Christianity and challenge of secularisation Flashcards Preview

AQA A Level RS (christianity and dialogues) > Christianity and challenge of secularisation > Flashcards

Flashcards in Christianity and challenge of secularisation Deck (19)
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1
Q

britain as a secular society

A

pre-reformation peoples lives were controlled by the church; monarch dictated the official religion and those who dissented were liable to torture and death

reformation encouraged a more individualistic approach to religion eg study bible and interpret meaning for yourself

18th century emphasis on reason evidence and scientific thought further enocouraged a more indivdulistic approach, openly possible to be agnostic

19th century: ww1 and ww2 and the challenge to authority in the 1960 decreased numbers of those who attended church and regarded themselves as practising christians

20th century squabbles and scandals within the church led to a growing number of disillusionment with traditional christianity

2
Q

replacement of religion as the source of moral truths

A

traditionally right and wrong was linked with the church
source of morality = bible
right and wrong = objective

social sciences weakened this notion:
anthropologists saw the concepts of right and wrong as affected by culture

marx saw religion and its view of morality as a social and political tool of control

freud claimed that it satisfied a psychological need

secular humanism includes the belief that people can love morally good loves without religion

3
Q

relegation of religion to personal sphere

A

increasing secularism has seen faith as an entirely personal choice and a private matter for the individual

however, christianity still plays an important role in britain in:

  • parliament- house of lords has bishops
  • church of england and scotland are established churches
  • national anthem contains ‘god’
4
Q

value of wealth and possessions

A

materialism is a key feature of modern secular society

5
Q

growth of materialism

A

post reformation views saw money and wealth as important as a secure family life depended on possessing worldly goods and enough money to pay for them

expansion of empire saw accumulation of africa, americas and far east led to capitalism

capitalism was reinforced by the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries great wealth created banking, businesses and trading.

terrible poverty and wealth inequality addressed by marx in capitalism but was unheeded by british society as a whole

materialism now seen on every level of society

  • wealthy tend to see continued wellbeing as dependent upon acquiring more wealth
  • poor see acquisition of money and possessions as key to happiness
  • material possessions are seen as more important than spiritual qualities
6
Q

NT attitudes to wealth

A

“easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”

jc told rich man in order to enter heaven must give everything he had to the poor (mark)

parable of the rich man and lazarus (luke) contained a warning of dire consequences for those who enjoyed great wealth but ignored needs of the poor

jc didn’t condemn wealth eg zaccheus, still had money but was ‘saved’ (luke)

“for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” 1 Timothy

7
Q

NT and wealth:

A

early days of christianity people shared everything

famine in jerusalem, christians in syria collected money to send to those in need

wealth not seen as wrong, it was attitude that mattered

8
Q

brüderhof

A

set up in early 20th century and its communities are now found in a number of countries eg 3 in uk
see materialism as of of main reasons fro problems today
live in communities without personal wealth
make certain vows, one of which is to live simply

9
Q

prosperity gospel

A

developed mid 20th century USA, pentecostal
christian beliefs and practices will be rewarded by god in terms of material prosperity and physical well being
members are expected to give generously to evangelistic work and some churches involve social projects
—–africa and asia

10
Q

mainstream christianity

A

denounce prosperity gospel and adopt brüderhof attitude to wealth
eg richard and george adbcrury who built good housing offered good wages, pensions and medical care to employees
christians = stewards over their wealth, sharing generously to those in need
many churches run rood banks and encourage care for the homeless
ending global poverty
eg Christian aid, tearfund and CAFOD

11
Q

militant atheism

A
late 20th century 
peter atkins 
richard dawkins 
christopher hitching 
stephen fry 
religion = dangerous that should be annihilated on grounds of irrationality and lack of intelligence
12
Q

Richard Dawkins; God delusion

A

attacks religion:
- god hypothesis is irrational and contrary to good science
- religion is primitive, harmful and has spread like a virus
- religion encourages discrimination and is a major cause of conflict
- teaching children religion is form of child abuse
people can be morally good without religion

13
Q

mcgrath defence: The dawkins delusion

A

seeks to show dawkins arguments are fundamentally flawed

  • dawkins = wrong in his claim good science is bound to result in atheism ( eg Francis Collins the director of the human genome project and a christian )
  • dawkins view that science disproves religion is challenged, mcgrath claims that the two are ‘partially overlapping magisteria’, they come at world from 2 different but valid perspectives and can be mutually enriching
  • criticises dawkins on his assumptions that all christians adopt views of god and the bible which are only adopted by a few fundamentalists, very limited understanding of christianity
  • accuses dawnings of fundamentalism in his unquestioning acceptance of some atheist views, biased in supporting evidence that supports his view = v unscientific
14
Q

stephen j gould

A

‘either had my colleagues are stupid, or else the science of darwinism is fully compatible with conventional religious beliefs- and equally compatible with atheism’

15
Q

fresh expressions

A

set up by c of e
evangelical aim in seeking to share christian thinking
words alongside traditional churches, not replacing but supplementing
shares with those who ordinarily have no contact with church, starts from where people are
not preaching traditional beliefs and ritual practices , considers how life and attitude of JC may help people

16
Q

house church movement

A

views secularisation as largely hostile to church
sees parallels with early church
-met in private
- house church movement seeks to replicate this practice

movement away meeting in tradtional church buildings

  • approach to bible often fundamentalist
  • focus on individual experience of god calling them to a particular lifestyle or form of worship

tendency to split

  • british new church movement emerged
  • charismatic
  • prophecy, glossolaila (tongues) healing etc
17
Q

christianity relevance to a secular society

A

british society still views religion as socially relevant
- times of major disaster people often turn to the church to make sense of what has happened
eg Grenfell towers disaster

  • church often plays a significant part in helping the communities to come to terms with tragedy
    eg murder of a child

social involvement demonstrates how the teachings of christianity are socially and politically relevant in the modern world

  • jc put caring for others above rules eg healing on the sabbath
  • in jesus god is immanent and fully involved in the world
18
Q

liberationist approaches

A

extreme poverty caused by political corruption and suppression of any attempt to seek justice elicited two responses:

  • catholic church + pope advocation non violence and non confrontational approach
  • other catholic leaders joined forces with other protest groups in order to force change LIBERATIONIST approach
    - some saw violent action as the only way of removing injustice
    - Archbishop Oscar Romero denounced government oppression of the poor and violations of human rights in el salvador— assassinated in 1980, brought global awareness to the issue
    - ‘preferential option for the poor’, which was at heart of JC ministry and endorsed by early church
19
Q

britain and poor and oppressed

A

Church urban fund which was reaction to reports of poverty and deprivation in uk cities
gives grants to secular and religious organisations trying to tackle the issues
eg food banks, day centres, hot meals etc