As with modernity, the church has taken its own spin on post-modernity as well. When I first mentioned Christianity above, I came fairly close to discussing its current situation. As with modernity at large, the number of opinions on religion has increased greatly due to the availability of resources, the increased weight placed on personal revelation, and the general undercurrent of society. Not surprisingly, this led to a form of relativity within Christianity as well. The problem with relativity within a religion based on absolute truth is that once issues become grey, it is harder to make definite stands on them. As a result, some churches have begun adopting strange or questionable doctrines which seem contradictory to scripture since they don’t know where to draw a line. The post-modern or emergent church is particularly noted for this trend. This is also the case with the aforementioned individuals who choose to give up on the church, especially if they set out on their own. Christianity without church creates some serious problems. Among these are deviations of religion and a much easier decent into unbelief.
Christianity has also had its own foray into the popularized issue of relationship. Though there has certainly been a great deal of strain on what proper relationships look like in the church, the main relational shift in Christianity has been in how God himself is viewed. Christians today will cry out until they are hoarse that Jesus is a relational God and that salvation is dependent upon this relationship. This is certainly a biblical principle, but it is a very narrow minded view of God. In scripture, he does not merely ask for conversation, he commands praise. There is more to Jesus' sacrifice than simply restoring right relations with the Father. However, the absolutes have begun to slip out of Christianity as well. Some Christians take Paul’s words in Corinthians, “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial,” as a license to do what they please, provided it does not disrupt their relationship with Christ. There is an element of truth to this argument, but it is a dangerous view to adopt without fully understanding everything that comprises that passage. I (personally) believe in a God who demands obedience and a salvation that can be lost. However, I also believe that I have a loving relationship with the Father and that because of that relationship he will continue to offer me grace.
So what then is the solution to this convoluted maze? Shall I call for an attempt to eradicate exclusive humanism from Western society? Even if I did, I would be calling for the impossible. Exclusive humanism is an integral facet of society and can only be removed by changes which would take centuries. What then? Shall I long for the days before exclusive humanism? I could, but they had more than enough of their own faults which exclusive humanism has limited or fixed. The problem here is not with exclusive humanism itself, but with it being taken to excess. However, I know that the problems on which I have discoursed here are connected with exclusive humanism, and since I am an idealist, I want to believe that exclusive humanism can help to solve them. Additionally, I think that part of this cure must come from the church.
Unfortunately, judging by what I have written regarding the church in this paper, it has enough problems of its own. Christians must not fragment during this time and descend into division and eventual inconsequentiality. I believe that for Christianity to endure, then there must be unity, but this is something that can never be if Christians give up on the church. What sort of reform it would take for the church to recover, I cannot speculate, but I do not see how it would be beneficial in any way to further divide Christians by discarding church in favour of some new movement. What has become of Christ’s prayer that the believers would be brought to complete unity? Do even his followers value their own will above his? If this is so, what hope is there for any of us?
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