Re: Why post-Christian?

> This age into which we are moving has been called post-Christian, meaning that the Christian faith has lost control over the conduct of life. The reason for this is not the rising power of sin; the reason is our failure to show how the rising powers of science can be applied to the purpose of human existence when this purpose is found in Christ. The blame does not rest on the evil of scientific civilization; the blame rests on those of us who have responsibility for interpreting the revelation in such a way that the powers of civilization can be brought into its service. This we have not done.<

I think the basic idea of looking at the church's response and engagement, rather than blaming external evils, is correct. However, "the rising powers of science" seem to me to be only a small part of the overall issue. Numerous social and philosophical trends in the past ca. 300 years have challenged traditional Christian views. Popular responses have been to remove oneself from the world (typically most popular among theological conservatives, e.g. creation science as a rejection of conventional science) or to be of the world (typically most popular among theological liberals, e.g. Jefferson's a priori rejection of supernatural action). The former creates barriers to impacting society; the latter becomes indistinguishable from society and thus also has little impact.

Perhaps interpretation of the powers of civilization, science, etc. also needs examination. The mindset of a secular/sacred dichotomy promotes both failure to apply ethical imperatives to oneself and failure to think about integrating science, civilization, etc. with faith.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
    bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com

That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
Received on Fri Jun 4 20:35:20 2004