For the next week or so, I am going to provide you with a bit of a history lesson that, trust me, you’ll be glad you learned. If you are like me, and find yourself looking in bewilderment at so many things in our society, from the insanity of the current presidential election, the growing secularism in our culture, and to the growing paranoia of that secularization in so many churches these days, you might have asked yourself at one point or another, “What the heck has happened?”
If you have asked that question, congratulations. You are ready to embark on a historical journey to figure out how we as a modern society have gotten to this point.
Welcome to Worldview, Boys and Girls!
If you want to truly understand the worldview dynamics of our current age, you have to go back to where “the modern age” really began—that time when the world witnessed the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution all happening virtually at the same time. Those three monumental events have shaped our modern age so thoroughly, that most people today don’t even realize there was ever a time when people viewed the world any other way.
During my time as a Worldview teacher, I taught a 12th grade course on the history of Western philosophical thought, as well as an 11th grade course on the basics of Church history. Now, my specialty is Biblical Studies, so when I found myself teaching these classes, I was learning a lot of this stuff right along with the students. I ended up doing a lot of outside reading and research so that I would be able to give my students a clear, understandable overview of these topics. There was one book in particular that I read that was simply was a game-changer.
That book was The Unintended Reformation: How A Religious Revolution Secularized Society by Brad Gregory, a professor at the University of Notre Dame. It is a 600-page slog that shows the unintended consequences of the Reformation—but, my oh my, what an illuminating slog it is! Reading the book was like climbing Mount Everest: long, slow, and difficult, but oh so worth it, once you see the view.
And so, over the next week or so, I want to go through The Unintended Reformation, and highlight the main arguments of this very challenging and insightful book.
The Main Thesis of the Book
To get the ball rolling, there is one thing that needs to be clarified. It is something most people already know. Our modern world, the “modern worldview” of secular states in the West, if you will, is one that essentially sees “religion” as a private matter that should be kept clearly distinct from public life. It is a worldview that looks to science and objective reason, as opposed to subjective faith, as the surest means of ascertaining truth. It assumes that there is a “war” between science and religion, and therefore it holds the concept of “separation of Church and State” almost sacred (well, not really “sacred,” because that would imply “religion,” and we don’t want that impacting our public discourse!).
That, in a nutshell, is the worldview of modern Western states: (1) science and religion are kept separate, (2) science and reason is the way to get a grasp on truth, and let’s add (3) despite the exclusion of faith in public life, there still is an expectation that citizens should behavior morally.
So, what gave rise to the modern secular state? Brad Gregory’s answer may shock you…the emergence of the modern secular state is an unintended consequence of the Protestant Reformation. Or, to be a bit cheeky about it, if you are horrified by the likes of Richard Dawkins, the ACLU, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and no prayer in public schools—then blame Martin Luther and John Calvin.
Now obviously, the book is not saying that Luther and Calvin’s goal when they launched the Protestant Reformation was to help establish godless secular states. Remember, the book’s title is The Unintended Reformation—simply put, Luther and Calvin wouldn’t have seen this coming, but nevertheless, what we see and experience today in the modern Western world can be traced back to the decisions and rhetoric of the early Reformers of the Protestant Reformation.
Before we take that trip back into history, we will first cover Gregory’s first chapter, “Excluding God,” in which he takes a look at almost “idolitrazation” of science and the scientific method in the modern secular state. If that sounds interesting, then check back soon for my next installment.
In all seriousness, the reason why I want to take a few posts to talk about this book is because I feel it is vitally important for any Christian to understand the “historical flow” of certain events that have gotten us to where we are today. A lot of good things came out of the Reformation, but we have to acknowledge that there have also been a few catastrophic things as well. This book, as well as my next few posts, discusses these very things. I for one, don’t like calling it the Protestant Reformation. I was a veritable Protestant Revolution…and it was quite frankly, a revolt against the very Tradition and history of the Church. If that sounds a bit provocative, I hope you check back to read the next few posts. I think they will be illuminating.
