Christianity In A Postmodern World: Effects And Consequences

Christianity is one of the most influential religions on both ancient and modern Western society, with the religion based on the teachings of the prophet Jesus Christ who lived approximately between the years of 5 BC and 33 AD. It is claimed that Christ was the son of God whose spirit was embodied and sent to Earth as a human being to bring peace and prosperity to the less fortunate, and absolve the world of its sin. Jesus preached a doctrine of a supreme monotheistic god who ruled over the universe, as well as ethics and morals especially centred on the concept of faith and forgiveness. If one was to live their life in accordance to the Will of God and the teachings of Christ found in the written word of the Holy Bible, one would be absolved of their sin and ascend to the spiritual realm of God, known as Heaven, after their physical death.

The positive influence of Christianity is far reaching especially in the rich history and culture of Western Civilization despite a long standing ignorance or adamant denial of its contributions. The Bible itself is responsible for much of the language, literature, and fine arts we enjoy today as its artists and composers were heavily influenced by its writings. Paul Maier, in writing the forward to the book How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt, says this about the profound impact Christianity has had on the development of Western Civilization:

Relativism is the philosophical idea that the views and beliefs of a person are valid and relative to them. It can include many positions, whether it be religious, moral, cultural or even political. Over the course of this quarter I have been introduced to many different theories like Utilitarianism, Deontological and Teleological theories, but none of them got my attention like Normative Cultural Relativism. What’s great about philosophy is that there are no right or wrong answers, yet I cannot help but realize that many philosophers nowadays are biased about Normative Cultural Relativism. Many don’t agree and rather attack the theory which is why I intend to defend it.

Pope Benedict once said, “We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires.” When discussing the idea of Moral Relativism there are conflicting arguments as to if it is true in society or not. As much as Americans wish to ignore it, and although it has negative as well as positive effects, moral relativism is apparent all over the world. Moral Relativism is true and relevant today through individuals and cultures.

In the book “The Unexpected Christian Century,” the author Scott Sunquist believes that the twentieth century is the most recent one in the Christian history. During the time of the geometric era, it was believed that the importance of gravity moved from the Christian nations of Europe and North America to the “Global South,” where Christians were done wrong minority. Simply in the third and the sixteenth centuries was when Christianity had experienced a change of comparable greatness.

This viewpoint that many today still have of Christian and race superiority is why Christianity is not salvageable. Too many people will never admit that they persecuted and harmed hundreds of thousands in the name of Christianity. This point being also noted when McLaren tells of the seminarian experience and how many strongly believe in the violence against non-Christians (73-74). The ancestors of those killed in brutal ways will never accept Christianity as anything other than a genocidal society that wants to cleans the earth of all heathens.

In his second essay, titled “Rethinking Power” describes this “Constantinian error” and the different ways that Christians try to create change in culture. He focuses on three major Christian culture-changing movements of our day: the Christian right, the Christian left, and the Neo-Anabaptists. All of these movements lack an

Cultural relativism is the theory where there is no objective truth in morality, and moral truths are determined by different cultures. The primary argument used to justify cultural relativism is the cultural differences argument, which claims different cultures have different moral practices and beliefs, therefore, there is no objective truth in morality (Newton). After reading James Rachels The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, I find his criticisms to be persuasive because the argument made for Cultural Relativism is not sound from a logical point of view. You cannot draw a conclusion about what is factual based on what people believe is factual. Rachels also points out that even though cultures do in fact disagree about moral values,

Cultural relativism is the way society separates right from wrong within a culture. What we describe as “good” and “bad” is based off of our cultural beliefs. Cultural relativism argues that no culture is better than any other and all their beliefs are equally valid. The way that modern society is has made it possible for almost everything to be justified.

Cultural relativism suggests that whatever any culture does is acceptable and we must positively judge other cultures’ practices—it is “right” for them. Who am I to judge differently? Cultural relativism arises out of a concern not to impose our cultural values on other cultures. The problem with believing that all values are

In chapter nine, the authors focus on how postmodernists believe “metanarratives” such as shown in Christian beliefs are oppressive (161). Postmodernists believe the Christian views are close-minded and are not tolerant of others views (162). Many Christians believe postmodernists are right, and ultimately fall into the trap of worldly conformity. However, in some ways postmodernists are right about Christian views, such as Christian beliefs cannot remove all uncertainty from people. Because of human limitations, there will always be an air of doubt and not everything can be proven through metanarratives (163). However, postmodernist believe that truth is culturally relative, meaning that truth can continue to change based on culture (167). Christians know that one truth is consistent throughout all cultures. Christians need to guard their hearts in these times of change in truth and

Cultural relativism is the way society separates right from wrong within a culture. What we describe as “good” and “bad” is based off of our cultural beliefs. No culture is better than any other and all their beliefs are equally valid. The way that modern society is has made it possible for almost everything to be justified.

Christianity has been facing many obstacles from all the non religious world views. There has been a lot of contemporary influence in this modern churches and Christian gatherings as they try to fit in and accommodate the changing world views. Due to all this influences, everything about Christianity is being questioned especially on issues of sex, divorce, marriage and birth control. There has also been a rise in non denominational churches started by individuals or a group of people with no ties or relationships to already established churches

First century Christians founded their new identity on the understanding of being sinners, saved through Christ Jesus, and true people of God. The Jews had a misinterpretation of the coming of the Messiah and they did not acknowledge his resurrection and believed Jesus was cursed by God for being crucified. It was a necessity for the Apostles to preach the Gospel with truth and bring awareness to the people of the true interpretation of scripture. The Apostles pleaded the people to get saved (2:40) and acknowledging their sin by repenting and get baptized (2:37-38). The opportunity of repentance is a gift of God’s mercy and grace to nullify our understanding and pride. Israelites considered themselves God’s holy people (22:3; 26:4-5) but they were sinning in ignorance (3:17). I am a sinner in nature and I will either sin intentionally or unintentionally. Through Jesus Christ crucifixion and resurrection, I am able to repent and ask for forgiveness with the confidence that my sins will be wiped out (3:19). Repentance and being able to be baptized (8:37)not only in the name of Lord Jesus but also in the Holy Spirit is

First of all, a definition of relativism should be introduced. Relativism is the philosophical view that no universal truth exists. Every fact and opinion are true within themselves relative to their holder [2]. This very doctrine started with Protagoras, the well known for his achievements in mathematics. Protagoras held some interesting views. His famous quote "Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not" sums it all [3]. He believed that truth is a matter of opinion and a man is not entitled to his only opinion but to other men’s opinions despite contradicts may exist [4]. This philosophical view, held also by sophists, stated that truth may not be relative to human only but to different cultures, societies or different ages. This became very clear when Thermasys defined justice as only doing what is in the interest of the strongest, a definition refuted easily by Socrates [5]. To be clearer, relativism holds no universals but things relative to them it measures. Through this paper, I shall break the whole case into fragments.