Catalyst for change, part two

This chapter is packed. If you're wondering about the author's credentials, click here for her website. I found interesting that her perspective of religion is more from watching trends as the first religion editor of Publisher's Weekly. She essentially has been in the right place at the right time to see things from farther outside than me.

Tickle begins by connecting the Renaissance with the Reformation in that both required the culture of the near east to infiltrate Europe. With the growth of Islam, the capture of Constantinople, the question of the rightful papacy and then the consequent move of Orthodox scholars (with their ancient writings) to Europe, she builds a picture of groundwork being laid for the Reformation. While we date the Reformation with Luther, certainly we understand (as I have already begun to question in the last post) that the need an desire for change had already begun. She asserts that the Fall of Constantinople is as good a candidate as any for dating the beginnings of the last "rummage sale."

"The intercultural, inter-religious clashes of the late 14th and 15th centuries, combined with the rediscovery of the Classical writers and the vulnerabilities of exaggerated human suffering, led the people of the peri-Reformation to a reconsideration not only of the Church but also of the state and of social and economic order."

What happened next? the rise of the individual and the idea of capitalism, the family replaces the clan, the middle class emerges, the idea of nation-state and a new form of Christianity called Protestantism.

As a person rooted in this "emergence" or this shift, I can wholeheartedly say that individualism has turned into an acceptance of selfishness. Capitalism might be a good idea but without a moral imperative to care for our neighbors it has reaked havoc on global commerce. My family lives all over the country and I have replaced the gift of family with a community of friends. I'm not sure who is in the middle class anymore. I hope for my country (nation-state) to be a brother or sister to the neighboring nation-states - When we say "God Bless America", I wish we would think of north, central and south America. And finally, I wonder almost every day what new form of Christianity will emerge to expand the gospel of Jesus Christ and will I recognize it?

So on my rummage sale table today, like Tickle has argued, lies: the individual, capitalism, the family unit, the middle class, national identity, and Protestantism (with all its denominational disunity.)

No wonder I am so offensive to so many. And so to remind me and you if you're reading that this emergent movement is really rooted in Christ's command to love our neighbor, here's a youtube clip from Rob Bell.