Barbara Ehrenreich is not talking about theology or faith here, but this is also true in several strains of Christianity.

“Positive thinking Christianity” is often referred to as prosperity theology (also known as prosperity doctrine, the health and wealth gospel, or the prosperity gospel)It is a religious belief found among “tens of millions” of Christians primarily in the United States but also here in Europe, centered on the notion that God provides material prosperity for those he favors. It has been defined by the belief that “Jesus blesses believers with riches” or more specifically as the teaching that “believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the ‘sowing of seeds’ through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings.

I see this thinking and teaching also influencing all parts of Christianity to different degrees. The belief that belief or should we say “positive thinking”  itself is a powerful tool in either manipulating-influencing God or people in a good or bad way to achieve personal gain or good. The belief in Utopia, the belief in the unrealistic or unseen. I believe in the mystical,in dimensions beyond our senses and in the supernatural but it is always in the context of  reality or as Barbara emphasizes the need for realism.

Have a look and tell me what you think;

Thanks Gunilla for this:)

Me, myself and I

I ended off my previous post in this series with a mild criticism on how the western church often views itself as a group of individuals satisfying ones own individual needs by the product offered and packaged as Church. It is a clear tendency in the western Church that members dissatisfied with the theology, the leader, the child ministry or what ever it can be leaves quite easily. This even if one has been in the church for many years and would seemingly have close friendships and relationships with the larger church body. I would argue that this is a clear example of what happens when the old systems of modernism collide with the postmodern mind.

One reason for this is the foundation the western church rests on. It has often been perceived as a package that is consumed and crafted to meet my individual need, when it doesn’t meet my need, I either need the leader to create a new package for me that meets my need or leave and find a package that meets my individual need somewhere else. Was this what Church was meant to be? Or was it meant to be something else? Something where theology, politics, power or anything else would  draw us towards each other,not alienate us from each other, a place where the differences could flourish and be lived out in a fruitful manner. Where family is more important than individuality, where the organic is more important that keeping up a safe status quo?

The reality of a postmodern world

In the wake of modernity the postmodern world responds in contradictory ways. Fragmentation and polarization on the one hand and syncretism on the other. This condition might seem unhealthy, and while there is much that is not healthy about our postmodern context, there are profound creative and redemptive possibilities in this seemingly contradictory ideas.

The word contradiction and paradox are two words that the modern mind find offensive and even dangerous. Post-moderns living in the aftermath of a world by a desire to control and dominate (very much also in the church) are often delighted by notions that defy this easy categorization.

Our postmodern world is a world of profound fragmentation. After modernity this is understandable. Within modernity a select few held power. Now everything is up for grabs.

Balkanization

One word used to describe this is balkanization. This means to divied one place, one idea, or one group of people from each other for any number of reasons. Life is being balkanized. It is fragmenting. The themes of progress and optimism that unified and under-girded the modern project have largely evaporated, and we have been left adrift in a disjointed world where meaning and value is constantly being contested by people willing to fight for it till there death.

Is it any surprise that new kings of churches are emerging out of the husks of these former structures that are struggling to keep pace and adapt to this strange new world?

In a world of balkanization and atomization we are desperate for space to engage, create, and respond free from the power games that are being played in so many circles around us. In a shrinking globalized world we are desperate to learn what it means to be in relationship to the other- to the alien in our midst (or perhaps we are the alien in the midst) for the purpose of dialogue and engagement.

How can we live in this new reality

We desperately need to discover, recover, learn, and live out the ancient Christian practice of hospitality, which is the postmodern means of evangelism.

We do not need more Christian leaders building church empires at a time when our culture is dismantling other such structure around us. We must deconstruct ourselves in love.

A postmodern context requires leaders who instead of seeking to dominate the environment are willing to become environmentalists- people who create spaces that allow Gods people to have the possibility of an encounter with God and other people. Such an environment allows people to discover a future together  under God instead of reducing them to mere pawns serving some large agenda that comes from outside themselves.

Can Postmodernism save us?

Can postmodernism save us? In many ways I believe it can. It can save us from the institution, it can save us from materialism. It can save us from individualism. It can save us from being arrogant. It can save us from being powerful.

In my next post I will ask a question that deals with syncretism. Does everything go? Is it possible in a christian context to blend many different “whatever it could be”?

Read part 1 here; Postmodernity, should we be afraid?

Read part 2 here ; Modernity, the cost?

Post-modernity

I have been discussing the topic of post-modernity with colleagues from many religious backgrounds.

You might be aware of the cultural phenomenon of post-modernity if not its philosophical underpinnings.

Trying to describe or approximate post-modernity as a philosophy or culture is no easy task. Just type it into wikipedia and you will see what I mean.

But as everything else we know little about , it creates fear or distance.

For many of those I speak with, the arrival of post-modernity is a portent of all that is evil and dangerous about our world.

I would offer a more modest assessment : It is simply the context of the world in which we live, thus filled with possibilities and dangers like any other context. ( taken from the thoughts of Tim Keel. Read more in his book “Intuitive Leadership”)

Modernity

Modernity was a time of grand narratives about the nature and destiny of humans freed from the constraints of ignorance and superstition. Under such themes, Western civilization sought to colonize both the natural and intellectual world, unifying it into classifiable systems by reducing material existence into distinct, separate and easily identifiable categories.

Knowledge was broken down into disciplines or fields of inquiry.

People and populations were likewise identified, reduced, and categorized, whether by race or class or the combination of both.  The occupation and exploitation of foreign lands and native populations, called “colonialism” emerged in modernity as most European countries sought to expand boundaries and secure resources.

Theology + modernity = true

In the wake of the protestant reformation, religious authority and structures became tied to emerging nation states. State sponsored churches were in many cases the forerunners of  what we now know as denominations.

Theologians systematized theology(Christology, pneumatology, soteriology, ecclesiology etc) in much the same ways scientists systematized the natural world. Intelligence was given a measurable quotient.

Merchants produced and distributed goods and resources mechanistically, that is, by assembly lines in factories and via efficient, modern transportation systems. It goes without saying that those in control of the systems and structures that framed and supported modernity wielded enormous power.

What did modernity cost ?

And how are we now to live, engage and relate to a postmodern world and reality?

Read part 2 here ; Modernity, the cost?

I have been reading and following the Catholic priest; George V. Coyne lately. His thoughts and ideas on God are very similar to those of Irenaeus. I propose in another blog post, that this is a Christianity which was lost to the dominant type A and B theologies. Read more about this here.

Coyne says the following:

“Religious believers must move away from the notion of a dictator God, a Newtonian God who made the universe as a watch that ticks along regularly.”

He proposes to describe God’s relationship with the universe as that of a parent with a child, with God nurturing, preserving and enriching its individual character. “God should be seen more as a parent or as one who speaks encouraging and sustaining words.”

He stresses that the theory of Intelligent Design diminishes God into “an engineer who designs systems rather than a lover.”

“God in his infinite freedom continuously creates a world which reflects that freedom at all levels of the evolutionary process to greater and greater complexity,” he said. “God lets the world be what it will be in its continuous evolution. He does not intervene, but rather allows, participates, loves.”

Richard Dawkins has a great talk with coyne which is posted on youtube. I recommend watching seven parts of this youtube series.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po0ZMfkSNxc
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjjDDhE8R5k
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyySnUqCug
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEmnhmAwPM
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl1xmkVOyRw
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwDTBW8oxug
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qPHIS3n7Lw

One of my favorite Catholic theologians George Coyne gives a lecture worth watching.

For more lectures from the Hampshire college head over here.