The Rise of Secularism, Atheism, Science and Self - Cultural Review
This is a bit of a longer revue as it covers a lot of ideas as the title suggests.
I have heard many people mourn the fall of Christendom like the world was a Christian kingdom that is no more. I do mourn certain aspects of this, but I cannot and will not claim that the world or even a part of the world lived in Christ’s Kingdom. I don’t think anyone else would really try to do that, but sometimes we mourn as if that is the case. We struggle with the rise of atheists/secularism and the way in which Christ is no longer guiding our culture and principles. I would argue that Jesus Christ is still guiding our world with a gentle loving hand. I would also argue that this level of secularism and atheism has always existed and has had a powerful hand trying to tip the scales in trying to overthrow God, but God cannot be overthrown.
The one thing that I mourn most from the time when Christianity was its most “culturally influential” is Christian education. I believe, like C.S. Lewis and many others before me, that goodness, love, Godly morality, humility, etc. do not come naturally. We need to, as Paul says, “beat our bodies into submission”; he does not literally mean to beat but to control the body, which in Jewish thought is generally inclusive to mean the body, spirit, and mind. Personal sin, the devil and the way of the world, is constantly trying to tip us off course, which doesn’t help when we start off course. A good Christian education helps us to see the right path and to see the temptations and strengthens us to resist them, so as we grow up we will have a strong foundation. My public school had some Christian elements and in combination with my parent’s teach (they were both Anglican priests), I believe I had a good Christian education. I didn’t always like my school time, though I often did; I wouldn’t say that enjoying it is most important either though that helps. Education should be about shaping us for a life in pursuit of God and his love. Of course, education had also gone wrong on numerous occasions, as can be seen in residential schools, or bullying, segregation, and much more; I would argue that was more the fault of culture than Christianity, though Christianity should have challenged it, which it often did. I mourn Christian education because I believe this is the primary place where a personal and communal relationship with God is developed. The church can do this, but once a week is a weak substitute for daily learning and correction.
There are of course other things to mourn: Like that the justice or political system has no more Christian morality organizing them or that we cannot hold each other accountable on a consistent way of living together, or that humility, prudence, abstinence, charity, etc. are no longer considered virtues or the breakdown of local community and the sense of family. I could go on. So of course there is reason to mourn.
However, the secularism and/or brokenness that we experience today is not new. The Christian influence did not stop people from doing awful things, or creating unjust systems, or so much more. Often times Christianity was even used to perpetuate evil. Not because that is what it promotes, but because that has always been the enemy's work, to manipulate things that are good and use them for evil.
What we often see today is the habit of turning ourselves or nature/science into God. Again, this is not new. That is what Eve wanted when she took the fruit “to become like God”. That is what kings and emperors had often done, whether it was Caesar who called himself God, or later European Kings that called themselves God’s king. They would lay hold of the title of God and use it to do monstrous things, like in the “reformation” as kings now were given the opportunity to secede from Rome or gain new alliances in the name of power. They took this power at the expense of many Christian lives, or unity, or Christ himself. This is the same thing that is happening today, we just see it happening within each of our personal kingdoms, only now it is less often that Christ’s name is besmirched in the process (though that still does often happen too).
Christianity as seen in Christ’s life and in God’s work with Israel is not primarily about the self, or about this kind of power. Sure God and Christ use that on occasion, but it is primarily about humility, self-giving, sharing control, unity across sin, difference, and locality and so many things that are directly opposed to what is practiced in historic and present individuality, independence and self-centered pride.
Turning nature into God is not new either. Just because science has created a system around it, does not mean it is much different than the idols of old. I say this not because I don’t believe in science, because I believe science is beautiful and helpful, but because people often try to make science do what it cannot. Science and nature are limited. They cannot answer all things, they cannot define them, and they cannot even see them. Science is the understanding of what is physical, duplicatable, and consistent, so naturally, there are a lot of things that do not fall under its answers or capacity. Yet, when we limit our vision to it, we become less able to see. This should really be self-evident, but it is not to everyone. Just like how the prophets found it self-evident that those physical idols representing something in creation could not speak; and that they would just fall over. Science and the things these idols represent can do some beautiful things, but they are limited and so they cannot fill the place of God, even though people throughout history have tried, instead they cannot speak to what they are not capable of. Science cannot even build a firm foundation for our lives, because as much as it can show us some wrongs, like our ill-treatment of the earth, or of why depression/anxiety is more common, it cannot support all that we are, it cannot truly lead us unless unfettered, progress at any cost is the goal. Our goal should be much greater than science. Science can help us to see part of the picture, but only part.
