The Mission Contexts Of Modernity

Introduction

Many decades ago the world had become accustomed to many beliefs. There happened to be various pagan cults that had views that were conflicting of what was right and what was wrong and every cult had its own perspective on different ideas and life in general. An individual’s culture could hold some rival cults serving different deities which were harmonized into a Parthenon that was semi-hierarchical. However, Christianity came along and all those cults, plurality and relativism were now exchanged for the faith of one God. Throughout the Middle Ages, the European public life was then dominated by Christian faith, but as it started moving from the middle ages other cults and deities started to arise. From the 14th century the renaissance influence greatly affected religion, from the 16th century, the new reforms and the new scientific discoveries regarding the universe and the world’s nature changed religion and other aspects of life (Cowen, 1996). These influences slowly led to the Enlightenment and the modernity was born with its new metanarratives and certainties. This paper will provide an analysis of the comparison and the contrast in the mission contexts of modernity and post modernity.

In order to have a clear understanding of both the similarities and the differences in the mission contexts of modernity and post modernity, it is important to understand what modernity is, its characteristics, and also what post modernity is and what is its characteristics;

Modernity

Modernity is a term that refers to the beliefs in culture and the effects of the eye-opening period. In other words, it refers to the doing away with both traditional and religious authority as a means of gain knowledge and true enlightenment of humans. This process produced many political, economic and social developments and this includes consumerization and democratization. Modernity greatly inherited the concept of progress. For instance, the Judeo-Christian tradition opens us to a clear view of history and a sense of progress to fulfilment from promise. The modernity debate suggested that science contributes to problems that it sets out to solve paradoxically. When people make their own decisions, and reason is sovereign then creation suffers (Giddens, 2013). Modernity also sought to rebuke religion to a senseless belief because it does not give knowledge or reason which had been reserved for the reasoning and understanding situations.

This debate was however challenged by individuals such as the theologian, Karl Barth. Barth challenged the modernity’s anthropocentric view of modernity, this reminded both the Western Society and the Church that God is the centre of the universe and that we are found by God and we do not look for Him (Habermas& Habib, 1981). The promise of self-awareness and rational certainty has led to personal disintegration and scepticism. The need to be independence led to domination, the search for freedom led determination, the search for historical review has led to relativism and the search for a peaceful world has led to more discrepancies. The dream turned into a nightmare as it seemed that almost all things which modernity pursued to accomplish by forsaking God proved to bear no fruits

Postmodernity

This refers to the period where there was gradual loss of confidence in the modernity since the year 1945. Post modernity prevailed in the seventies and eighties and the effects of modernization become more perceptible. Postmodernity gave birth to eco-warriors, anti-consumerism and the Green politics. Some features of post modernity include;

Relativism- is where by someone believes on what is true for them although that may not be true for everyone else. Pluralism- this implies that the more there are views of religion all are equal and valid; thus, is it is wrong to make exclusive truth claims regarding other people’s religious opinions. Subjectivism- this states that what is said to be true varies with the perspective of one person. In other words, who is in the position to clearly state which is the right and best idea and which is not good enough? Fragmentation- this feature includes small groups such as feminists, gay, green and fundamentalists.

Postmodernity has given rise to a mentality of `pick and mix`, that states that individuals can pick some opinions from different places and have their own belief system. Postmodernity has come to the apprehension that knowledge is contextual in both its interpretation and scope. In other words, it means that its contexts are dependent upon place, culture and time and are local in nature. Thus, objectivity claims can be viewed as a means of presenting one’s ideology in covert form as established facts (Kumar, 2009). The advance of pluralism has been helped by the decline in the influence of the Western colonialism upon the world. Thus, people are no longer able to silence the march of history, voices of descent of other cultures, the prevalence of media and the advancements of technology. Modernity can be viewed as a mixed blessing, as it offers culture without any moral content. It has convinced people that technology helps people master their environment and people have actually bought the illusion. However, postmodernity has been able to make people see that technology is both a friend and an enemy; a friend in that it has been able to give people the capacity of defending the free world and also destroy the whole

world. Technology has been viewed as the friend who has given people the power to bend their environment to their wills and also remove it entirely. Postmodernity has given rise to a mentality of pick and mix, that states that individuals can pick some opinions from different places and have their own belief system. Postmodernity has come to the apprehension that knowledge is contextual in both its interpretation and scope. In other words, it means that its contexts are dependent upon place, culture and time and are local in nature. Thus, objectivity claims can be viewed as a means of presenting one’s ideology in covert form as established facts (Kumar, 2009). The advance of pluralism has been helped by the decline in the influence of the Western colonialism upon the world. Thus, people are no longer able to silence the march of history, voices of descent of other cultures, the prevalence of media and the advancements of technology. Modernity can be viewed as a mixed blessing, as it offers culture without any moral content. It has convinced people that technology helps people master their environment and people have actually bought the illusion. However, postmodernity has been able to make people see that technology is both a friend and an enemy; a friend in that it has been able to give people the capacity of defending the free world and also destroy the whole world. Technology has been viewed as the friend who has given people the power to bend their environment to their wills and also remove it entirely.

