Beck posits four ways people deal with this existential faith problem:
A taken-for-granted faith settles and puts to rest a host of existential anxieties about the meaning, significance and purpose of life. But when faith is a choice all those existential questions get pushed out into the foreground where we can worry and obsess about the significance and meaningfulness of life and our life choices.What do you think? Do you agree with the assertion that faith has moved from the position of cultural given to that of personal choice? I think this is accurate.
...Christian people to tend to face this existential challenge in one of four ways:
1. UNFAITH
Some people do follow the predicted path of secularization theory and opt out of faith.
2. SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS
In the marketplace of faith many people buy a lot of different products and cobble them together into a personal bricolage of spirituality.
3. WINTER CHRISTIANITY
Some Christians learn to life with doubt, reconciling themselves to the fact that faith is always going to be tentative and fragile.
4. DOGMATISM
Some Christians, unable to live with the anxieties produced by modernity, will seek existential solace, comfort and consolation in dogmatic certainty.
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And what do you make of Beck's four options for dealing with the existential challenge of choosing faith in a pluralistic culture? Is there an option he missed?
Which of Beck's options most accurately describe the way you deal with faith? I'm most definitely in category #3, though I'm not thrilled with Beck's label, "Winter Christianity."
"Winter" implies cold and dying, which I don't believe is the case for everyone in this category. I'll admit that faith in the post-modern world feels pretty chilly at times, and, yes, much of the old-time religion of my childhood has suffered a wintry death. And as a pastor, I'm constantly pressing against the cold-north-wind realization that most of the people I work with are in categories 1, 2, and 4. Yet, in my view, the doubts and questions I live with in category #3 serve to purify and authenticate my faith. Christian faith in the post-modern world is more difficult, but it's also more honest and humble.
I would prefer Beck's category #3 be called something like, Hopeful Christianity, or Humble Christianity, or Intentional Christianity. Christians can be (and, in the contemporary post-modern world must be) hopeful, humble, and intentional about their faith. Post-modern faith requires believers to live with the tensions and questions engendered by doubt and uncertainty. This type of faith is, in fact, the faith I see presented in Scripture--people acting upon their beliefs in the midst of profound uncertainty.
Acting upon beliefs is the only way to build confidence in them. Living by faith is the only way to overcome doubt. Day to day experience is the necessary crucible for refining trust and hope. Maybe the best name for category #3 would be "Authentic Christianity."
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I see Category 2 as full of folks who like to repost stuff from "Quotes That Inspire" and think faith is best expressed in slogans and slick turns of phrases. Even "Christian" slogans.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you in Category 3, and I especially like the "humble" label. I'm reminded of a phrase in an ancient Billy Graham movie. A character is asked why he isn't arguing with an atheist and he says (something to the effect of) "My faith is in Jesus...a person. People argue about ideas, but how can you fight about a person?"
I do think that religion is a matter of choice, especially in the post-modern context. But I think Beck missed a category. This may be a subset of #2, or perhaps even #4, but I think that a post-modern choice of many people who pursue a Christian pathway is “Theocratic” or “Nationalistic” Christianity. This is what I think we are seeing more of (especially in the current political season) as politics and faith become so intertwined that people see political issues as faith issues, and vice-a-versa. They see a pressing need to somehow re-identify the nation as a Christian nation. It’s confusing to me how people become so myopically fixated on a mission that limits freedoms, discriminates, and passes judgment on people who don’t identify themselves in the same way. It moves them, in my opinion, away from following Christ (a person) and anchors their faith instead in ideologies that, in reality, do not comport with the original concept of Americanism as envisaged by America’s first leaders. Ironically, people in this category are trying to recapture the post-enlightenment, post-Civil War, and pre-modernism faith as a given. They are trying to return to the idea that Christianity, as a faith, is a granted truth of our national identity.
ReplyDeleteI also reside in camp #3. I think Beck’s label is a bit bleak, but may have a different tone if we think of “winter” as the anticipation to “spring.” No different than Advent, those of us are steadfast in the mindset he (and you) describe, because we yearn for, and anticipate a day when there will be no more doubt, uncertainty, or tension. I don’t think that the Christians in #1, 2, and 4 (or my hypothetical fifth) categories see the strain of faith in this way. Eschatology for these persons (non-believers and Christians all included) incorporates the slow march towards dying, much like the “winter” you described. They adopt a dualistic worldview of “what does it matter.” The hardships of the world are only to be endured, rather than corrected, reformed, or eliminated through the true mission of Christ. They plod along ignorant of what it truly means to follow Jesus, and the sacrifice of self that it involves.
Maybe "Prospective Christianity" would fit #3?
Winter Christianity sounds OK except I'm not sure faith is always going to be tentative and fragile. I like to think of winter as a time of rest; creation may seem dead and lifeless, but it is not. Creation is only resting until the sun and warmth of spring ignite regeneration and change. Maybe there's a category of Christ-follower that accepts the reality of tension (even though it's uncomfortable and messy) and yet is able to rest in the assurance of the timeless and ongoing work of our loving Creator-the coming of Spring; and be moved to regeneration, change, and obedience to(or act on their beliefs)the call of Christ to love Him and love others. The One we believe in is strong and steadfast, so my faith can remain strong and steadfast, even when I wrestle with hard questions or can't understand or don't have answers to doubts or am unable to communicate thoughts clearly.
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