Tag Archives: Enlightenment

Reason and Faith

Reason and Faith

Last week I highlighted the fact that the Enlightenment essentially created a Worldview without God, elevating reason over faith. The elevation of reason over faith in the eighteenth century took two general forms. First, pure naturalists relied upon reason as the ultimate authority by which all notions must be judged; in other words, naturalists will not… Continue Reading

Music: a Theological Orphan

Music: a Theological Orphan

Quentin Faulkner’s analysis of the impact of Romantic aesthetic philosophy on the church and its music is enlightening (pun intended) and helpful: The nineteenth century was the era of Romanticism, particularly in music. It was also the period in which Chrisianity began to reassemble and regroup its forces after its first disastrous encounter with Enlightenment ideas.… Continue Reading

Why do we think new is better?

Why do we think new is better?

New and improved! Fresh! The latest! Exciting! You don’t have to go far in our society today to witness claims of having the newest, latest product. One would not think of buying something old, stale, and “so yesterday.” This applies to commercial products that are marketed by clever advertisers, but, unfortunately, it also often applies… Continue Reading

Twenty-first Century Western Post-Modernism as Missional Worship Context

Twenty-first Century Western Post-Modernism as Missional Worship Context

This entry is part 10 of 12 in the series Missional Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

According to missional authors, the Christendom model significantly affects how the average 21st century American church practices worship. During the Christendom period, the church dominated the culture, and therefore the forms used in worship were in many ways indistinguishable from the forms of Western culture. According to Murray, “Sunday” as a holy day, the clergy/laity… Continue Reading

The State of Mission Today

The State of Mission Today

This entry is part 6 of 12 in the series Missional Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Missional authors argue that the church today has failed to recognize that the Christendom era has ended. It no longer enjoys the level of influence and status it once did, but its structures, ministries, philosophies, and methods nevertheless remain the same. Mead notes, We are surrounded by the relics of the Christendom Paradigm, a paradigm… Continue Reading

The Rise and Fall of Christendom

The Rise and Fall of Christendom

This entry is part 5 of 12 in the series Missional Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Understanding this missionary imperative for the church leads missional writers to ask the question, “Is the 21st-century North American church fulfilling its place in the mission of God?” Guder answers bluntly, “Neither the structures nor the theology of our established Western traditional churches is missional.”1 Rather, the church today is locked in the mode of what… Continue Reading