When one examines the spirituality of ancient Christians [say from the first to the eighth centuries], one finds it quite different from the understanding of Christianity in 21st century America. American Christians seem to dwell on private faith, want instant spiritual progress, feel the need for religion to border on entertainment, want a positive approach which tends to ignore repentance, and don t like being told that they may be mistaken [called judgmentalism ]. This difference I like to call American Christianity precisely because it seems to be unique to the United States and not to early Christianity.