Special Themed Issue: Theological Genealogies of Modernity

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2017

2002

Naïve and overly simplistic appeals to the science of history support many faulty theological and liturgical claims. Indeed, the number of inane theological propositions and unbalanced liturgical trends that are ostensibly justified by invoking history are legion. Yet exactly what is being invoked, and how can the concerned Catholic navigate such claims? I propose that valuable aid can be found in what at first glance seems an unlikely source: postmodern philosophies of knowledge and methods of research (which have been around for over three decades now). First I will briefly set forth some postmodern insights into history. Second I will examine attempts to integrate theology with history that lack the more edifying elements of postmodern perspectives.

New Blackfriars, 2017

Modernity & Its Impact on the Church & Mission, 2024

This paper investigates the transformative influence of modernity on the church's societal role and mission, tracing back to the Enlightenment era as the genesis of modern Western culture. It delves into the critical aspects of modern culture—scientific objectivity, rationality, and the notion of progress—as conceptualized by thinkers like Lesslie Newbigin and their implications for ecclesiastical functions. The displacement of teleological explanations by scientific rationalism, the elevation of human reason, and the subsequent relegation of religious values to the private sphere have led to a diminished public influence of the church. Furthermore, this paper discusses the challenges posed by pluralism, which promotes a multiplicity of truths, undermining the church's traditional claim to absolute truth. By analyzing these cultural shifts, the paper highlights the church's transition to a privatized entity within a consumer-driven, pluralistic society, necessitating reevaluating its mission and authority in contemporary times. This exploration offers a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between modernity and ecclesiastical practice, urging a critical reassessment of the church's role in modern society.

Key Theological Thinkers, 2013

The last century was arguably one of the most creative and centuries in the history of theology. The most striking examples are the many impressive writings by religious geniuses such as Karl Barth, Dumitru Stăniloae, Karl Rahner, and Hans Urs von Balthasar, but the picture is much more comprehensive. We shall illustrate this by means fifty-two portraits of religious thinkers from the Christian tradition, from the early 20th century to the early 21th century.

Post-everything: An intellectual history of post-concepts, 2021

‘“Post-Christian Era”? Nonsense!’ declared one of Europe’s foremost theologians, Karl Barth, in August 1948 at the first assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam. Barth’s criticism notwithstanding, ‘post-Christian’ was a term that rose to prominence in mid-twentieth-century diagnoses of modernity. From the 1930s onwards, growing numbers of Protestant and Catholic thinkers perceived Europe, or more broadly the Western world, as entering a ‘post-Christian’ phase. The post-prefix was deeply ambiguous, however. For some, it conveyed that Europe had broken with its Christian past – a break that could alternatively be interpreted as liberation or estrangement. Others, by contrast, used the post-prefix to argue that various emerging forms of ‘secularism’ were historically indebted to Europe’s Christian past. Thus, Arnold J. Toynbee told an Oxford audience in 1940 that liberalism, communism and fascism were all leaves ‘taken from the book of Christianity’. Surveying the career of ‘post-Christian’ in mid-twentieth-century Germany, France, England and the Netherlands (with a brief excursion to the United States), this chapter argues that the term was able to achieve prominence because the ‘post’ allowed for different kinds of self-positioning vis-à-vis ‘Christianity’ and ‘modern culture’. Interestingly, however, in almost all cases, these positioning strategies drew on historicist resources in portraying the modern ‘age’ or ‘era’ as a new epoch in the development of Western culture.

Regent's Review, 2019

This book by Joshua Searle is passionate, provocative and at times polemic. It is part of the After Christendom Series which was launched with Stuart Murray’s,Post-Christendom in 2004, and continues very much in that vein. Searle assumes we are living in a post-Christendom era, with Christendom understood and portrayed in overwhelmingly negative terms.It is passionate, and in this clearly reflects the author’s own commitments and approach. Searle’s overwhelming concern is for a passionate and missional church that engages dynamically with the contemporary culture. A central way the book considers the relationship between church and culture, as hinted in the subtitle, is that of the prophetic. Searle asks in chapter 2, ‘Where have all the prophet’s gone’ and explores ways that the church might regain its prophetic voice in the public square. On this basis the book moves into quite a range of different areas. In many ways the book is really about the church as a missional community and the agent of God’s kingdom, and then more specifically about how the church engages in theology and forms its members and then the contribution that theological colleges have to this process...

Dr. Jason Fawcett, Rector of the Hebron Theological College, asked me to write this book as an introduction to the study of Christian history at his college. This project clearly required a study of the philosophical nature of Christian history to explain the underlying assumptions related with the subject. My aim is to teach theological students how to study ecclesiastical history. This is to cast the thought seeds that they may eventually become ecclesiastical historians. On one hand, the need to study church history is absolutely imperative: because, the growth of the various trends of Christianity is increasing; and, so, its study, understanding and recording is needed. There is a need to understand the characteristics of the various flows of actual Christianity as well as to make historical records of their local churches for later generations. Moreover, church history is essential to theological study; because, it provides an understanding of the historical framework of theological developments. Its study is also relevant because it measures the impact of diverse theological trends on church life and societies throughout history. It is a fundamental tool for any sound theological study. On the other hand, the study of ecclesiastical history is also needed for general history; because, it provides specialized data for the understanding of Western civilization. Furthermore, I believe the study of church history develops one’s capacity to understand the various ‘moves of God’. It will help to prepare ministerial hearts to be deeply prophetic to perceive God’s Ways and Ideas on the flow of history and its end.