Facilitator: J. Andrew Kirk, United Kingdom
In her latest book, [1] Grace Davie, a sociologist of religion, explores the different manifestations of faith in the context of modern Europe and compares them with the vastly different situations in North America, Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. One of the purposes of the book is to test the thesis that modernisation does not necessarily lead to secularisation. She believes that in this regard, out of all the continents, Europe is the exceptional case.
In the course of her discussion, Davie employs at least three different understandings of the secular: first, the substantial lack of formal commitment to religious institutions; secondly, the constitutional separation of church and state, and thirdly, the abandonment of ‘God’ as a meaningful reality in most people’s lives. Controversially, she concludes that Europe is secular only in the first sense; whilst the USA is only in the second case. She holds that ‘believing without belonging’ best describes most people’s attitude to faith in a secular setting, even in Europe. Moreover, she argues that evidence strongly suggests that, even though most people in Europe have lost touch with the institutional expressions of the spiritual dimension to life, they still expect the institutions to perform religious ceremonies on their behalf ‘vicariously.’ Her conclusion is that Europeans ‘remain, by and large, unchurched populations rather than simply secular.’ She is convinced that the main cause for this state of affairs is the notion of territorial religion, i.e. the close relationship, in the case of Europe, between church and state.
The remedy, in her opinion, is for churches in Europe to break, once for all, with this long Constantinian past and to adopt a model of church much more like the free, entrepreneurial paradigm practised in the USA: ‘if a free-market in European religion were allowed to emerge, there is no reason why the religious institutions in this part of the world should not flourish in the same way as their American counterparts’ (p. 43). Here are some provocative theses that could be discussed, also the thesis that the element most characteristic of the secular (not really considered by Davie, but strongly emphasised by Newbigin) is the separation of the public and private expressions of believing. This letter phenomenon, so characteristic of post-Enlightenment human consciousness, explains why, seemingly, people can simultaneously be thoroughly secular and deeply ‘spiritual’ (even regular church-goers).
Meanwhile, in another fascinating recent book, [2] Lamin Sanneh endorses Davie’s thesis about modernisation. His purpose is to show that the growth of the Christian faith, outside Europe, is a new factor in world history that counters the Western societies’ confidence in the spread worldwide of the secular creed. Sanneh counterpoises the new vitality of non-Western Christianity to post-Enlightenment critical stereotypes of the Christian tradition. He does so to show that not all Christianity is the same (there are as many varieties as there are translations of the Bible into vernacular languages): ‘Christianity is no longer Christendom, a religion of one cultural mandate.’ If the West is largely ‘post-Christian,’ Christianity is largely ‘post-Western.’ The Christianity of the majority world has remained outside of a history shaped by both Christendom and, its nemesis, the Enlightenment. It no longer has to defend itself against the criticism of promoting imperial designs nor to respond to a narrow (naturalistic) interpretation of reality. In short, this new Christian phenomenon challenges the intellectual and cultural hegemony of the West.
Granted Sanneh’s thesis that non-Western Christianity cannot be co-opted and patronised by the secular mind-set and that it cannot be made to fit into the parameters of European historical experience, what consequences might we draw by comparing mission in a culture conscious of its secular norms and in cultures resistant to Western cultural colonialism? To what extent is it possible for Christian communities in Europe to be free from their Constantinian captivity? Should they overcome their distaste for a ‘free-market’ in religious supply and demand? Does the post-modern emphasis on creedal flexibility and experimentation help, or hinder, churches in mission in this kind of context? And, can churches in the majority world forge significant partnerships with churches dominated by secular and post-modern cultures, so that together they can re-envision appropriate approaches to mission and evangelism? I hope that the provocative presentations of these two books, plus our own questions and concerns, will stimulate us to share together in reflecting on the topic of our study group in Malaysia.
J. Andrew Kirk (8 June, 2004)