The Crossroads of Christianity and Culture

Revaluing and Devaluing Humanity The post is the first in a series that will examine how rapid changes in our culture will interrogate classical Christian forms of self-understanding, and create new understandings of what it means to be human.  One part of the greatest shift in human culture since the enlightenment is the emergence of the 2nd Machine Age. Alongside the rapid degradation of the eco-systems on which human life depends, new concepts of what it means to live in time, and the reformation of scientific epistemology it will permanently change our perception of what it means to be human.  The 2nd Machine Age is already creating disruptions in the economy from which new forms of human empowerment emerging, even as it challenges traditional sources of human security and meaning. But most importantly the 2nd Machine Age will challenge current understandings of what it means to be human and offer new possibilities for self-understanding. The 2nd machine age will complete a process

I once worked for a seminary whose principal was constantly re-evaluating the curriculum. He was convinced that if we could ever get the right curricular framework then we could get on with teaching and never consider it again. Maybe its because my principal was a theologian. After all, my old theological professor, Schubert Ogden, (who passed away the day before I began writing this) once remarked to our class that systematic theology often never gets past the “prolegomena;” the introduction that spells out the basic framework within which theological theory could be built. Still, he was a great believer in prolegomena. If you didn’t clearly lay out the system of systematic theology one that was “modern without remainder” could never be formed.  What is true of systematic theology is often true elsewhere in the theological world. Much more recently a member of the UM Traditionalist movement (who naturally disagreed with Mr. Ogden about a theology that was “modern without remainder”) s

I held off posting this until a series of postings across several facebook forums convinced me that Christians haven't really faced the challenge posed by a modern conception of human rights. The culture of traditionalist Christianity is ultimately inimical to human rights, and will always deny them to some persons. Only a revolution in understanding the work of Christ on the cross will open the door to true human equality and full human rights. In the last 70 years or so there has been a serious theological debate among American Christians about human rights. Specifically it was a debate about whether, from a Christian perspective, the assertion that humans are endowed by God with the rights guaranteed them in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. If a debate about human rights seems strange then you haven’t really wrapped you mind around how badly the enlightenment disrupted not only the Christian worldview, but that of all axial age religions. This isn’t merely a matter of science