Christianity and challenge of secularisation Flashcards
britain as a secular society
pre-reformation peoples lives were controlled by the church; monarch dictated the official religion and those who dissented were liable to torture and death
reformation encouraged a more individualistic approach to religion eg study bible and interpret meaning for yourself
18th century emphasis on reason evidence and scientific thought further enocouraged a more indivdulistic approach, openly possible to be agnostic
19th century: ww1 and ww2 and the challenge to authority in the 1960 decreased numbers of those who attended church and regarded themselves as practising christians
20th century squabbles and scandals within the church led to a growing number of disillusionment with traditional christianity
replacement of religion as the source of moral truths
traditionally right and wrong was linked with the church
source of morality = bible
right and wrong = objective
social sciences weakened this notion:
anthropologists saw the concepts of right and wrong as affected by culture
marx saw religion and its view of morality as a social and political tool of control
freud claimed that it satisfied a psychological need
secular humanism includes the belief that people can love morally good loves without religion
relegation of religion to personal sphere
increasing secularism has seen faith as an entirely personal choice and a private matter for the individual
however, christianity still plays an important role in britain in:
- parliament- house of lords has bishops
- church of england and scotland are established churches
- national anthem contains ‘god’
value of wealth and possessions
materialism is a key feature of modern secular society
growth of materialism
post reformation views saw money and wealth as important as a secure family life depended on possessing worldly goods and enough money to pay for them
expansion of empire saw accumulation of africa, americas and far east led to capitalism
capitalism was reinforced by the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries great wealth created banking, businesses and trading.
terrible poverty and wealth inequality addressed by marx in capitalism but was unheeded by british society as a whole
materialism now seen on every level of society
- wealthy tend to see continued wellbeing as dependent upon acquiring more wealth
- poor see acquisition of money and possessions as key to happiness
- material possessions are seen as more important than spiritual qualities
NT attitudes to wealth
“easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”
jc told rich man in order to enter heaven must give everything he had to the poor (mark)
parable of the rich man and lazarus (luke) contained a warning of dire consequences for those who enjoyed great wealth but ignored needs of the poor
jc didn’t condemn wealth eg zaccheus, still had money but was ‘saved’ (luke)
“for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” 1 Timothy
NT and wealth:
early days of christianity people shared everything
famine in jerusalem, christians in syria collected money to send to those in need
wealth not seen as wrong, it was attitude that mattered
brüderhof
set up in early 20th century and its communities are now found in a number of countries eg 3 in uk
see materialism as of of main reasons fro problems today
live in communities without personal wealth
make certain vows, one of which is to live simply
prosperity gospel
developed mid 20th century USA, pentecostal
christian beliefs and practices will be rewarded by god in terms of material prosperity and physical well being
members are expected to give generously to evangelistic work and some churches involve social projects
—–africa and asia
mainstream christianity
denounce prosperity gospel and adopt brüderhof attitude to wealth
eg richard and george adbcrury who built good housing offered good wages, pensions and medical care to employees
christians = stewards over their wealth, sharing generously to those in need
many churches run rood banks and encourage care for the homeless
ending global poverty
eg Christian aid, tearfund and CAFOD
militant atheism
late 20th century peter atkins richard dawkins christopher hitching stephen fry religion = dangerous that should be annihilated on grounds of irrationality and lack of intelligence
Richard Dawkins; God delusion
attacks religion:
- god hypothesis is irrational and contrary to good science
- religion is primitive, harmful and has spread like a virus
- religion encourages discrimination and is a major cause of conflict
- teaching children religion is form of child abuse
people can be morally good without religion
mcgrath defence: The dawkins delusion
seeks to show dawkins arguments are fundamentally flawed
- dawkins = wrong in his claim good science is bound to result in atheism ( eg Francis Collins the director of the human genome project and a christian )
- dawkins view that science disproves religion is challenged, mcgrath claims that the two are ‘partially overlapping magisteria’, they come at world from 2 different but valid perspectives and can be mutually enriching
- criticises dawkins on his assumptions that all christians adopt views of god and the bible which are only adopted by a few fundamentalists, very limited understanding of christianity
- accuses dawnings of fundamentalism in his unquestioning acceptance of some atheist views, biased in supporting evidence that supports his view = v unscientific
stephen j gould
‘either had my colleagues are stupid, or else the science of darwinism is fully compatible with conventional religious beliefs- and equally compatible with atheism’
fresh expressions
set up by c of e
evangelical aim in seeking to share christian thinking
words alongside traditional churches, not replacing but supplementing
shares with those who ordinarily have no contact with church, starts from where people are
not preaching traditional beliefs and ritual practices , considers how life and attitude of JC may help people
