{"id":4236,"date":"2015-03-03T18:30:52","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4236"},"modified":"2015-03-03T18:30:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T18:30:52","slug":"mapping-the-sacred-in-a-secular-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/mapping-the-sacred-in-a-secular-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping the Sacred in a Secular Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Taylor\u2019s gift as a cartographer takes the reader on a journey to track the move from some elite unbelief in the eighteenth century to mass secularization in the twenty-first century. He does this by introducing religious forms at different stages. \u00a0He begins with the \u201cancient regime\u201d form. This is where there is an inextricable link between religious identity and political identity\u2014\u201ca close connection between church membership and being part of a national, but particularly local community.\u201d[1]<\/a> \u00a0But as Taylor states, \u201creligion of this kind is uniquely vulnerable to the defection of elites, since they are often in a position to restrict, if not put an end altogether to the central collective rituals.\u201d[2]<\/a> The ancient regime road basically meant that a person\u2019s connection to the sacred entailed that person to belong to a church.<\/p>\n

Over time, Taylor recognized that the ancient regime road has been moved and we are now directed toward a new type of religious form. The \u201cAge of Mobilization\u201d now makes its appearance and attempts to mobilize new rituals, practices, institutions, etc\u2026 A new road has emerged and this one leads us to \u201cdenominational imaginary.\u201d[3]<\/a> In this road, although you may join the church of your choice, you\u2019re still connected to something bigger\u2014the church, and its heritage, which feeds and fuels the project of the nation.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

However, it seems that these two roads provided twists, turns and bumps along the way that were set up for a quick fall in the next age which was beginning to appear at mid-century.[5]<\/a> But the next age also comes with its own bumps, twists and turns.<\/p>\n

Taylor now routes us to our age \u2013 \u201cAge of Authenticity\u201d[6]<\/a> \u00a0So what does religion look like in the Age of Authenticity? What is the spiritual life which comes out of this Age of Authenticity? This is the age of \u201cthe social imaginary of expressive individualism.\u201d This is the secular age we live in where each person has the right to choose their condition of belief. In the Age of Authenticity, the age of expressive individualist outlook, we have a qualitative shift: \u201cThe religious life or practice that I become part of must not only be my choice, but it must speak to me, it must make sense in terms of my spiritual development as I understand this.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

It appears that something has happened in the last half century that has altered the conditions of belief in our societies. The Age of Authenticity is a quest for the individual. It is about the individual and his or her experience. \u201cMany people are following their own spiritual instincts.\u00a0 Many are looking for a more direct experience of the sacred, for greater immediacy, spontaneity, and spiritual depth. This often springs from a profound dissatisfaction with a life encased entirely in the immanent order. The sense is that this life is empty, flat, devoid of higher purpose.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems that belief in God is no longer accepted. There are alternatives. \u00a0Choices tend to be good. However, when these choices impact one\u2019s faith some people may feel overwhelmed, ready to give up and some will never feel the need to believe anything at all. So, I wonder if our focus of \u201cbelief\u201d is the wrong focus. I wonder if instead of focusing on belief itself, we might need to ask a deeper question: What do people believe and practice?<\/p>\n

I also wonder if the church has forgotten the reason for its existence. The church is still called to be a community of believers compelled by the love of God, a proclaimer of the good news of the Kingdom of God, a living hope of a humanity reconciled through Christ.<\/p>\n

Charles Taylor\u2019s account of the secular is an illuminating lens through which to see changes within religious communities, not just the expansion of the areligious. [9]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Charles Taylor, \u201cThe Secular Age,\u201d<\/em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press, 2007), 440.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., p. 441.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., p. 450.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> James K.A. Smith, \u201cHow (Not) To Be Secular,\u201d <\/em>(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2014), p. 88.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Charles Taylor, \u201cThe Secular Age,\u201d<\/em> (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press, 2007),pg. 472.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 473.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid., 486.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 506.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> James K.A. Smith, pg. 120.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charles Taylor\u2019s gift as a cartographer takes the reader on a journey to track the move from some elite unbelief in the eighteenth century to mass secularization in the twenty-first century. He does this by introducing religious forms at different stages. \u00a0He begins with the \u201cancient regime\u201d form. This is where there is an inextricable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[491,186,184],"class_list":["post-4236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lgp4-3","tag-taylor","tag-taylorsecularage","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4237,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236\/revisions\/4237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}