[5] A Summary of the History of Christianity: A "Paradigm Shift" Approach (Part 5)

 

A Summary of the History of Christianity (by Hans Küng)

(with annotations and revisions done by Julius-Kei Kato)

Go to Part 4

Part 5 - Paradigm #5 : The Modern Era Paradigm - Challenges to Christianity 

We will refer to sub-divisions of this article by the section numbers within square brackets (e.g. [1]).

Resources:

Original Link to this Summary (in the public domain / accessed 2020-09-20): https://www.global-ethic-now.de/gen-eng/0b_weltethos-und-religionen/0b-01-02-christentum/0b-01-0201-jesus.php

Paradigm Shifts in Christianity (a one-page visual diagram) https://www.global-ethic-now.de/gen-eng/0b_weltethos-und-religionen/0b-pdf/paradigm-shifts-christianity.pdf

 

[17] Revolutions of the Modern Age

René Descartes (1596–1650)

Was the father of modern rationalist philosophy and marked a “Copernican Revolution” in the way of thinking: the whole of reality is constituted by the human subject (“I think therefore I am” Latin, Cogito ergo sum)

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)

Was the protagonist of the new empirical-mathematical natural science which was the basis for the technological and industrial revolution that reached its first climax in the 19^th century

Cardinal Richelieu [Armand Jean du Plessis] (1585–1642)

Was the mastermind and practitioner of a new understanding of the State and of politics: what counts is not the confessional or religious-moral point of view but rather practical politics in pursuit of national interests. The state is the natural product of a contract between the people and their rulers and is thus autonomous in relation to the Church.

The French Revolution

In the wake of runaway inflation and mass misery, the Estates-General convened in May 1789. In
June, the Third Estate, representing 98% of the population over against clergy and nobility, proclaimed itself to be the “National Assembly” and challenged the power of the king. On July 14, 1789, the people of Paris took up arms (“Storm the Bastille”). On Aug. 4, the National Assembly abolished feudalism, putting an end to the “Ancien Régime”, and on Aug. 26, it proclaimed the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.”

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

The basic principle of the Declaration was that all “men are born and remain free and equal in rights” (Article 1), which were specified as the rights of liberty, private property, the inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression (Article 2). All citizens were equal before the law and were to have the right to participate in legislation directly or indirectly (Article 6); no one was to be arrested without a judicial order (Article 7). Freedom of religion (Article 10) and freedom of speech (Article 11) were safeguarded within the bounds of public “order” and “law.” The document reflects the interests of the elites who wrote it: property was given the status of an inviolable right, which could be taken by the state only if an indemnity were given (Article 17); offices and position were opened to all citizens (Article 6).

 

[18] Challenges to the Christian Churches in the Future

1. Dialogue with other confessions and, in time, with other religions.

2. Demands of the Enlightenment: freedom of religion and of conscience, freedom of assembly, of speech and of the press.

3. Leading values: “rationality”, “progress”, “nation”.

4. Relativization of Christianity in European guise: instead of a Europe-centered Christian perspective on the world, a multi-centred worldview embracing diverse regions and religions.

 

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