History Through the Lens of the Gospel

Michael Goheen

Trinity Western University

Langley, B.C.

Introduction

• Live in pragmatic age where economic idolatry and consumerism is leading religious spirit

• Education shaped by this spirit• First subjects to go: those that

don’t contribute to jobs• History, philosophy, theology• Is history one of the most

important subjects?

Why is studying history of Western civilization important?

• Gives understanding of how our cultural life was formed– Illustration of history of

consumerism

The formation of consumerism• Consumerism seeds in Enlightenment• Vision of Enlightenment implemented

in 19th century Industrial Revolution• Growth of consumer society in 20th

century– Gap between production and

consumption– The struggle between two responses– The choice for the gospel of consumption

– Advertising, planned and perceived obsolescence

Social decision to opt for gospel of consumption

“We could actually have chosen the four-hour day, or a working year of six months. . . . [it was a] social decision to direct industrial innovation toward producing [and marketing] unlimited quantities of goods rather than leisure [that created the foundation for our modern consumer culture] . . . a culture of work and spend.” (Juliet Schor)

Why is studying history of Western civilization important?

• Gives understanding of how our cultural life was formed

• Enables us to understand the religious beliefs that shape the world in which we live

‘ . . . history is our most potent intellectual means of achieving a “raised consciousness” . . .’ (Neal Postman)

Incomparably the most urgent missionary task for the next few decades is the mission to ‘modernity’... It calls for the use of sharp intellectual tools, to probe behind the unquestioned assumptions of modernity and

uncover the hidden credo which supports them... At the most basic level there is need for critical

examination from a Christian standpoint of the reigning assumptions . . . in history (How do we understand the story of which we are a part?) - Lesslie Newbigin

Absolutisation of economic life“These criticisms are directed not so much against an economic system as against an ethical and cultural system. The economy, in fact, is only one aspect and one dimension of the whole of human activity. If economic life is absolutized, if the production and consumption of goods become the center of social life and society’s only value—not subject to any other value—the reason is to be found not so much in the economic system itself as in the fact that the entire sociocultural system, by ignoring the ethical and religious dimension, has been weakened, and ends by limiting itself to the production of goods and services alone.” (Pope John Paul II)

Idolatry

“Precisely because the culture of economism is a quasi-religion, with a pretence of encompassing the totality of life and of bringing happiness and fulfilment, we find ourselves obliged from a Christian point of view to denounce it as dehumanizing idolatry . . .”

- Jane Collier

Why is studying history of Western civilization important?

• Gives understanding of how our cultural life was formed

• Enables us to understand the religious beliefs that shape the world in which we live

• Tells story of our culture in such a way that it invites participation

• How we tell the story will shape the way we participate

• All histories are telling a story according to some ‘hero’– Selection– Arrangement– Emphasis– Interpretation

• Invitation to participate in the story and place faith in the ‘hero’

Until lions have their historians, hunters will always be the hero of the story.

-African proverb

Where did these terms come from?

• Middle ages

• Renaissance

• Enlightenment

What is the hero of the story?

Renaissancesom ethingborn again

E n lig hte nm e n tsom ething

becom es lightof the world

Middle Agessom ething

suppressed

14th c. 18th c.

W hat? R a tiona lis tic hum anism

Eras:

Classical Medieval Modern P os tm od ern

Dictionary Definitions

• Classic: of the highest class; most representative of the excellence of its kind; having recognized worth

• Modern: up-to-date; not old-fashioned, antiquated or obsolete.

• Medieval: middle (medius) age (aevum); outdated

Another way to designate eras:

Classical Medieval Modern P os tm od ern

Pagan Synthesis A ntithe sis N eo -pa g an

How do we tell the story of our culture?

• Whose story?• Which hero?• Most histories of Western

civilization assume humanist story and invite participation

Invites Christian student to critical participation . . .

• Understand religious foundation of culture

• Affirm and love all the created goodness from historical development

• Oppose the idolatry that has shaped cultural development

• Affirm the salting effect of the gospel in Western culture

Two problems leaving our students unequipped in spiritual battle . . .

• Humanist tellings of the story

• Little or no history at all!