Christianity and Modernity - Essay Example

? Christianity and Modernity Christianity is a religion that believes in God, Jesus Christ and the Bible (Frend, 1985, 10). For over 2000 years, the proportion of Christians in the world has been high as compared to that of other religions. Christianity has been led by laws given in the Bible and by what is believed to be morally upright (Frend, 1984, 20). It is for this reason that Christianity is contradictory when compared to modernity. This is because; while Christianity believes that there is a supernatural force leading humans, modernity mostly believes in a secular world led by humankind only with no other supernatural force (Asad, 2003, 15). Modernity mainly believes in what it sees and in the current living style only. It is for this reason that modernity is greatly affected by factors such as fashion trends, money, and status. On the other hand, Christianity believes that there is something more to staying alive and surviving in the world (Asad, 2003, 18). Therefore, clearly it appears modernity may be a threat to Christianity (Augustine, Pusey & William, 2011, 32). However, despite these threats caused by modernity, it has been found that it is actually Christianity that has fuelled modernity into place. Through a large number of factors, Christianity has significantly nurtured modernity and caused it to develop in the society. Although modernity has brought about poor moral values that were not there in the traditional world, most of these traits mainly arise from Christianity in a broad sense. In addition, the way in which Christian beliefs are changing with time, they may give rise to modernity (Augustine, Pusey & William, 2011, 33). This is because; modernity is not an original lifestyle. It a living style that has grown from what was originally in the world. Since Christianity has been in place for a longer period than modernity, then it can be argued that modernity picked its traits from Christian ways of life. Modernity tries to ape what was original and thus, the human beings themselves shape it. The fuelling of modernity by Christianity can be clearly observed from the politics practiced in the world today (Berglund, Bruce & Brian, 2010, 11). For a number of years, Christianity had no part to play in politics. Politics have been referred to as a ‘dirty game’ and thus, Christianity believes that leadership only comes from God. This way, Christians would believe that God would choose His own rightful leaders and thus, they would not actively participate in the politics. This subject has been thought as bringing modernity into the world. This is because; with Christianity not participating in the political arena, politics were left in the hands of non-Christians. Consequently, politics were practiced without considering or taking into account, the Christian values written in the Bible or initially practised by the people (Brown, John & Kim, 2008, 15). There being no opposition, modernity took its course and directed the political field. Leaders would come up with modern ways of meeting their objectives and solving any challenges that they faced. In addition, conflict resolution was no longer conducted using the religious laws in the Bible. Instead, modern arms used to fight the enemy were built up and murder was no longer considered a sin. Indeed Christianity can be said to have fuelled modernity into place. This is because; had Christians taken part in the political environment, politics could have been conducted in the right manner without using modern ways of gaining power. In addition, failure of Christian involvement, also led to increased corruption among the people (Carter, 2000, 84). Political leaders were now eager to find ways of doing things in a fast and easy way. It is in this way that modernity found its way into the world economy since; major inventions were being made to ease the way of life. Christianity was also not effective in teaching the people the right way of life (Kung, 1980, 74). While people know that they should believe in God, they are not well convinced as to the reason why they have to have faith in Him. Therefore, instead of taking Christianity as a practice, they take it to be just a religion. Therefore, people end up finding something that they can believe in. This way, modernity finds its way into the world since; people come up with easy methods of conducting things. The major characteristic of this issue is technology. In the modern days, individuals have come with cheap and easy ways of performing different duties (Carter, 2000, 86). While in the traditional life, Christianity would teach human beings to trust and have faith in God at all times, with modernity people believe in their technology more than they believe in their creator. This can be mainly owed to the fact that; human beings do not understand Christianity well. Christianity has failed in the way that it imparts the tradition moral living to the people, and in the way that it convinces the people to believe in God. Therefore, making people to find something that they are convinced is real to believe in. Scholars assert that; had Christianity been consistent in teaching people the lifestyles that it believes are morally upright, then people would not have opted for modernity instead (Carter, 2000, 88). Scholars also believe that some Christian teachings have also led modernity. This is because; just as mentioned earlier, modernity tries to ape Christianity in some ways. In addition, modernity can be said to arise from Christianity because; human beings try to come up with some forms of technology that try to challenge the Christian teachings that have been laid out (Charles, 1989, 128). For instance, modernity came up with the issue of cloning. In a Christian sense, cloning is not upright since; Christians believe that the only person that can create a human being is God. Therefore, although this is a clear threat to Christianity, the same Christianity also causes it because of the poor teaching. When individuals do not understand these teachings, they come up with their own teachings in order to challenge the Christian teachings. Robotics is also a form of modern technology that attempts to come up with machines that can act and behave like humans. This kind of modernity is mainly caused by the ineffective Christian teachings among the people Cloots, 2008, 5). Christianity can also be said to have caused modernity because of resistance from the people. People resist from what they are taught by Christian values (Anderson, 2012, 1). Although individuals will appear to listen to the teachings being given to them, instead they resist the