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Proclaiming Jesus in Grace and Truth

Proclaiming Jesus in Grace and Truth. The gospel in a post-Christendom, post-modern, pluralist age. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Letters and Papers from Prison).

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Proclaiming Jesus in Grace and Truth

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  1. Proclaiming Jesus in Grace and Truth The gospel in a post-Christendom, post-modern, pluralist age

  2. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Letters and Papers from Prison) ‘what is bothering me … is the question what Christianity really is, … who Jesus really is for us today. The time when people could be told everything in words … is over … religion is over. … How can Christ become the Lord of the religionless as well? What is a religionless Christianity?’

  3. Mission and change? Eternal Gospel ? 400 BC 600 AD 1500 AD 2000 AD Early Church ? Judaism Christendom Reformation Changing expression – David Bosch ‘Transforming Mission’

  4. Post-Christendom? Church attendance 2005 76% of New Christians Come from 26% De-Churched finding faith today 1992 65% Non Churched This section of the population is older and decreasing over time 26% De Churched 9% monthly

  5. Post-Christendom? Not just about church attendance • Grace Davie, - Believing without belonging and vicarious faith • But changing belief • Fading of occasional office • Decline in Christian identity • Stages in the decline of Christendom not a new way for it to persist

  6. Builders (born 20s+30s) in 2005

  7. Boomers (born 40s+50s) in 2005

  8. Gen-Xers (born 60s+70s) in 2005

  9. Gen-Yers (born 80s+90s) in 2015?

  10. Post-modernity?Modernity toPostmodernity I tell my story I choose my beliefs truth as fact truth as experience I buy my identity The logic of consumerism

  11. What is ‘Truth’? • Towards the post-modern • Nietzsche • The Death of God (the madman) The Gay Science 1882 • The displacement of the real ‘Down with all philosophies that speak of a real world’ Twilight of the Idols 1888 • The Matrix ‘Welcome to the Desert of the Real’

  12. From Text to Hyper-Text • Reader response – we tend to read our own meanings into texts • Deconstruction – texts have meanings under the surface which are as ‘true’ (Derrida) • Computerized communication • Changeable • Open to all • Overwhelming volume of shorter work • Difficulty of assessing content

  13. The post-modern problem • The truth behind ‘the many truths’ • ‘All is the Will to Power and nothing besides’ Nietzsche Beyond Good and Evil 1886 • Post Modernity as Liberation? • Richard Rorty, Henry Giroux & Francois Lyotard • We are free from the tyranny of the norm, we can celebrate being black, white or… women, men or…Gay, Straight or… Kosovan, Serbian or….(The critique of the tyranny of modernism) • Or Essential Violence – Darwin? Capitalism? • ‘Humanity does not gradually progress from combat to combat until it arrives at a universal reciprocity, where the rule of law finally replaces warfare; humanity instils each of its violence's in a system of rules and thus proceeds from domination to domination’ Foucault A Foucault Reader Penguin 1984 p85 • ‘The advent of democracy, international courts instead of war, equal rights for women (are all signs of) the slave morality of the herd’ – ‘the hero will come to lead the herd in replacement for the dead god’ Nietzsche On a Genealogy of Morals 1887

  14. Post- Secularism? • Post-modernity - multi-faith in a post-secular age • Post-modern move from truth as fact to truth as experience - From universal truth to true for me may be different to true for you. • Rejection of objectivity for subjectivity • Personal belief re-enters the public square • Any and every belief …. All are equally unprovable • All of this much to the annoyance of Richard Dawkins……. and Christians? • Religion once more on the agenda but any religion with no way back to Christendom …..indeed is Christianity disadvantaged compared to the alternatives?

  15. ‘Spiritual’ experience in 2000 Vs 1987 55% saw a patterning of events – up 90% 38% felt God’s presence – up 41% 37% had answered prayer – up 48% 29% felt sacred in nature – up 81% 25% the presence of the dead – up 39% 1987 48% report a spiritual experience - 2000 risen to 76% 25% the presence of evil – up 108% But what are they experiencing?

  16. Believe in the soul

  17. Believe in an afterlife

  18. Believe in restless spirits

  19. Believe in Karma

  20. Experience of fortune telling, Tarot, astrology, psychics, palmists

  21. Australian Gen Y – like Britain? Rationalist humanist Non believing 14% Moral relativism, pick ‘n’ mix, truth in all religions but not just one, something ‘out there’ occult and paranormal experienced BUT open rather than committed or seeing as important Includes neo pagans and followers or frequent participants in the esoteric/occult growing shrinking ‘new spiritual’ 23% Religious 17%

  22. Japan Britain

  23. Consumer Christianity?

  24. Consumer Christianity? • God the cosmic therapist? • Cruise liner – or Battleship? John Wimber • Church shopping? • Looking for what I get out of it • Looking for the one that does things my way • Buying religious product? • Baptisms & weddings • Rosaries • Retreats • Christmas Carols

  25. I am the way the truth and the life • John 14:1-17 in today’s culture. • Parallels with John 1 – I AM – Jesus as the expression of God’s Character as Grace and Truth • The Way the Truth and the Life all expressions of Jesus Character rather than doctrines about him • But none of that changes the reality that he is the expression of God in the way and not a way, a truth and a life but The way, The truth and The life • Modern pluralism does not affirm different faiths. • Assuming that God is at work in all but all need Christ whilst admitting we can’t know we haven’t got this wrong is the way of grace and truth

  26. Who are on the way? Bounded set ? Or..

  27. Who are on the way? Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?

  28. Who are on the way? Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?

  29. Religion in post-modernity • Religion expresses the issues facing culture (Strauss, Durkheim) • Religion as expression of consumer choice • New Age? Prosperity Gospel? Spirituality? • Religion as celebration of ontological violence • New Atheism vs. fundamentalism? • Religion as an answer to the problem of unity and diversity • Contemporary Paganism? Gaia?

  30. Lessons for sharing faith • People increasingly come to faith through experience rather than changing thinking • People want to grow spiritually and will take support in this seriously • Sharing faith is welcomed. Telling others what they share is wrong simply closes the conversation • People aren’t interested if Christianity is true but if it is inspiring and life changing • with the internet everything is public be consistent • We need to know how we will handle issues of gender, the environment, evil, other-faiths • Avoid Christian language like sin, salvation, redemption etc people don’t understand it or misunderstand it – but we still need to talk about them but with different words • We need to live as if what we say really does work • Remember God transforms people not Christians

  31. A Religionless Evangelism is?….. • Not getting people to Church ………………..….…….. but getting people to be Church • Not taking God to people ………………………………… but seeing what he is already doing in their lives • Not first about getting people into heaven …………… but getting heaven into people • Not saving people from the world ..………………….. but allowing God to transform them as part of a plan to transform the world also Your Kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

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