The church and the secular: The effect of the post-secular on Christianity

Abstract

How to cite this article: Beyers, J., 2014, 'The church and the secular: The effect of the post-secular on Christianity', HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 70(1), Art. #2605, 12 pages. The church and the secular: The effect of the post-secular on ChristianityParadigms determine relationships. During the Enlightenment period Emile Durkheim proposed a relationship between the sacred and the profane. Religion, which is concerned with the sacred, was defined in terms of being different from the profane. The profane came to denote the secular. The organic character of religion caused some scholars to predict the end of the church at the hand of modernisation and rationalisation. Some scholars instead envisaged a new form and function of the church. Some scholars anticipated the growth of Christianity. Reality shows that Christianity has not died out but seems to be growing. The new era we are currently in (identified as the postmodern) has been described as the post-secular age where a process of re-sacralisation takes place. How will the post-secular influence the church? What will the relationship between the church and the secular be like under a new paradigm? This article suggests that within a postmodern paradigm, the post-secular will emphasise the place of the individual in the church. Fragmentation of society will also be the result of the postsecular. Religiosity in future will have to contend with fundamentalism and civil religion. :46). The parallel division of pre-secular-secular-postsecular comes to denote an understanding of the relation of the church to the secular. Modern is equated to secularism, with the syllogistic result that if postmodern follows on modern, post-secular must follow on secular. The question is whether this is a correct assumption which will describe the future relation between the church and the secular. What follows here is a theoretical description of the framework within which this paper is presented. It will be necessary to understand the relevant terminology: paradigm, secular and its derivatives (i.e. secularism, secularisation) as well as related terms (i.e. sacred, profane, religiosity).

'The Emptied Authority': African Neo-Pentecostalism, Modernisation of Sacred Authority and Gendered and Sexualised Constructions of Violence

“…While modernisation certainly occasions significant alterations in religious imaginations, in many African societies, it has not resulted in diminished religious influence in the public spheres. However, the consequences of modernisation on African Neo-Pentecostalism cannot be denied or ignored (Beyers 2014). Chaves (1994) argued that modernisation should not be perceived as diminishing religion, but as the declining scope of religious authority.…”

“…The influence of modernisation on sacred authority could be formulated by the three interconnected forces of individualisation, fragmentation, and fundamentalism (Beyers 2014). First, individualisation refers to the situation where sacred authority is individualised by specific pastors.…”

The use of the Bible in theology: Theology as a ‘lived experience’ of God

“…Geaves & Chryssides 2007:59). Beyers (2014:2) notes that 'one way' of perceiving reality is substituted by 'heterogeneity, fragmentation and pluralism' in postmodernism. 25 King (2009:202) declares that in effect 'it [postmodernism] pursues a sceptical deconstruction of all systems of thought'; it queries all unyielding and permanent rationalisations, doubts the requirement of reason as the major en route to human knowledge.…”

Self-secularisation as challenge to the church

“…The effects of secularisation for one cannot be underestimated (cf. Beyers 2014). The main areas of guilt that are to be assumed: external and internal factors.…”