Christianity as a Force Antithetical to Modernity and Having an Inimical Relationship with Modernity - Essay Example

Topic: Christianity and Modernity Number Department Introduction With the recent rise in the number of debates concerning the relevance of religion to the present modern society, the contributions that a particular religion has made towards modernisation remains an important topic. This debate is normally used as a premise to concluding the validity and relevance of a particular religion [or religion in entirety] in this modern society. Thus, the role Christianity has played towards the realisation of modernity is a matter that has been subject to debate, with some scholars arguing in favour of the rationale that Christianity spurred modernity onwards, while others gainsay the very idea, as shall be seen in the debate that ensues forthwith. Thesis Statement Contrary to what is being peddled against Christianity as a force antithetical towards modernity and having an inimical relationship with modernity, Christianity is poignantly the very harbinger of modernity, even to a global extent. According to Taylor (1989, 132), fundamentally, one of the tenets of Christianity is the belief in, and emphasis of man being made in the image and likeness of God [Genesis 1:26]. As such, since God is self-determinate and absolutely sovereign, man is also a free moral agent. By this, it is meant that man has the capacity to exercise freedom of choice and thereby deciding his destiny on earth and eternal destiny. The same also does not only mean, being self-determinate, but also being rational. Isaiah 1:18, I Pet 3:15, I Thessalonians 5:21 and Luke 9: 62 are some of the portions that call people to reason. This is because, making decisions entails being rational. The relationship between the doctrine of man being a free moral agent and modernity is seen in the fact that the Renaissance Age played, and continues to play an inextricable role in modernisation. In the same respect, Renaissance Age could not have come about in the absence of free or independent thinking. It is not in doubt that the realisation of the Law of Gravity by Isaac Newton was a culmination of laborious thinking about an apple's fall from a tree. Not only did Isaac Newton [a Christian with great interest in natural philosophy and mathematics, Christian theology, economics, astronomy, alchemy and physics] discover the Law of Gravity, but he also wrote the Philosophie Naturalis Principia Mathematica which laid the foundations for classical mechanics. For instance, the laws of universal gravitation and the law of motion are derived from Isaac Newton's work, Philosophie Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Industrial and physical infrastructure and the development of modern means of transport [such as air transport] rely on the laws of motion and gravity. It is also important to note that Christianity, being a highly philosophical and introspective religion, set the pace for philosophy. For this reason, going through St. Paul's treatise on his Letter to the Romans is highly philosophical, as he explains fundamental concepts such as the fall of mankind, the purpose of the law [that was handed to Moses] and its inability to bestow right standing with God, justification by faith, and the inability of the law to help win over the war with the carnal nature of man (Lindberg, 2000, 83). Furthermore, Angold (2006, 11) points out that the highly philosophical aspect of Christianity is underscored by the philosophical controversies which succeeded the Edict of Toleration and the Edict of Milan in 311 and 313 AD, respectively, and thereby ending the Persecution of the Church. Immediately after the acceptance of Christianity as a legitimate religion, the Church had to contend with highly complex philosophical problems and concepts, as it dealt with doctrinal controversies such as Arianism [in the Nicean Council, 325 AD], Apollonarianism [the Council of Constantinople, 381], Nestorianism [the Council of Ephesus, 431], monophysitism [the Council of Chalcedon, 451] and Nestorianism [the Second Council of Constantinople 553] (Borg, 2007, 7-8 and Frend, 1982, 51). Again, according to Angold (2006, 11), the emergence of Christian philosophers and thinkers such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Justin the Martyr, Irenius of Lyons, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement and Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great among others, spurred onwards, the need to examine Christianity and other spheres of human existence, philosophically. This is not to say that philosophy began with the emergence of the Christian era, since Greek philosophers; Aristotle, Plato and Socrates lived in the classical Greece. However, the philosophical aspect of Christianity directed Christians who formed the major bulk of Europe's population towards the use of logic and reason. Philosophy in the same wavelength has played a critical role in the realisation of the modern world. All the technological, legal [or