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latviadugan 's review for:
A Secular Age
by Charles Taylor
Taylor’s “A Secular Age” is a landmark treatment of the history and development of secularism in Western culture. Taylor begins by identifying 3 characteristics of secularism: first, God is removed from the public spaces (though often revered privately); second, people increasingly choose not to practice religion or believe in God; third, belief in God becomes one option among many.
Why is it that 500 years ago it was difficult to not believe in God, but today it is difficult to believe in him? What happened? While the common assumption is that science is slowly eroding away any credible belief in God, Taylor challenges this assumption and asserts that the reality is more complicated.
Words he uses to describe secularization are “disenchantment,” “imminent frame,” and the “Reform Master Narrative.” He addresses not only how these historical movements impact religion and science, but also how they’re integrated into contemporary politics and sexuality, and how they manifest in individualism, ideas of liberty, and morality. Over time, these movements make it more difficult to see beyond the frame of the material, and such a worldview becomes “natural.”
But as hard as it is to believe, it can be equally hard to disbelieve. The world is haunted.
Both secular and spiritual worldviews require certain leaps of faith and raise unanswerable questions, though this is not often recognized in a secular context. Both strive for "fulfillment." A secular worldview finds this in humanistic flourishing, which leads to individualism and is defined by personal happiness. A spiritual worldview points to something more important than personal fulfillment, and therefore calls for sacrifice and the reigning in of personal desires. A secular humanist views this as holding back human potential and denying the essence of humanity. Spiritual worldviews see such paths ("itineraries") as leading to the fulfillment of ultimate human potential. Both of these views are addressing the question of "meaning" in life.
Especially interesting was the contribution (rather than the challenge) that the Reformers and Protestant Christianity made to the rise of secularism. If I understood Taylor correctly, this occurred in North America through Deism and modernism, belief that we could/must order the moral, political world according to divine laws built into the material universe. It also happened as the result of “reform,” or the call for every individual to be 100% Christian. This flattening of hierarchy, the removal of sacred time, the priesthood of all believers, and the ordinary vocations of life being opened as avenues of divine service inadvertently eclipsed the transcendent.
Taylor doesn't believe it's possible for humans to completely avoid questions of transcendence. Though science enlightens us regarding the material world, it has also served to drown out the voices of the spirit, which were more easily heard in previous times. Yet there are testimonies of those in history who have been awakened to the transcendent, to love. It's interesting that Taylor points to the lives of such "saints" as evidence for his thesis, and not to the Scriptures. The Scripture helps us see the "light" in these saints. Additionally, Taylor advocates that art and beauty point to something transcendent, something of value and meaning, as an indicator of non-materialistic reality.
The final part of the book is a mild apologetic for Christianity (Roman Catholic) as the most satisfying answer for the question of meaning and for ultimate human flourishing.
The book is a long and difficult read due to its subject matter, but also because it is largely the transcript of a series of talks.
Why is it that 500 years ago it was difficult to not believe in God, but today it is difficult to believe in him? What happened? While the common assumption is that science is slowly eroding away any credible belief in God, Taylor challenges this assumption and asserts that the reality is more complicated.
Words he uses to describe secularization are “disenchantment,” “imminent frame,” and the “Reform Master Narrative.” He addresses not only how these historical movements impact religion and science, but also how they’re integrated into contemporary politics and sexuality, and how they manifest in individualism, ideas of liberty, and morality. Over time, these movements make it more difficult to see beyond the frame of the material, and such a worldview becomes “natural.”
But as hard as it is to believe, it can be equally hard to disbelieve. The world is haunted.
Both secular and spiritual worldviews require certain leaps of faith and raise unanswerable questions, though this is not often recognized in a secular context. Both strive for "fulfillment." A secular worldview finds this in humanistic flourishing, which leads to individualism and is defined by personal happiness. A spiritual worldview points to something more important than personal fulfillment, and therefore calls for sacrifice and the reigning in of personal desires. A secular humanist views this as holding back human potential and denying the essence of humanity. Spiritual worldviews see such paths ("itineraries") as leading to the fulfillment of ultimate human potential. Both of these views are addressing the question of "meaning" in life.
Especially interesting was the contribution (rather than the challenge) that the Reformers and Protestant Christianity made to the rise of secularism. If I understood Taylor correctly, this occurred in North America through Deism and modernism, belief that we could/must order the moral, political world according to divine laws built into the material universe. It also happened as the result of “reform,” or the call for every individual to be 100% Christian. This flattening of hierarchy, the removal of sacred time, the priesthood of all believers, and the ordinary vocations of life being opened as avenues of divine service inadvertently eclipsed the transcendent.
Taylor doesn't believe it's possible for humans to completely avoid questions of transcendence. Though science enlightens us regarding the material world, it has also served to drown out the voices of the spirit, which were more easily heard in previous times. Yet there are testimonies of those in history who have been awakened to the transcendent, to love. It's interesting that Taylor points to the lives of such "saints" as evidence for his thesis, and not to the Scriptures. The Scripture helps us see the "light" in these saints. Additionally, Taylor advocates that art and beauty point to something transcendent, something of value and meaning, as an indicator of non-materialistic reality.
The final part of the book is a mild apologetic for Christianity (Roman Catholic) as the most satisfying answer for the question of meaning and for ultimate human flourishing.
The book is a long and difficult read due to its subject matter, but also because it is largely the transcript of a series of talks.