A couple weeks ago a student sat me down who had served as a counselor for a Christian camp that was committed to teaching high school and college students about a Christian worldview. The manual that she brought with her was a tome, covering everything from literature to archealogy. And of course, it had several sections addressing the rise of post-modernity and the host of issues that the post-modern worldview presents for the Christian.
As I considered the impressive comprehensiveness of this week-long course, I came to something that gave me pause: where was the critique of Modernity?
Many of these Christian worldview courses are put together by baby-boomer Christians who have very strong views about establishing right and wrong--and these folks are deeply disturbed by the post-modern swing of relativism and pluralism and tolerance over and above Truth.
And so many Christian Worldview events that I've been exposed to or have heard of end up being a pep rally for the good ol' days of modernity. But was modernity, with it's arrogant elevation of the human mind and human ability to redeem itself through it's own reason, really that much better in terms of championing a Christian worldview? Let's see...
-Two of the most devastating wars ever in the history of the planet.
-Ecologically disastrous over-development.
-The most comprehensive gutting of the Bible ever, based on what people guided by reason could accept as having actually happened and what couldn't have happened. The perfect example of the arrogance of modernity: the Jesus Seminar folks went through the Bible and color-coded it based on their "rational" view of what Jesus did say or do, what he probably didn't say or do, and what he definitely didn't say or do--like miracles. It would seem to be pretty difficult to have a Christian worldview apart from miracles--like, say, the resurrection.
-The result of this Bible-gutting: the near-extinction of the Christian church in Europe.
So yes, please, let's do a serious evaluation of post-modernity and wade into our culture fully aware of the presuppositions of it and how they conflict with Christianity. But let us not live under the illusion that modernity was the golden age of Christianty. In fact, the Kingdom of God is a third culture altogether--it is neither of modernity nor of post-modernity and yet has aspects of both.
2 comments:
What do you think is the "golden age" of Christianity? By what criteria are you measuring?
Could it be the 1600s reformation wars where Catholics and Protestants alike burned heretics? Or the first few centuries when there was no official dogma and the church leaders voted on orthodoxy? The Crusades Era?
Europe has a reason for its secularism today, it's very, very long history of religious wars. I know a number of very religious Europeans who are very comfortable with that. They feel that religion should be personal, not public. For if its too public, wars occur, no matter the denomination.
Ironically, I think Europe is the closest to the golden age. My criteria being relative peace.
But I digress, if you want things better, then make THIS the golden age of Christianity.
I think the biggest problem with American-style Christianity is its message. It is too violent.
Take the "Christian" movies that we export to Europe. The Passion of the Christ? 'nuf said. I felt like a lone voice in the wilderness complaining about the violence from Disney's Chronicles of Narnia.
What about the American Christians who support Israel simply because of the role Israel is supposed to play in a violent apocalypse? Look at the Left Behind books?
Oh no. The biggest threat to Christianity is neither secularism nor the devil. The biggest threat is and always has been Christians themselves.
To make it better, it needs to denounce its own violence. That would make it much more palatable for the Europeans.
If you were European living in a city where the pograms and heretic burnings occurred, wouldn't you be disgusted by Passion, Narnia, Left Behind, and inciting Middle Eastern violence to bring about the apocalypse?
I am.
a point of clarity - I didn't mean that it is Golden Age of Christianity in Europe because it's "near-extinct". Au contraire. I disagree with the "near-extinct" characterization as factually inaccurate. I know a lot of European Christians. It's just moved from the public to the private arena as its come to terms with the violence it can cause.
re: environmental problems
Europe's doing pretty well, better than the US. But both Europe and the US generally export their environmental problems to other areas, notably for over-logging, over-fishing, over-nitrating the Mississippi basin, etc...
I'd say the main problem, if there actually is a single problem, is overpopulation. Our exploitation of resources exceeds the level the earth's renewal rate.
I would also point out that American-style Christianity has not traditionally been helpful. The Puritan model of Manifest Destiny led us to the point we are today (plus, the reduction of buffalo from 6 million). Furthermore, there is something about a literal Genesis that makes people look the other way to environmental problems.
For instance, Rush Limbaugh in his great book "The Way things Ought to be" argued that because he believed that God created the world in 6 literal days, it is impossible for humanity to destroy the earth. I don't see the logic.
But things are getting better. There is a growing environmental concern among American Christians. That said, the ugliness of Manifest Destiny is pretty entrenched.
Post a Comment