constitutional], economic and socio-cultural development that man has accrued are as a culmination of philosophical engagement, since philosophy is relevant in problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, logic, aesthetics and the reality of human dignity, in light of human rights and freedoms (Augustine, 1963, 34). Again, it is important to note that Christianity has bequeathed human civilisation with people who have made discoveries and inventions which have shaped the course of modernisation, positively. According to Matthews (2000, 84-86), some of Christians of great renown include Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), a polish astronomer who introduced the first mathematically based system of planets revolving around the sun; Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1627), a philosopher who established the scientific method of enquiry, based on inductive reasoning and experimentation, in his book, De Interpretatione Naturae Prooemium; Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a mathematician and astronomer who established the laws of planetary motion around the sun; Galileo Galilei (1561-1642), who set the pace for the belief in a sun-centred system and poignantly observed the idea Bible cannot go wrong and saw his work as an alternate explanation of the Bible; Rene Descartes (1596-1650), a Roman catholic who introduced scientific methodology to philosophical enquiry; Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a French mathematician, inventor, physicist, writer and theologian who among many things, invented the mechanical calculator and discovered the principles of vacuum and the pressure of air; Robert Boyle (1791-1867), who established the Boyle's Law for Gases; Michael Faraday (1791-1867) who revolutionised electricity and magnetism; Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), who set mathematical foundation for genetics; William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907), a British scientist who set the foundation for modern physics; and Max Planck (1858-1947), who made significant contributions by introducing quantum theory. It is not in doubt that these Christian scientists significantly revolutionised the field of science and technology and thereby setting the pace for Industrial Revolution, Agrarian Revolution and the emergence of a modern world. Apart from bequeathing the world with pioneer scientists and thinkers, Christianity also set stage for concepts such as universal brotherhood, and all being equal. Passages such as Colossians 3:11 do not only act as the basis of the rationale of all being equal, but also presents the human race as a family [that is united in Christ]. This has greatly contributed to multiculturalism the world over. It is not fortuitous that most of the countries wherein Christianity is dominant, are the most multicultural, when compared to countries where Christianity is not existent or is very recessive. Drake (2011, 90) observes that countries that are adequately dotted with Christian population are the United Kingdom (71.7% of the population), the United States (74% of the population), Canada (67%), France (45%), Germany (62%), Spain (74%) and Italy (91.1%). It is also notable that these are the most multicultural countries in the world. This is in stark contrast to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arabs Emirates (UAE). The same situation is also replicated in developing economies. Developing countries that are dominantly characterised by a larger Christian population include Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania. These countries are highly multicultural, compared to their counterparts in West and North Africa where not only is Christianity identified with a targeted minority, but where xenophobia and religious intolerance also abound. Martins (2010, 11) is categorical that the message of Christianity itself has also been supportive of concepts and ideas such as charitable works and acts philanthropy. Emphasis on charitable works and acts of philanthropy are dispersed throughout Biblical Scriptures such as I John 3:17 and James 2:14-26. In fact, in Matthew 25: 31-46 Jesus Christ Himself speaks of the way nations treat God's people as the very deciding factor which will be used at the time of judgement. Largely, charity and works of philanthropy are not exhorted as the means by which they [these nations, or individuals] may escape any negative consequences of the aforementioned judgement, but as a virtue that will flow from the Christian life, after an individual has come to know Christ and continues to abide in Him (John 15:5). It is against the backdrop of the development above that most of charitable organisations are initiated and managed by Christians or Christian associations. The Red Cross, also known as the International Red Cross Movement was started by Henry Dunant and Gustave Moynier, in 1863, as a private humanitarian institution to provide emergency health services to victims of disasters and ravages of war. Towards the end