Theism in the Postmodern World - Essay Example

Philosophy Running head: THEISM IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD Theism in the Post-modern world Please write here Please write the here Religion has played a major part in human history and the way the world was shaped. Today, the position of religion in the postmodern world has changed considerably, in particularly the Christian population. In order to explore how Christianity plays a role in today's postmodern world and how it connects with the latter, we first must explore the history of Christianity, as well as secular society. The history of Christianity begins with its' founder, Jesus of Nazareth. Primarily a sect within the Jewish religion, Christianity spread through what was then the Roman Empire during the mid-first century. It was spread in great part by the work of the Apostles, mainly Peter and Paul. Christianity was an underground and persecuted religion, mainly because of two concepts in close relation with the Roman society. One, religion in ancient times was in very close relation with the secular government. For example, the pharaohs in Egypt as well as the Emperors in Rome, represented deities that had to be worshiped. They also represented high priests and performed or played a part many religious customs. The Christians' refusal to except the divine nature of the roman emperor seemed as a direct opposition to the emperor's political power, and this reason prompted the Caesars to persecute the Christian faith. The second reason is the teaching of equality and the nature of the afterlife presented through evangelism. The belief that the one omnipotent God will comfort the weak and the poor and will punish the rich and merciless aristocracy represented a social idea that quickly spread through the majority of the disenfranchised population. This was seen as a possible threat to the political power of the roman emperor and aristocracy. By the beginning of the forth century, Christianity became a widespread religion in the Roman world. This forced the roman emperor Constantine to proclaim that Christianity is a free and equal religion. Constantine himself also was baptised and became a Christian. As the empire was divided, so was the influence of the church. In the West, as the political power of the Emperor diminished, the church and the Bishop of Rome, gained larger political and cultural roles in the West Roman Empire. In the East, there was an enormous influence of the church in political matter, but nevertheless, the main secular power remained in the hands of Constantinople's rulers. During the middle Ages, the influence of the Church in state matters and in culture during the period is self-evident. Despite the Great Schism in 1054, when the church was divided in Western Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, both churches retained enormous political influence. The Pope anointed Christian secular rulers in Europe, and the anointment itself presented the ruler's of Europe as rulers chosen by God himself. It also had an influence over the European continent as a whole, being the main progenitor of the Crusades, as a result of the Turkish conquests in the Middle East. As stated previously, the church and generally Christianity had a major influence on the way of life and culture in the middle ages. Paintings and other art works were exclusively of religious nature. Most literature works were connected with doctrinal law, including the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas of Acquitane. Another important fact that has to be mentioned is the fact that secular laws were in close connection with canonical laws. This provided the church with means to influence the lives of everyday citizens of the European kingdoms. Practicing prostitution, homosexuality or even expressing certain scientific ideas that were opposed to the church's beliefs were punished. Most notably, the existence of the Inquisition and the witch-hunts that were performed by this church institution expressed the influence the church had over the live of ordinary people. During the renaissance, there was a major shift in the influence of the Christian church. Themes in art and literature changed and became more liberal, focusing more on the physical aspects of nature and the human body, rather then the metaphysical world. The existence of the Inquisition did delay these changes, but it did not entirely prevent them. The church itself was racked by internal disturbances. The Protestant revolution lead by Martin Luther was propelled by the people's dislike of the immoral behaviour of catholic priesthood. This is probably the first major sign of the people's opposition towards doctrinal law, although during this period, religion represented the main axis around which life of the population of Europe rotated. Although weaker than the previous centuries, the political influence of the church was still strong. As the centuries gone by, the political influence grew even less influential. A major milestone in this slow but steady descent of political influence is the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, stating: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Although this is not a clear statement of the government's policy to separate the church from state matters, today pro-separationists, as well as most of the citizens of the US, interpret it this way. Soon after, the French revolution followed, forming amongst the first modern democratic governments and therefore excluding the church from political life. At this point, it is best if we first explain the nature of the post-modern world and Postmodernism. That way we can represent the connection between today's world and Christianity, and how Christianity adapted in today's world. There is no simple definition of postmodernism, as the term itself is contested amongst the supporters of postmodernism. Today, post-modernism is consisted of many different theories. Generally speaking, historians and philosophers consider post-modernism a movement that has developed on the basis of borrowing or countering the ideas of modernism. For example modernism places a great deal of importance on ideals such as rationality, objectivity, and progress, while post-modernism questions whether these ideals can actually exist at all. Many post-modern theorists explain that their ideals are derived from the particular economic and social conditions that exist. Other important factors include the omnipresence of the media as well as the era of the fastest technologic development in history. Because of this, these thinkers believe that the world has entered into a new historical period. However, a large number of thinkers and writers believe that postmodernism is simply an extended period of modernism and not actually the next period in social and artistic evolution. The pro-postmodernism theorists argument that the new social, technologic and economic conditions have given rise to a media-dominated society in which ideas are mere copies of each other, without any originality in substance. Developments in technologies such as communication and transportation speed up the process of globalisation, which the main result is a profoundly connected global society which does not have any single dominant centre of political power, communication, or intellectual production. Pro-post-modern thinkers believe that such a decentralized society ceases to believe in any structure or order, but rather starts to believe in the collage of elements that consists the word around them, much like the society in which they live in. Moreover, such society does not create new elements or ideas, but rather it adopts ideas that are rooted in the reaction to the restrictions and limitations of those ideas, and therefore, this new period can be separated from the previous, modern period. Although this seems as way of liberation, nevertheless, critics believe it represents a failure of creativity, and because of its nature, opposes theories and believes that have been proven to be correct. Such is the secular world in which today's Christianity has to exist. And in essence it is a battle for existence, since in today's world science has become, in essence, the new religion. Today post-modern world represents just that- a godless age filled with technological development. Basically the church hasn't changed, it is probably the one constant remaining to this day. There have been many new sects that explain the existence of God and how He relates to post-modern society, but they aren't nearly enough organised or have spread as the churches that have existed for thousands of years. Although the modern Christian religion tries to stay open to new scientific ideas, nevertheless there are certain beliefs that will never change. Good example is the opposition of the church against condoms. They are against condoms as a means to prevent pregnancy, but do except the fact that venereal diseases do exist and that they are prove method of prevention. We cannot expect for Christianity or church to change. Otherwise, its entire structure will collapse. And as we see, as the world has a continuing trend of globalisation, the Christian religion has a trend of dividing itself. That's why we have so many Christian sects throughout the world. It is only natural to ask why such divisions are happening. And the answer is simple: as society progresses, it distant itself further and further from the period when Christianity was formed. People that still need to believe in something, but are not quite yet to defy modern progressive society, in turn create their own world in which the existence of God is necessity. The basis for this subjective world is the world of Christianity. As long as people have the need to believe, so will the essence of Christianity remain true, no matter how the doctrines change. Sources: 1. Christians and Postmodern; J. Bottum; First things; February 1994: 28-32 2. Gonzlez, Justo L. (1984). The Story of Christianity: Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0-06-063315-8. 3. Gonzlez, Justo L. (1985). The Story of Christianity, Vol. 2: The Reformation to the Present Day. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0-06-063316-6. Read More