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Christianity and Culture:Pluralism, Post Modernity, and the Death of Christendom
by Shea Oakley (Shea's bio)
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Today it is not unusual to hear conservative Christian leaders bemoaning the political and cultural pluralism that characterizes America at the beginning of the Twenty-first Century. One of the principle criticisms is that a permissive form of tolerance has become the overarching value defining our national life. Without debating the truth of such criticisms I would like to put a word in for the positive aspects of pluralism vis a vis the preaching of the Gospel.
The history of cultural Christianity over the past two millennia has not always been pretty. Only the most strident, and blind, fundamentalist would claim that horrible things have never been done 'in the name of Christ'. The short list includes the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials and any number of bloody wars fought in Europe over doctrine. In each case crimes against the true Spirit of the Faith occurred when Church and State were completely intertwined. The word we use to describe the culture of these periods is 'Christendom'. This term should never be used interchangeably with 'Christianity'. The invisible Church Universal is the only 'Christian nation' that has ever existed. No country has been the chosen nation of God, in the sense of being a true theocracy in the best sense of the word, since ancient Israel.
At this point let me stress that I am not advocating the total, unequivocal separation of Church and State. Authentic Christianity can have a real and positive influence on the governance of a people when true Spirit-led Christians have the franchise to vote and when those truly called enter public service. A radical Anabaptist style withdrawal from all aspects of politics is not the idea here but rather a rejection of the other extreme in which religious leaders are seduced by the temptation to overweening secular political power. Every time this has occurred, from the time of Constantine forward, the result has been calamitous for both Church and State.
Today we live in a time in our national history when mass media and the presence of immigrants from every part of the Globe have exposed the average American to a multiplicity of religious, intellectual and philosophical crosscurrents. Our present culture resembles the Athens of Paul's day as much as anything else. Some call this state of affairs 'Post-Modernism', a term that, along with Pluralism, has been demonized by many conservative Evangelicals. Post-Modernity is marked by a lack of cultural consensus and generally accepted moral absolutes along with a sort of radical individualism in regards to interpreting reality. 'Anything goes' might be the motto of the Post-Modernist.
On the surface this sounds like a horrible worldview, especially to the Christian who believes in the exclusive claims of the Gospel and the existence of ultimate moral law. Indeed, a culture whose zeitgeist is the idea that every belief is equally valid poses a real challenge to the evangelist. However it also opens up new opportunities. Modernism encouraged a culture of disbelief, especially in the existence of the supernatural. The idea was that the rationalism and scientific progress of the 'Enlightenment' were the twin saviours of mankind; hardly an atmosphere friendly to biblical Christianity. But with the rejection of this secular creed Post-Modern pluralists have embraced the possibility that reality does not end here, that, in fact, the Enlightenment wrongly closed the doors on the realm of what C.S. Lewis called 'the Numinous'. People are again hungry for the transcendent.
This creates a tremendous opportunity for real Christianity to engage our culture and for the Gospel to win souls. It is true that we must now deal with a multiplicity of other religions and philosophies. From Islam to Neo-Paganism Christians who wish to be salt and light face a formidable number of competing worldviews. Yet Paul faced the same kind of challenge on Mars Hill and did not shrink from it. The truth of the Gospel can stand on its own in the midst of all challengers, then or now. In fact the pluralism of our day offers a chance for the light to shine more brightly, unfettered by culturally compromised 'civil religion' masquerading as the genuine article. 'Christendom' might be dead but true Christianity in America is not. A new harvest for Christ is in the offing if we stop criticizing and begin appreciating a cultural shift that is actually an opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission.
Copyright 2003, Shea Oakley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About Shea Oakley: Shea has been an Evangelical believer for 12 years. He is a member of the Nazarene church and serves on his church's ministries board. Shea has a B.A. in English literature from Nyack College, a college of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Nyack, New York. He also has earned about 41 credits towards a Masters of Professional Studies in Ministry at Alliance Theological Seminary, also in Nyack. Shea currently resides in his home state of New Jersey in the town of West Milford. He is single. Shea has written for two college student newspapers, a college magazine, Poet Magazine (one poem published), Airliners Magazine and his Church's newsletter, From The Vine to the Branches.
You can e-mail Shea at: |
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