{"id":29346,"date":"2022-11-03T02:15:04","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T09:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29346"},"modified":"2022-11-03T02:15:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T09:15:04","slug":"cool-or-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/cool-or-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"Cool or Christian?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christianity and Christian values are under attack. Seeking to address this disturbing development, Carl Trueman begins his landmark book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self<\/em> by asking how has the<\/p>\n

current highly individualistic, iconoclastic, sexually obsessed, and materialistic mindset come to triumph in the West? Or, to put the question in a more pressing and specific fashion … why does the sentence \u201c\u201cI am a woman trapped in a man\u2019s body\u201d make sense not simply to those who have sat in poststructuralist and queer-theory seminars but to my neighbors, to people I pass on the street, to coworkers who have no particular political ax to grind and who are blissfully unaware of the rebartive jargon and arcane concepts of Michael Foucault and of the epigones and incomprehensible imitators? [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

In other words, secular humanism is effectively eroding Biblical values and worldview from popular culture. Although Trueman\u2019s focus is on the West, the painful reality is that this decline of values has become a global phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Trueman comments further on this unbiblical identity and suggests that it is rooted in various secular ideas, especially that of Freud. He notes that:<\/p>\n

most people have not read Freud, but many find appealing the message [initiated by Freud and] preached in myriad movies and soap operas that life is about finding individual sexual satisfaction and that one\u2019s sexual appetite\u2019s lie at the very center of who one actually is[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Others have agreed with Trueman’s view. For example Benton notes that \u201cbefore Freud, sex was for procreation and pleasure (Proverbs 5:19). Now it\u2019s who we really are.[3]<\/a>\u201d The difference between the Biblical position and popular opinion brings to mind God\u2019s declaration to Israel in the days of Isaiah, \u201cmy thoughts\u00a0are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.[4]<\/a>\u201d So, it turns out, that divergence from biblical thinking is not unique to this generation. Reflecting on this difference, Solzhenitsyn concludes it is rooted in the unfortunate reality that men have forgotten God.[5]<\/a> Unfortunately, material wealth, intended to be a blessing, has become one of the major reasons why men forget God[6]<\/a>. Analyzing commodification and consumerism, Clark remarks that \u201cwe [followers of Jesus] will only know who we really are by re-ordering\u201d our lives to conform to the \u201clife, death and resurrection of Jesus[7]<\/a>.\u201d In other words, our identity can become so compromised by consumerism that we lose consciousness of our essence, responsibilities, position, privileges and authority. The parable of the prodigal son highlights this situation with the younger son, who being obsessed with the love of money, claimed his inheritance prematurely, disconnecting from family, living recklessly and reflecting no resemblance of people from the stable and respectable family he came from.<\/p>\n

In addition to uncovering problems Trueman also proposes solutions. According to him:<\/p>\n

The church should reflect long and hard on the connection between aesthetics and her core beliefs and practices. I noted above that one of the hallmarks of ethical discussion today is its dependence on personal narratives. \u2026 [which are] incontrovertible precisely because they are personal testimonies\u2014the highest form of authority in an age of expressive individualism. \u2026 The debate on LGBTQ+ issues within the church must be decided on the basis of moral principles, not the attractiveness and appeal of the narratives involved. \u2026 That is not to say that pastoral strategies aimed at individuals should not be compassionate, but what is and what is not compassionate must always rest on deeper, transcendent principles[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bebbington, Solzhenitsyn and other evangelical leaders would warn us to consider our ways and return to an irrefutable love for God and a fervent promotion of Biblical values including loving our neighbors in ways that unashamedly but humbly and compassionately align with scripture. In the words of the apostle John, \u201cyou have abandoned your first love. Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first[9]<\/a>.\u201d So the question is whether we will choose to be correct, or politically correct.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Trueman, Carl R. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution<\/em>.\u00a0 (Wheaton: Illinois, Crossway, 2020), 36.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Trueman, 164<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Benton, John. Summary of Carl Trueman\u2019s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. https:\/\/www.9marks.org\/article\/summary-of-carl-truemans-the-rise-and-triumph-of-the-modern-self-cultural-amnesia-expressive-individualism-and-the-road-to-sexual-revolution\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Isaiah 55:8<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> [5] Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. Men Have Forgotten God: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn\u2019s 1983 Templeton Address. (National Review). https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2018\/12\/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-men-have-forgotten-god-speech\/#:~:text=The%20Templeton%20Address,why%20all%20this%20has%20happened.%E2%80%9D<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Deuteronomy 8:18. 1 Timothy 6:10.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d (2018)\u00a0Faculty Publications \u2013 Portland Seminary<\/em>, 236.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Trueman, 402-403.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Revelation 2:4-5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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