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Relationship between social change and religious change
Relationship between social change and religious change
Relationship between religion and social change
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established church could be defined as post-Christian (ibid). Therefore, countries like Denmark and The United Kingdom can be described as post-Christian meaning that the majority of the population in these countries used to, but no longer identify as being Christian. Furthermore, I echo Paas’ (2011:10) important distinction that a post-Christian society is not a synonym for a secular society. This is because a country may be secular, but not necessarily post-Christian or even non-religious. Habermas et al (2008:21) takes the position that in a post-secular society, religion still maintains a public influence and relevance, whilst the secularisation thesis assumption that religion will disappear through modernisation is tentative. Post-Christian societies describe a particular era of the secularisation process and thus could be applied to the United Kingdom where non-religion is rapidly increasing and Christianity is changing. Secularisation is understood here as a de-institutionalisation. However, other societies and countries like Estonia that are further in the process of secularisation and as such would not be considered a Christian country may not be best fitted.
One of the best clarifications can be found nearly four decades ago from Alan Gilbert. Gilbert (1980: ix) defines a post-Christian society as, ‘not one from which Christianity has departed, but one in which it has become marginal. It is a society where to be irreligious is to be normal, where to
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‘That historians of the future will look back at our time-the post-post-Christian world and the post-secularist society-as an era when man [or woman], at least western man, had acquired freedom and abundance by leaving behind the gemeinschaft world and moving into the technological gesellschaft world; then man determined that it was humanly and psychologically possible to have the best of both, to combine the freedom and affluence of a technological society with the warmth and fellowship of a tribal
By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The Anglican Church was the only established denomination in England. In contrast, the colonies supported a great variety of churches. The largest were the Congregationalist, Anglican, and German churches, but many smaller denominations could be found through the colonies. In addition to this, a high percentage of Americans didn’t belong to any church. These differences could be attributed to the fact that many of the Europeans who immigrated to America didn’t fit in to or agree with the churches in their homelands.
In Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcy's essay, "Worldviews in Conflict," the authors evaluate the shifting culture context of today's society and how Christianity fits into this situation. The essay compares the differing views between Christianity and today's worldview, and informs the reader on how to engage today's culture. "Worldviews in Conflict" is a reliable source because its authors, audience, publication, and purpose make it
To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another, and do not live alone — to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone:
The following three articles examine the different effects secularization has had on society. Firstly, Swezey & Ross (2012) discuss what potential implications secularization may have on faculties’ perception of religious institutions who appear to be abandoning its religious mission to bolster academic creditability. On a similar note, Stallones (2011) discusses the implications that secularization has on the development of progressive educators. The takeaway of this article is that progressive educators need to be reminded that education should be student-centered. Stallone states: “[T]his value arose from a conviction each child has dignity, which in turn has its roots in the theological concept [. . .] that people have intrinsic value because they bear the image of God. [. . .] that the school is a community derives from the ecclesiological idea that the Church is actually an expression of the Body of Christ” (p.
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity written by Philip Jenkins looks over religion as a whole in the future. Philip Jenkins was a Distinguished Professor of History in 1973 and was the Co-Director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion, he has studied the Bible and the Quran. The main religion being Christianity, as it flows South to other countries such as Central America and southern Asia and Africa. Jenkins also covers “The Rise of Christianity” where he predicts that it will increase in the coming years. The world would be moving from secularism to non-secular as the Northern states and countries are urbanized. The Southern countries are not urbanized, they believe in the practice of spirituality. In the Next Christendom, Jenkins also predicted that there will be a big population growth in the next coming years as Christianity spreads. Christianity as a whole can be adapted to many different cultures, as it is not as strict as many other religions such as Muslims. In other religions you would have to be
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
For more than a century, the concept of secularism and its boundaries has been widely disputed by secularists and non-secularists alike. English dictionaries define secularism as simply the separation of church and state, or, the separation of religion and politics. Michael Walzer, a true secularist, believes that this separation is an essential democratic value and ultimately fosters toleration of a plurality of religions (Walzer, p. 620). Wæver, an opponent of secularism, defines secularism as “a doctrine for how society ought to be designed”– that religion and politics ought to be divided in order to ensure religious liberty, as well as religious-free politics. However, he does not deem that such a principle exists (Wæver, p. 210). Based on these different viewpoints, I have established a unique concept of secularism: the principle that religion and politics be kept apart, that the state remains neutral in regard to religion, and that liberty, equality, and fraternity be upheld in an attempt to successfully promote religious toleration and pluralism.
Eck, Diana L. A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print
...e, vague topics. The disunity made the Church too unstable to continue possessing political power and so the State became the head of politics, and now we have separation of Church and State, which is renders this time “a secular Western culture” (Powell 6).
Martin, Glenn Richards. "Chapter 8-13." Prevailing Worldviews of Western Society since 1500. Marion, IN: Triangle, 2006. 134+. Print.
I must say that I learned a lot from this class both through the readings and through class discussion. I really, honestly do not have anything that I starkly disagreed with in either. I found it all to be very valuable information for me and this class was extremely helpful in assisting me to better understand the current paradigm shift the church is going through. There are three take-a-ways in particular that helped me to better understand the post modern shift in the church and my role as a minister in this changing paradigm. The first take-a-way is the understanding that there is a shift occurring towards focusing more on the congregational life of the church with more attention on the laity and its formation. Second, is how to plan, as a church and as pastors, to adjust to this shift towards congregational life and how to be better prepared as a postmodern church to be relevant in this changing time. Lastly, I received a better way of explaining the meaning of what truth is in this post modern time.
Ideology, Knowledge and the escalation of new ideas led to a better life and society that made positive impacts on Western Civilizations. There were many idea’s that were explored and implement into the daily lives of the people and for the most part it turned out to be a good impact. Although there were some bad ideas that caused suffering to the society at the time. They learned from what they witnessed and created something that would work better for the most part. In this essay I am going to use some primary sources that support my idea that society benefited from the new “ideas” but I will also use an example to explain how it caused a negative impact too.
The social construct of humanity is a very delicate and complex piece of art. The creators of this construct are the ever-growing force of technology and its consequences, which manipulate the human race. “Alone Together”, by Sherry Turkle, tackles the authenticity of human interactions by using technology and whether the consequences have debilitated mankind to socialize amongst themselves without technology. As the creators of their destiny, however, humans have a tendency to deconstruct what is before them and in its place create a new world, which holds infinite possibilities. If technology is the architect of human intimacies then humans are the builders of their own universes, and the consequences are not due to the change of technology
The acquisition of knowledge and the retrogression from man’s natural state are both characteristics of modernity in Western civilization. Writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, and Fyodor Dostoevsky offer criticisms regarding the implications of these changes according to their respective historical contexts. Despite the continued progress of man since these contexts, the arguments these writers pose are still applicable today. Each offers a different perspective to be critically considered. Their accounts suggest that the burdens of inequality, oppression, and distancing man from his natural state accompany the perpetuation of progress, causing the authors to overdramatize modernity as a prelude to imminent social or political reform according to their various observations of man.
“ As the first civilization to modernize, the West is the first to have fully acquired the culture of modernity.”