of the 20th century, the Red Crescent was formed to incorporate the Muslim fraternity into the fold. Other organisations of repute which have immensely contributed to mankind's socio-economic progress include World Vision, the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, Habitat for Humanity, Hope UK, Prayer for the Nations, Appalachia Service Project, Bethel Union, Canadian Food for the Hungry, Children of the Nations, Christian Children's Fund of Canada, Christian African Relief Trust, Compassion International, Josephite International Aid, CURE International, OneHope, Missionaries of Charity, World Vision United States, the Message Trust, and Mercy Ministries, among many others. These charitable Christian organisations have helped bring about modernity by facilitating and funding formal educational programmes, establishing medical services, combating the threat of malnutrition and even clothing the needy, especially those in developing countries. According to Esposito, Fasching and Lewis (2011, 75), the lucidity of Christianity that Christianity is the very factor that catalysed globalisation, is also seen in the roles that Christian missionaries executed as they sought to spread the Gospel of Christ. The very missionaries such as Johann Ludwig Krapf, Johanne Rebmann and the Holy Ghost Fathers missionaries braved the unknown interior of Africa and the rest of the unknown world and the vagaries therein such as malarial and typhus fever, persecution, a possible failure to win converts and general insecurity, as early as 1834. In East Africa for example, to show for their immense role towards modernisation, these missionaries proscribed retrogressive cultures such as female genital mutilation (FGM), wife inheritance and the marrying off of the pubescent girl child. It is the same missionaries who helped create medical centres and formal educational centres and institutions. In Kenya for instance, all first national schools were a culmination of the missionaries' initiatives (Frend, 1984, 66). In about the same wavelength, Christian missionaries also acted as the heralds of colonialists, given that missionaries sent reports back to their countries about their mission fields. Colonialists went to acquire colonies and protectorates using missionaries' guidelines. Colonialists found it relatively easier to stay in new colonies, given the presence of the infrastructure (such as hospitals) that was already extant, courtesy of missionaries' undertakings. The gravity behind this is that colonialists brought modernisation proper, to developing country by setting up central governments, the concept of state-sovereignty and the expansion of infrastructure such as transport systems, government schools and healthcare centres. It is by this virtue that Africa and the rest of the developing world became modernised. Conclusion From the foregoing, one can clearly see that although modernisation is at times viewed as a threat to Christianity, yet it is Christianity which contributed greatly towards modernisation. The contribution of Christianity towards the same is underpinned by its doctrinal fundamentals which espouse concepts such as the oneness of the human race, charity, the divine commission and the need for Christians to execute the commission as a primary mandate. The contribution of Christianity towards the same also has its underpinnings in the works that Christians have dispensed and the contributions that they have magnanimously made in scholarly and technological spheres such as biology, chemistry, physics, arts, philosophy, law and political theory. To this effect, it is in order to say that true Christianity is incompatible with ignorance and has a relationship that is mutually inclusive with reason and human development. References Angold, M. 2006. Cambridge History of Christianity: Eastern Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. 1963. The Confessions of St. Augustine. (Translated by Rex Warner). New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc. Borg, J. M. (Ed). 2007. “The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions.” Seeing Jesus: Sources, Lenses and Method, 3-14. Drake, P. 2011. Christianity Today: Its Dispersal Across the Globe. NY: Penguin Books. Esposito, J. L., Fasching, D. L. and Lewis, T. 2011. World Religions Today. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Frend, W. H. C. 1982. Saints and Sinners in the Early Church: Differing and Conflicting Traditions in the First Six Centuries. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. Frend, W.H.C. 1984. The Rise of Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. Lindberg, C. (Ed). 2000. “The European Reformations Sourcebook.” The Reformation of the Common Man, pp. 83-9. Martins, M. 2010. “Christian Theology and Social Relevance.” Journal of American Theology, 2 (3), 11. Matthews, M. 2000. The Case of Christianity: Its Staying Influence and Effects. Oxford: OUP. Taylor, C. (Ed). 1989. “Sources of Self: The Making of the modern Identity.” The Interiore Homine, 127-142. Read More