Yes, I do. Roman Imperialism and the forced occupation and urbanization of agrarian culture were pretty heavy, indeed. But Globalism and it’s capitalism is another beast completely. Also,I have a hard time equating the pluralism we are experiencing today with the pluralism of the 1st Century just because of the global scale in which we operate regularly now. Remember, when the phrase “the world” is used in the texts, it was in reference to the world “they” realized, which wasn’t very big, or round for that matter. I’m not just talking about a culture clash; I’m talking about the global village and all that goes with it. Most of our theology is not even close to being capable of addressing such things.

Dave, you wrote, “Ecology is nothing new, either – famine, drought, and plague are nothing new. Just look at the Black Death in Europe, or the Great Hunger in Ireland. The change of climate in Britain and North Africa is another good example. Ecological disaster is important, but not new.”

Famine, drought, and plague were understood to be controlled by a god or the gods, even in the Bible. Today, we know better, I hope. If not, then I have to go and have an argument with God about Africa and it won’t be pleasant. The Black death in Europe was actually spread even more by Christians who gathered together in large groups to pray against it. Some of these things we can’t control, ultimately, but I do hope we have matured as a species enough to actually take responsibility and act as responsible stewards of God’s creation. For so long, we didn’t care. In fact, much of traditional theology sends us towards fatalism and irresponsibility as regards the planet (after all, it’s all going to burn, right?). Again, our theology needs to be stretched in this area, and for the most part it isn’t. I have hope, however.

Dave, you wrote, Knowledge has always increased – those in the Middle Ages believed themselves to be light-years beyond the Ancients, as Descartes saw himself in a class above Aquinas. Yes, we know a lot more than our elders did. Our elders knew a lot more than their elders. And so on.”

I agree, our knowledge of our reality increases through the ages. Our theology, however, does not. It’s the one damned up stream of human understanding and knowledge. I am in no way suggesting that we will master all of the mysteries of the universe! I’m simply saying we don;t have to act and think like we know nothing. The majority of believers do not read their bibles with the understanding that the earth is not flat, there are not four pillars holding up each of the four corners, heaven is not directly above it, and hell is not directly under it. Does it matter? Yes. It’s a huge hermeneutic issue that if acknowledged would change the way we express faith in culture. And that only one – one – example. There are many, many more. We ignore it all and not only act like the bible fell out of the sky as is, but also like we have mastered the universe. Today, if there was any day, this sort of approach to spirituality is counter-productive.

Faith should be addressing the context and needs of generations. Ours is not doing that. Is it helping in a few areas concerning aspects of our basic human condition? Sure. But that’s aiming really low if that’s all it is doing. I would say we aim pretty low because we are scared of losing that sense of self-security that we never had or were offered.

I really do think everything has changed and so should our theology, at least if we want to address these changes. I’m also not suggesting that the core of the Christian message is to be discarded to do so effectively. I would suggest that we all have divergent opinions of what that core actually is …

Really? These are new and original spiritual needs?

Culture clash is nothing new – you know the history of the Roman world.

Ecology is nothing new, either – famine, drought, and plague are nothing new. Just look at the Black Death in Europe, or the Great Hunger in Ireland. The change of climate in Britain and North Africa is another good example. Ecological disaster is important, but not new.

Knowledge has always increased – those in the Middle Ages believed themselves to be light-years beyond the Ancients, as Descartes saw himself in a class above Aquinas. Yes, we know a lot more than our elders did. Our elders knew a lot more than their elders. And so on.

I’ll look forward to your further posting on this, but I think these are material circumstances, not spiritual needs. Men and women need a Savior, a Lord, a Comforter, a Friend, a Counselor. This doesn’t change, though the world around us does. This does not call for a reactionary rejection of all that has come before, it calls for a change in approach, an embracing of new material issues – but without neglecting the core of the faith, which was, is, and always will be Jesus Christ, the Cross, and the Empty Tomb.

Presently, popular expressions of our faith barely address any of these issues. largely because while all of these streams of thought have continued to evolve and grow, our faith expression and understanding has not.

That said, we still deal with same issues as our spiritual ancestors as regards the basic human condition, but we have ignored everything else to our own peril.

Jesus said something about the Sabbath being made for humanity to communicate the idea that humanity was not created for the Sabbath. Expanded, that basically means religion was created for us; we were not created for religion. Christianity, for the most part, has made tools out of all of us. Thus, our present situation which I would argue is worse than most think.

I can clearly see that the circumstantial situations have changed in this transitory material world. How the material changes interact with the spiritual being is something that I don’t necessarily see.

So, looking for a few specific and tangible examples to better understand this.

Still seems to me that a saving understanding and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is paramount on the list. Holy and missional living, prayer and close relationship with God… these all seem pretty timeless.

It seems to me that you can change the vehicle, but the message has never changed, and never should.

So, I am not as optimistic as regards the popular expression of Christianity. In fact, I’d say its days are numbered.

Realistically, the Anglican Church may be in trouble – I really can’t speak to that with any basis in fact. But in the US, the Body of Christ (whether Emerging or Evangelical or whatever) seems to be doing OK to me. Granted I can only speak for the ministries I know personally, but they are doing well spiritually – and that is what matters.

I know my home church is not large, but it is an impacting player in the town that we are located in. The mayor and town council members give ear to the church leaders, not because we are so embroiled in their politics, but because we feed, clothe, and shelter the poor. We provide for children. We act like Christ and his Apostles did, and the Early Church.

I think we need to be careful that we don’t play into the myth of the Church’s failure – if you read the writers of the Renaissance, or the Enlightenment, many of them thought the same, and have been proven quite wrong by history.

Thanks for that note. It’s an important one. :)