teachings. Scholars also assert that individuals felt judged and condemned and thus; they would resist the teachings being given to them. Therefore, Christianity was thought to have caused modernity because it causes people to feel judged through the laws that it gives them. Therefore, when individuals feel this way, they find some other ways that do not judge them. People want to live without being given laws to follow. Therefore, they find modernity to be more fulfilling and opt to embrace it (Anderson, 2012, 1). Christianity can also be said to have led to modernity since; it teaches people to believe that God only looks at our inside as opposed to our outside. Individuals have misinterpreted this teaching to mean that what matters most is the heart and not the outside (Cloots, 2008, 8). This brings in modernity since; individuals end up engaging in secular acts while they still claim to be rooted in Christianity. Therefore, the teaching has caused modernity to encroach our society since; individuals do not think that their actions are very important to their Christian lifestyles. People decide to act in worldly acts since they believe that God is only interested in their hearts. This way, Christianity slowly drifts out of their lives since; they are more engaged in the secular world as compared to the Christian World. Therefore, scholars assert that; had Christianity taught individuals clearly that God is interested in both our outside and inside; individuals would not opt to say they are Christians without manifesting it through actions (Cloots, 2008, 12). Desire to be educated and enlightened in the world has also caused modernity to grow in our society today. This is because; individuals feel that Christianity does not offer them all the knowledge that they need. Therefore, they seek more knowledge from the outside world (Kozinski, 2012, 1). While in the ancient days man would only depend on the teachings of the Bible, in the modern day man has developed education systems that impart him with different kinds of knowledge. This way, individuals continue to enter more and more into the secular world while searching for more information about different things. This is also the same issue that has caused individuals to question different things about Christianity. Individuals come up with theories such as the evolution theory, which gives a different study about the way in which man came to the world. They therefore challenge the teachings of the Bible. Scholars assert that Christianity has had many loopholes that lead to the questioning. Ancient Christian leaders did not try to impart the people with full knowledge and thus, people developed doubts in them (Kozinski, 2012, 1). Modernity in the society has also been nourished by the fact that; modern Christian teachers have misinterpreted the Bible (Kung, 1980, 75). They state that teachers of the word of God must live the lives of the non-Christians in order to reach out to them effectively. This way, the Christians themselves end up engaging in the secular world in order to reach out to people living secular lives. This has caused development of modernity since; most of the teachers who try to live this way while teaching the word of God rarely change back to their Christian lives (Kung, 1980, 77). Therefore, while Christianity may be stating that it is being threatened by modernity, it actually the one that is causing modernity to grow in the society (Oden & Thomas, 1992, 18). Christian teachers do not know the extent to which they can set boundaries between themselves and the secular world. While Christianity may be trying to win people into Christianity, it is also joining them to the secular world to a big extent. Christianity has also taught individuals that riches are blessings that come from God (Kung, 1980, 80). Therefore, individuals tend to search for wealth in different ways, while claiming to be blessed by God. This has led to growth of modernity since; individuals use modern ways of making money and making themselves rich. People have developed different kinds of technology that they use to make money (Lindberg, 2000, 27). However, they do not notice that the ways that they use to make money may be lacking Christian values. This way Christianity becomes washed away from people’s lifestyles as people try to live luxurious and lavish lifestyles. This also includes corruption in the world. People use inappropriate ways of making money yet they claim to be blessed by God. This is supported by the fact that; modernity does not challenge of condemn people about their actions. Therefore, people feel more freedom in modernity as compared to Christianity (Marcus & Wright, 2007, 12). In conclusion, it is clear that Christianity has nurtured modernity largely. Christian teachers have misinterpreted different teachings and thus, causing modernity to grow in the society. Condemnation is also a factor that has caused individuals in the society to opt to take the easier way, which is modernity. Christianity makes people to interpret God’s blessings in the worm way and thus, they end going to unimaginable extends to obtain wealth. On the subject of politics, Christianity has largely caused modernity to spread ion the society. This is because, the political arena has been left in the hands of non-Christians and thus, they control politics using modern methods of ruling. This fuels modernity since; if Christianity would take part, then politics would be conducted in a different way. Bibliography Anderson , Brian C. "Modernity and Christianity Reconsidered." First Things, 2012. Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2003. Augustine, Thomas, E. B. Pusey, and William Benham. The Confessions of St. Augustine. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 2011. Berglund, Bruce R., and Brian Porter. Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2010. Brown, Brian, John Doody, and Kim Paffenroth. Augustine and World Religions. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008. Carter, Linderbag. "The European reformations sourcebook." The Reformation of the common man 5, no. 1 (2000): 83-89. Charles, Taylor. "In Interiore homine." Sources of the self : the making of the modern identity 7, no. 1 (1989): 127-142. Cloots, Andre. "Marcel Gauchet on the Christian Roots of the modern ways of Thinking." modernity and Christianity 61, no. 1 (2008): 1-30. Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Frend, W. H. C. Saints and Sinners in the Early Church: Differing and Conflicting Traditions in the First Six Centuries. Wilmington, Del: M. Glazier, 1985. Kozinski, Thaddeus. 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