Lesson 9

Question 1

Way that Christian’s try to respond to the increasing challenge of secularisation

Answer 1

Another way that Christians respond to the increasing secularisation of society is to try to demonstrate that Christianity socially relevant in today’s society.

To argue that Christianity is socially relevant, it is necessary to show that:
the teachings of Christianity can engage with the lives of people in society today

the actions of Christians can engage with the lives of people in society today

these teachings and actions can work for change within society.

Question 2

What does how Christianity responds to secularisation make them?

Answer 2

-This implies that Christianity is also politically relevant, since politics is concerned with the way society is ordered and the values that direct its communal life.

-Within the Christian community – and particularly within the Evangelical and House Church traditions - there is emphasis on the transforming power of the Christian gospel.

-In other words, individual lives are changed by becoming Christian and adopting Christian beliefs and values.

Question 3

Individual vs social level

Answer 3

-At an individual level people are transformed, whereas at a social level, they conform to existing social and political norms.

-This reflects the change in the status of religion in society, from something imposed by the state to something that is an individual choice.

-However, the trend towards individuality has not been uniform.

-There are many areas where membership of a particular Church has become a mark of political loyalty. This was seen, particularly, during the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland, and in places where Christians are in the minority in society.

Question 4

Social relevancy first perspective

Answer 4

-If a Christian takes the view that ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’ is primarily about another world, then there is a tendency to simply accept the sinful and distorted nature of society.

-This resignation leads to inaction. This is a ‘quietist’ approach, arguing that everything should be left in God’s hands and that Christians should not engage in social or political action.

Question 5

Social relevancy - perspective 2

Answer 5

-Alternatively, if the ‘Kingdom’ is regarded as something which Christians are to build in this world, and live it out in their individual and communal lives , there is more likely to be an engagement with society and a direct attempt to change it.

-‘Activists’ argue that the Gospel requires individuals and Churches to engage with the world, particularly in helping the poor and the sick. This may involve direct social and political action of their behalf.

Question 6

Case study - street pastors

Answer 6

A street pastor is someone who is…

a Christian and is part of a local church;
concerned for society and their local community;
willing to engage with people, whatever their perspective on life and wherever they hang out;
happy to work in a team and in collaboration with other agencies and projects, both statutory and voluntary.

Question 7

Social relevancy features

Answer 7

-Engagement with society

-A direct attempt to change society for the better.

-Helping the poor and the sick.

-Direct social and political action of their behalf.

Question 8

Latin American theologians

Answer 8

Following the example of Jesus, Latin American theologians argued that Christians should act in secular society on behalf of the poor and the oppressed.

That might involve becoming active within, for example, education, trade unions and political parties, or even, in extreme circumstances, revolutionary movements.

Question 9

Libertarian theologians

Answer 9

Liberation theologians were inspired by the actions of Jesus as described in the New Testament.

Liberation theology started from a practical engagement with poverty and political action.

In this sense, it was a necessary secularising of the gospel in order to make it relevant to the lives of ordinary working people.

Question 10

What was the role of the church for libertarian Christian’s

Answer 10

-For liberation theologians, one role of the Church was to educate people to recognise the difference between their own lives and real justice as described in the gospel and to help them find ways to challenge the forces that oppress them.

-The movement met severe criticism, not least from the Pope. He believed that the presentation of Jesus as some kind of political revolutionary was not true to the gospel or the teachings of the Church.

Question 11

A fundamental split developed concerning the role of the Church:

Answer 11

1. Liberationists
2. Traditionalists

In other words, it was fundamentally a question about the Church and secularisation. Should the Church be involved with the secular world of social injustice and politics, or should it offer only spiritual help, bringing individuals into a new relationship with God?

This was never a completely either/or choice. Liberationists did not deny the value of spirituality, nor did the traditionalists deny concerns about exploitation and poverty. It was more a matter of balance, and of methods of working.

Question 12

Liberationists

Answer 12

wanted to change society to promote justice and give power to the poor and powerless. It saw this as the natural and practical application of the teaching of Jesus.

Question 13

Traditionalists

Answer 13

believed that the primary concern of the Church was to support the poor by offering spiritual aid to individuals.

Question 14

Measuring process of secularisation

Answer 14

-One way the process of secularisation may be measured is by asking people about their attendance at public acts of worship.

-The percentage of people who attend Church regularly is decreasing, so on that basis, Britain is increasingly becoming a secular country.

Question 15

Even though society is becoming secular what do people still want

Answer 15

-However, many people who do not attend Church nevertheless feel a sense of attachment to a local church building.

-It may represent the place where they, or their relatives, were married or buried; it may provide a sense of permanence and continuity in a world where everything else changes; it may also serve as a focus in times of need (as when there is a local tragedy) or celebration.

-Thus, the sense of ownership of a church building - and sometimes the defence of that building if it is threatened with closure - may indicate that society is less secular than expected.

Question 16

Other countries - attachment to the church

Answer 16

-The same is true in some other countries, where the Church has generally been identified with the state since the time of the Reformation

-Finland - there is a sense of the contrast between two religious traditions, with two impressive places of worship in Helsinki, for example, a Protestant Cathedral and an Orthodox Church.

-Churches can also express national identity, as is the case of Catholicism in Poland, which revived to express Polish identity after a period of persecution within the former Soviet Union.

Question 17

Religion as a symbol of nationalist identity

Answer 17

-Religion can, therefore, become a symbol of nationalist identity.