The truth is that most Christians, especially as science was first being developed, saw science as a beautiful proof of a wise and intellectual God that existed behind all of the natural world. I am not just saying this is a God of the gaps, though God does love us to dwell on his mystery. What I am saying is that God is in the very midst of all of it. His order and hand created and sustains the orbit of the spheres, the seemingly endless expansion of the universe, the communication of our cells, the firing of Neurons, the pairing of molecules and so much more. He exists within and without it.
Why has religion not always been an ally of science then? Well, culture has not always been an ally of science either. If we take someone like Galileo, he was not the first one to say that earth wasn’t the center of the solar system. It is my understanding that this was a long-held belief for much of humanity and Christian history, but in our own pride and arrogance, we wanted to be the center of everything and most important. God does see us as important, but why does that mean that everything has to revolve around us. That is not Christian that is just pride, even if sometimes ignorance and pride were lived out in a Christian community.
Sometimes people have used the bible to argue scientific principles and to a very minor degree this might be possible, but the bible is not trying to be a textbook or a dictionary, it is trying to point us to even more important physical, spiritual, moral, and relational truths. Like how are we meant to be in relationship with God, with one another, with foreigners, or those in need, how are we supposed to tend this garden that God has given us, and how we are meant to live out God’s love. This could mean that the bible or our faith delves into science as many Christians do in their lives, but it is just as likely to look at reality with a moral, ethical, emotional, spiritual lens, if not all of these combined. This will naturally blur the line between scientific proofs. A poor understanding of the Hebrew and Greek language and culture has not helped matters either as translations have limited our understanding of what a passage or the bible itself was trying to direct us towards. So even hear, it shows us that cultural and literary understanding is also a big part of faith, just like science.
When we really look at history though, what we will see is that some of the greatest works of art, or developments of science, or creations of architecture, or translations, or writing, or moral reasonings, or united peoples and nations have come from Christian communities, men, women, leaders, monks, and devotees. Christians believe from page one of the Bible that all things were created to be good and so throughout history, many of us have tried to bring that good back to the surface and show it to the world.
The difficulty today is that Christianity has generally been a fairly quiet voice. We are meant to be a humble, relational people who share what we have with those around us. This is not flashy, this is not always “entertaining”, it is the giving of ourselves daily to God and one another. A difficult call on our lives, that throughout history has been difficult for people to commit to. How would this show itself on TV, movies, the news, or social media? Probably most in its failures. Otherwise, the loudest “Christian voices” are those that oppose something. Sometimes it is really good and important to oppose something, but if that is all you see or notice in the media it will create a very one-sided view of Christians and Christ.
Today, in western cultures, there are some negative, but also some positive developments for Christ. There are fewer people using Christianity as means for political or social ends, but that still happens. There are fewer people who identify as Christian, but we should ask how many of those were cultural Christians. There is probably less openness to Christ and so there is a lot of loss, but with religion being a taboo conversation topic (Like money and politics) in the last few generations, can we say for certain that Christ was a name in every home and heart.
Some beautiful things continue to happen. We are seeing little pockets of Christ show up in some amazing ways, where communities and people are supported. Maybe we don’t see them in the news, but they are changing things. This is how the apostles started and God can grow a lot from a little when we are dedicated to him. We are also seeing people from other countries in Africa and Asia coming to North America to re-evangelise us. Just as our culture is saying welcome and embrace the minorities, the largest growing churches are those from North American minorities. If we were really to listen as we say we should, we would hear the truth many people were beginning to forget and that many others had refused to listen to.