What is Distinct About Postmodernity While Compared to Modernity

There exist various differences between postmodernity and modernity. Such differences included; modernity was viewed as a means of making the universe have sense, but postmodernity came with the realization that it is not possible for people to have mere mortals, instead it south to find a way in which people can cope with life (Rabinow,1986). Modernity clearly stated that science-based facts and value systems and viewed religion as obsolete and that science led man to utopia. Post modernity had a more mature approach that recognized the disadvantages of human conditions and the dangers of value free existence. Post modernity realized that science was among the main sources of human destruction.

Just like in the Premodern Christian society, modernity has grown its own gospel. On the other hand, postmodernity does not have a single gospel but it draws its truth from different sources. For modernity, truth seemed to be objective and was based on clear facts. However, postmodernity sought to see truth as being subjective and that it was a matter of perspective. According to postmodernity, what is true for one individual might not be true for another. The hermeneutics and the epistemology based on modernity was plain and cleat, that science was among the main sources of acquiring truth. However, in postmodernity, hermeneutics and epistemology are different things. The western society has become conscious of human condition limitations. For instance, Nietzsche secured the spirit of this age when he clearly outlined his perception that truth claims are hidden assertions of power, he also stated that when he said power he meant the oppressive power. However, postmodernism had its own ironies, for instance, claiming that all truth claims are relative and no truth system has the power to judge any other, it thus created a truth system that was based on tolerance and pluralism. Postmodernism has also created a value system that claims that all truths are equal and valid.

Significance of the Above Finding on the Mission for the Church

Various churches have got caught up in instant Christianity, which can be referred to as getting up in the demand for popular religion and this has sought to produce all benefits of Christianity to entertain those who have short attention spans and also for the minimum of effort (Tester,2002). The church has appeared to want to strive to the modern consumerism whim, where everything is presented and packaged in order to prevent negative images or adverse reactions. One approach might seek out both the postmodernity and modernity aspects which greatly correspond to the traditions and teachings of Christianity and bridge them as common understanding bridges. It is important for people to understand that they should not use postmodernity to critique the message that is passed by the Gospel down the drain. As a matter of fact, Christians should be inspired by God’s gospel and listen to God’s word and should also try and acquire a deeper understanding of the word of God and the context in which God’s word was written. Failure to that, people can be condemned to wonder around the scriptures due to the different interpretations that people choose to interpret God’s word. People should also try to attract with the trends that have been embodied in postmodernity and modernity and also address any concerns. Preachers have been putting great emphasis and focus on the advantages and the benefits that Christians can acquire from being believers of the word of God and that their experiences should be embodied by God’s scriptures. That is one of the reasons as to why many church hymns now greatly relate to some of the joys of the experiences of Christians. Another way that the church can put in place can be the prophetic voice that arises as a consequence of both modernity and postmodernity. It is quite clear that most issues regarding modernity and postmodernity can bring confusion to many people (Turner,1990). Thus, activities such as intellectual stimulation can be of great importance but it is quite evident that most people become Christians due to the influence of individuals that they know, or from invitations from their loved ones and acts of kindness. The influence of both modernity and postmodernity is more perceptible for individuals who study in Bible Colleges and those who operate in theological departments (Wright,2003). The postmodern world holds the expectation that Christians are supposed to set aside certain truth claims and should see Christianity as the main

source of finding God and being close to him. In addition, tolerance should be a virtue that Christians hold and exclusive claims should be seen as a sign of arrogance. There are a few effects of postmodernity that have repercussions for the mission of the church and they include; theological crisis of speaking God’s words, the crisis of social displacement and the crisis of how to read. However, postmodernity has a few advantages. For instance, it is only in the postmodernity that Christians and Jews started working together so as to understand Jesus as the son of God and also comprehend both his religious and cultural setting. This was characterised by the synoptic workings of schools such as the Jerusalem School that produced great insights regarding God’s gospels. In a few ways the Western view of the world has become a full circle. From the pagan view where communities and families served various gods to the outlook of the premodern world and then to postmodernity where people’s belief was moulded by personal experiences. Christianity first started in the Jewish world and then went into the Roman world with an outlook that possessed same similarities. In conclusion, the dependence of modernity on human rationality ignored some issues such as the existence of sin and that fall did not have the ability of impairing people’s ability to reason. The scriptures teach us different teachings. If people recognise that they cannot rely on rationality to give them unquestionable and indubitable truths about God, there is no other place in which they can get their certainty. People should find their answers in the scriptures as they can only find their certainty in encounters with God who is the sole creator, through Jesus Christ who is God’s only son who is personified truth through the Holy Spirit’s working; who came on earth as the manifestation of God’s love and wisdom.

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Bibliography

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