-For example, the Russian Orthodox Church has grown and become more important in society following the fall of the anti-religious communist regime in the Soviet Union and the new freedoms since 1989.

Question 18

Examining religious views from an atheist standpoint

Answer 18

-Examining religious claims and their challenge from an atheist standpoint may reflect a growing confidence of atheism in the UK and elsewhere.

-However, it is not the only way of assessing the relationship between the Church and the secular world. Globally, the situation is far from clear.

-Religion is growing in some areas, becoming more political in others, and declining in yet others.

Question 19

Christianity as a naturally secularising religion

Answer 19

-Christianity, it can be argued, is a naturally secularising religion.

-It follows the example of Jesus, who taught that caring for the poor and healing the sick (both secular operations) take priority over obedience to religious rules.

-Because of this, the secular vocations of teaching and healing, which have now become separated from organised religion, are a form of secularisation that is exactly in line with a radical interpretation of Christianity’s earliest message.

Question 20

Case study - Maria Gomez

Answer 20

-El Salvador is a small country in Central America. For years it was ruled by its fourteen most powerful families. They were used to getting their own way. For example, if they wanted some land they moved the owners off it - without payment. They kept themselves rich and others poor.

-This was unjust but it was hard to do anything about it. If you criticised the rulers or protested too much then soldiers might arrest you. You could be tortured or murdered. Ordinary people lived in fear. Some people decided to start a war to get rid of the government. It lasted ten years.

-Around 70,000 people died.

-Other people, like Maria Gomez, said that war was no way to bring justice to El Salvador. Instead they used peaceful methods to try to make the government act more fairly. But even these people were treated as troublemakers. Many were arrested and many were murdered.

Question 21

Maria case study pt 2

Answer 21

Oscar Romero - the leader of the Catholic Church in El Salvador - was gunned down in front of his congregation because he criticised what the government was doing.

Maria Christina Gomez was a teacher in El Salvador in Central America. She belonged to a church that tried to help poor people. She was an ordinary person but she lived in a country with big problems.

Maria was a teacher in a town, but at weekends she went to nearby villages to help them. She taught people to read. She thought this was important because if you can’t read, people can take advantage of you.

If poor people learned to read and write then they could find out what was happening in El Salvador. They could stand up for their rights. They could become better farmers or be healthier, because they could read leaflets telling them about more efficient farming methods or how to look after their children. Maria particularly worked with women.

In April 1989 armed men came to her school. In full view of her students they dragged her away and bundled her into a van.

Friends later found her body dumped by a roadside. There were acid burns on her back and shoulders. Her face had been beaten and she had been shot four times.

She had been murdered by air force officers working for the government of El Salvador.

Question 22

Faith in the city

Answer 22

-In 1985, the archbishops of the Church of England commissioned researchers to look at the life. conditions and faith, of people in inner cities.

-Their report, Faith in the City. A Call to Action by Church and Nation, showed high levels of poverty in some inner city areas.

-When a lot of people in one area were poor, the whole community felt that it was powerless.

-Poverty was measured based on six factors: levels of unemployment, overcrowding households lacking basic amenities, pensioners living alone, ethnic origin, and single parent households.

Question 23

Urban priority areas

Answer 23

-report identified certain areas that it called ‘Urban Priority Areas.

-These were places where people experienced the highest levels of poverty.

-The report recommended to the Church of England that parishes in these areas should have more clergy and give extra attention to training clergy and lay people.

-Churches were also asked to consider the ways that worship was conducted and to extend and improve the work they were doing with children and young people.

-The report also recommended that churches should try to use their buildings more effectively to respond to the secular needs of their communities, rather than using them only for religious services.

Question 24

What else did the report do?

Answer 24

-At the same time, the report made specific recommendations report made specific to the government.

-These were not religious reforms, but things to do with employment law, housing legislation, income support and social benefits, and access to legal advice and support.

-By addressing these secular issues as well, the report was engaging with people’s whole existence, not just issues in their spiritual life.

-This is a liberationist approach applied to the context of British inner cities.

Question 25

How was faith in the city welcomed?

Answer 25

-Faith in the City was widely welcomed within the Church of England, but had a more mixed reception in wider society.

-The Conservative government at the time had a largely negative response, seeing the recommendations as politically left-wing.

-They argued that people should help themselves, not depend on the state to help them out of poverty.

Question 26

What did the report lead to?

Answer 26

-The report led to the founding of the Church Urban Fund, which made grants to groups working in secular as well as religious organisations to tackle inner city poverty and powerlessness.

-The report was dismissed by one minister in the conservative government of the time as pure Marxist theology.

Question 27

What did faith in the city change?

Answer 27

-Faith in the City changed the way that the Church of England worked in cities, especially in areas of inner city poverty.

-It is now normal for some Churches in Britain to take a liberationist approach in their work. Most parish churches and Methodist churches are used both for worship, but also for secular purposes, which address the needs of their communities.

-Priests and ministers have a pastoral role that goes much further than just the spiritual care of their people. Many churches run food banks, drop- centres and community care activities.

Question 28

Other versions of ‘faith in the city’

Answer 28

In 1990, a similar report was commissioned into the Church in rural areas, Faith in the Countryside, and in 1997, the Methodist Church commissioned their own report, The Cities, in 1997.

Question 29

How does the liberationist approach see the church responding to the secularisation of society?

Answer 29

This liberationist approach sees the Church responding to the secularisation of society by takin responsibility for the well-being of the community secular as well as religious matters.