The Death Throes of Modernity Modernism vs Modernity

The Death Throes of Modernity

Modernism vs. Modernity � First, we have to be clear who our murder victim is! Logically, you would think these would be the same! In fact, they’re not, even though we sometimes use them as synonyms. � Modernism is a cultural term from the late 19 th/early 20 th century focusing on art & literature. With roots in Romanticism, it rejects Enlightenment certainties and believes realism is “not real enough”. � Modernity is a much longer and broader term, and that’s what concerns us today.

Where does Modernity begin? �A long gestation period, including: � The rise of universities (1100 onwards) � Growing urbanisation & rising literacy � The Renaissance (14 th century) � The printing press (15 th century) � Humanists & The Reformation (16 th century: challenging the Church’s authority) � English Civil Wars (17 th century: challenging the Monarch’s authority & the 30 year war in Europe challenging Church-State relationship)

The Cusp of the New � The previous points led to the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the Modern Age (the Reformation had been a bridge between the two) � Treaty of Westphalia meant grudging religious toleration had arrived, and the beginning of the end of the Church-State nexus � So Modernity or the Modern era, is widely seen as beginning in the mid-17 th century

What did the “new” look like? � For the first time in a long time: � Religious diversity began to be tolerated � The Church-State link began to dissolve (it had been in place since Constantine) � Monarchs were seen as answerable to the people � Established authority was questioned – but what was the new authority? Not Church, not King, not scripture…

Enter the Enlightenment � Beginning around 1700, this movement demonstrated abiding confidence in the power of human reason. Reason was seen as the key to continual progress in all areas � Reason became the measure of all things, including religious; “unreasonable” things were discarded. But what was the “measure” of reason? Increasingly, it was the individual. � Science, based on the repeatable and the observable, flourished but religious issues were forced into this mould � Descartes: “I think, therefore I am” Rationality was seen as the core human characteristic.

Deism – redefining God � The Age of Reason did not immediately jettison religious faith; many of the leading scientists were Christians � But the “God of Reason” did gradually morph into something different from the God of the Bible � Deism saw God as Creator and all-powerful, but remote. A deity who, like a clockmaker, set the universe in order with all its governing principles, and then just observed, interacting little with his creation

A human focus � If God is remote, then there’s not much point bothering about him, or the afterlife. God can’t really be concerned about things like sin, so focus moved to this life. � Worldly happiness for the majority became more important. We’re responsible for our own progress, which fitted well with the new scientific momentum.

So Modernity … � embraced religious diversity � moved towards tolerance � subverted established authority � enthroned rationalism � was optimistic about human progress and scientific advancement � believed in objective truth � encouraged skepticism

Murder victim: identified � Now we have some idea what Modernity looks like, what about these “death throes”? Who caused it grievous bodily harm? � In fact, doesn’t it seem as if a lot of those Modernistic characteristics are still with us? � Modernity’s underlying attitudes are optimism about progress: more science and education will solve virtually everything. If we can feed the world, wars will stop, etc.

Industrial revolution � The Age of Reason brought great scientific advances and led to the Industrial Revolution � Cities grew, rural populations declined, poverty and health issues wracked the urban poor who were dislocated from support base � This worsened into the 19 th century. Great fortunes were built on slavery and child labour. The era of Dickens. The IR showed the dark side of Modernity’s thirst for progress. � This was also the era of Empire and colonisation: complexities as cultures clashed.

Romanticism 1785 -1825 �A movement that has profoundly affected the modern world. Seeing Rationalism as reductionistic, Romanticism emphasised feelings, subjectivity and spontaneity; it was comfortable with mystery � Affected all aspects of culture and society � Individual perception was valued; diversity was seen as inevitable � Objectivity was increasingly seen as impossible; the Enlightenment myth of the detached observer was exposed. Rationalism’s limits were exposed.

World-changing ideas � Three massive ideas threatened to change the world in 19 th century: � Marxism � Darwinism � Freudianism � All proposed radical new ways of understanding the nature of humanity and human relationships. But would this be enough as the world headed towards the 20 th century? ?

Modernity’s deadly efficiency � Before it was ½ over, the 20 th century experienced 2 World Wars, the Great Depression, a Holocaust and nuclear devastation � 300 years of Modernity had not solved all the world’s problems; it had delivered more effective ways to dehumanise and destroy � People decided that science and education might be great servants, but they made lousy gods.

The 1960 s barometer � World War II ended in 1945, service personnel returned home, married, and had kids. These kids became adults in the 1960 s, and the world changed. � The parents had become disillusioned; the kids rejected the prevailing ideologies. “Subvert the dominant paradigm” was a popular bumper sticker. The dominant paradigm was Modernity; a new generation decided it was redundant.

Welcome to the Hybrid � Today, the West is a hybrid, consisting of: � Pre-moderns, who are still essentially in the Middle Ages, wanting everyone to conform to their vision of reality; fighting those who don’t. � Moderns – who are still optimistic that science and education will solve the world’s problems, prize objectivity and scorn subjectivity. Reality is out there and all mysteries will eventually be solved.

Welcome to the Hybrid (2) � Romantics – Rationalism is good, but doesn’t have all the answers. No-one is completely objective. Truth is out there, and subjectivity is definitely a way to it. Comfortable with mystery and doesn’t need certainty. � Post-moderns – objectivity is a joke; everything is subjective and therefore truth is a only a social construct. Reality is what you make it. There are no truths; only interpretation.

And the point is…? � Far from just a history lesson, this is an exploratory dissection of congregational life. � Most Western congregations have at least these 4 types in them, some of them blending. Failure to understand them = failure to reach them. � Communicating the gospel effectively means recognising the existence of these groups within congregations and working with their assumptions about reality.