and the creation of humans as being a process of evolution. We can understand our biological drives and instincts as natural and God-given while insisting that Christians need to live to a higher standard of living.
Better yet, we can finally fully integrate a notion of God's created goodness that requires our care in environmental ethics. We can understand that sex not simply biological, but also psychological and spiritual. We can understand our place in the universe as unique, since we are the only intelligent beings we are aware of within the vastness of the universe. 
We need to evolve as a faith. At this time in our history, the main focus of Christian leaders seems to be in disagreeing with each other over whether we're persecuting the marginalized enough, following the naturalistic fallacy enough, or reciting the awkward English translation of a Latin rite correctly. The aspects of our faith that were supposed to be nurturing and life-giving have become a source of conflict, and the main Christian theme of meekness and humility is nowhere to be seen. Nuns are being condemned for performing the works of mercy, bishops are preaching against the right for two people to marry and nobody is taking responsibility for the real sin of child abuse. There is very little that is Christian going on within the Catholic Church, and many Protestant churches are just as bad. 
Imagine, then, if we admitted that the beatitudes are more important than Augustine's "Let Nuns Go Out in Groups of Three," or that the love command had priority over Row v Wade. It seems that Christianity is either maintaining a neutral or a negative influence on society--there is not much done in terms of love or mercy or kindness, but much done in the way of argumentation and strife. Jesus commands us to build up the Kingdom of God, but at this time, it seems like the Kingdom will have to wait for Jesus' return. As long as we are stuck in the old dogmas of the past, we cannot embrace the true essence of Christianity.
But, dear reader, don't believe that this is only a case of the corrupt hierarchy vs the enlightened faithful. If I have learned anything over the last two years while studying theology, it is that theologians are often times the least Christian people in the Church. I am probably as guilty of this as any, but I have noticed so many times that professors who teach theology are often less inclined to be merciful and more inclined to try to force your own belief than any other professor. 
With this I leave you with my own conundrum, which I believe is relevant to all the faithful (though I say that with a sense of the irony of such a proud statement). I am to be starting my PhD in ethics in a few months. At this point in my life, however, I am not sure if I want to be involved in the largely un-Christian enterprise that is studying theology. I am afraid that I will lose faith as I continue to study and find fewer and fewer true Christians as colleagues. I am afraid that I will become discouraged and bitter, and that I will become obsessed with asserting my own voice over finding the truth. Indeed, I can see that I do that now. But this is much like the task required of Christians in helping the Church evolve. It may be easier to maintain one's true Christian identity by avoiding the arguments and disputes that surround Christianity today, but at the same time, the Church needs people who are willing to stand as voices.
I do not offer you a solution to this problem here. I merely pose it to you, the reader. Do you stay in the Church to make a difference while risking the corrosive effects of intellectual and spiritual battle with your fellow Christians, or do you abandon the Church in order to avoid the seemingly unimportant conflict and miss an opportunity to make a difference for the better?