Are We Living in a Post Christendom or Post Christian Society?

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The cultural dimension of Christendom can be explained by the leading role in education play by the Church together with the absorption of Greek and Roman philosophy, literature and art; and it was the religion and culture of the West from the 11th to the 19th century. It was so embedded in the mind and heart of the European citizens that most of the philosophical explorations presupposed the existence of God and the postulants of the Church. It was simply taken for granted.

Whilst we may now be able to differentiate the cultural and the religious aspects of Christendom, the people of the time, however, considered it as a whole, and they were unable to separate one from the other. However, whilst the cultural aspect grew and flourished, the religious dimension fall behind and didn’t develop to the same extend. The Church gained political, earthly power and several religious authorities forgot that “(my) Kingdom is not from this world”[6] and got seduced by social privileges and human respect. That, in words of Kierkegaard on his Attack to Christendom, led into a pattern in which:

The "way" has now become a different one, not that of the New Testament: in humiliation, hated, forsaken, persecuted, condemned to suffer in this world—no, the way is: admired, acclaimed, crowned with garlands, accorded the accolade of knighthood as the reward of a brilliant career! And as the "way" has become a different one, indeed the very opposite, so too has the interpretation of Biblical passages become different.[7]

When Spain discovered and conquered Latin America under the kingdom of the Catholic Kings, they introduced Christendom. Catholicism was the official religion of the country at the time, and with so many priests and religious in roles of authorities in the kingdom it was certainly very complicated to see the healthy separation of the Church and the State. At that time, Christendom was synonymous with modernization, progress and development. Christian missionaries, some of which were Spanish, were the first to erect brick and cement buildings with zinc roofs; they established schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics, various institutions of human development, as well as churches. Through their trade or vocational schools as well as their building projects many young men and women learned trades and crafts – carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electricity work, sewing, tailoring, typing, etc. In fact many towns in Latin America and Africa grew up around the missions.

But there are reasons to believe that this is not how Jesus Christ intended and conceived the Church. “By the fruits you will know them”. The times and places of major growth and expansion that moved people, even emperors, to conversion, were those when and where the Christians were facing persecutions. In places where people risk their life to live the faith (sadly the terrorist attack on a garden full of Christian children playing with their families celebrating Easter Sunday is a poignant example), the faith is more vibrant and meaningful than our comfortable, ritualistic faith. Whilst in those places they may have to walk miles to go to Mass, we have up to seven different masses and churches within a square mile distance from one another and our infirm people can easily access to a Mass by television or by online resources.

I think that not being fashionable to be a Christian, not being the State religion, being taken out certain privileges from the past and losing the social status can only be a good thing, a long-needed pruning and a wakeup call, a reminder that we “are the branches”, which cut out from Him we can do nothing. Instead of moaning for having lost influence in the governments and leaking our wounds over unjust laws, let us be witnesses, by our way of life, by the way we respond to unjust laws, to unjust, violent treatment. Then we will remember that faith is not easy and comfortable, that faith is important and difficult, and we will grow in authenticity as we will not be cultural Christians, but Christians by real choice, with a personal relationship with Christ, which will in turn be reflected in our commitment to God and to others, coming back closer to the example of the early Christians.

And if we have the temptation of feeling despaired and overwhelmed we need to remember Jesus’ promises before the Ascension which we have just celebrated: “I am with you always, yes, until the end of the time”[8] and at the time of consecration of Peter as the Rock upon which the Church would be built: “And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it“[9]. With the help of the Holy Spirit, to whom we will invoke shortly at Pentecost, every time after a time and persecution and crisis we have come back stronger.

References

- Kierkegaard, Soren, Kierkegaard’s attack upon Christendom, translated, with an introduction, by Walter Lowrie, digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation; URL=https://ia800203.us.archive.org/1/items/kierkegaardsatta00kier/ kierkegaardsatta00kier_bw.pdf>; [last accessed 16th April 2016]

- Moroney SVD, Patrick Rev. Dr; History of Medieval Philosophy: Christendom and Christianity, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, February 2016

- Murray, Stuart, Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World, in The Anabaptist Network: The end of Christendom; URL=http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/endofchristendom>, [last accessed 2nd May 2016]

- Pavao, Paul. "Letter to Diognetus" Christian History for Everyman. Greatest Stories Ever Told. 2014. URL=http://www.christian-history.org/letter-to-diognetus.html>, [last accessed 29th April 2016]

- The New Jerusalem Bible, Study Edition, London, 1994

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