Pentecostalism, Secularism, and Post Christendom

Noel

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498229371
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

"If only we were a Christian country again!" Christians, particularly those in the West, often lament their loss of influence in modern politics and culture. It seems that everywhere one turns, Christendom in the West is dealt another blow, with Christian reactions ranging from withdrawal and entrenchment, to cries of persecution and talks of organized resistance. Pentecostalism, Secularism, and Post Christendom seeks to address these concerns via an examination of Classical North American Pentecostalism as it wrestles with the very real challenges posed by the increasing post-Christian ethos of Western culture. In addition to providing a number of concrete steps, Pentecostals may take in their efforts to better understand and connect with modern culture, this work will argue that counter-intuitively, the death of Christendom (if properly addressed), may in fact herald the arrival of the Church's finest hour.

1

Introduction

Much like the church of the first century, the church in North America is now struggling to find its place in society. The writers of the New Testament often admonished those to whom they wrote about the importance of influencing, rather than being influenced by culture; the North American church finds itself struggling with similar issues. Unlike the early church, however, which faced a culture that never was Christian (in any sense) to begin with, the North American church of the twenty-first century must learn to find its place in a culture that, just a few decades ago, seemingly embraced the Christian worldview—but does so no longer. In recent times the church in Western Europe and her offspring elsewhere in the United States, Canada and Australia have faced an unprecedented decline in ecclesial participation and cultural influence; as I will demonstrate below, this has often happened more quickly than church leaders had previously imagined possible.1

While all denominational groups have faced similar challenges negotiating the new religious context, attempts to mitigate the decline have varied widely. Several mainline denominations, for example, have focused on bridging the widening gap between church and culture in part by adjusting doctrine and practice to better suit prevailing attitudes in society. Others, largely from more fundamentalist or holiness backgrounds, have been tempted to retreat within the four walls of the church, as they await the Lord’s return and subsequent removal of the saints from this “world of sin.” As members of the latter group, Pentecostals have likewise grappled with an appropriate response to a culture that in many ways scarcely resembles the more “Christian” culture that existed in 1906—the year Pentecostalism exploded upon the religious world of North America.

The challenge is particularly significant at this stage in Canadian Pentecostal history, for as we shall observe, the religious scene in Canada is replete with examples of denominations that, though robust as recently as 1960, have found their membership plummeting, some by over 50 percent. Pentecostals, long known for their incredible growth, have also watched their increase slow and, in some cases, join the others in a downward slide. In the coming chapters I will argue that failure to address the considerable changes in Canadian culture in the last fifty years will spell disaster for Pentecostalism in Canada. Further, with the United States facing its own version of the post-Christendom narrative sooner rather than later, American Christians may be able to make the adjustments necessary to embrace the post-Christendom context, and do so before facing the significant numerical decline experienced by the Church in Canada and Europe. As such, the Canadian experience is presented herein as a harbinger of the wider cultural and religious shifts occurring in North America as a whole.

Post Christendom?

At issue in this study is whether Canada is in fact becoming a society that in the last century has shifted from being largely beholden to Christendom to a post-Christendom posture that is increasingly secular in orientation. We are thinking here of the shift in attitudes and practice among the Canadian populace that just a few decades ago reported high percentages of weekly church attendance and saw a large majority self-identify as Christian. As chapter 3 will demonstrate, both of these markers have demonstrated significant decline in the last half-century. With the American statistics closely following those of Canada, albeit belatedly, lessons learned from the Canadian experience may well be readily applicable to our southern neighbours. To assist with our exploration of this trend and our discussion of post-Christendom later in chapter 3, we will first pause and explore what a “Christian country” might look like in the context of Canadian society. John H. Redekop2 helpfully summarizes the options:

1. A Christian country is one in which there is an official or unofficial fusion of church and state. This was a common situation in medieval Europe; John Calvin established just such a situation in Geneva in the 1530s. In our day, this fusion of political and religious (Muslim) institutions may be found in some Arab countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and when considering Christianity, the United Kingdom and many European countries are examples.

2. A Christian country is one in which Christianity is the dominant faith and the government, while separated from the religious structures, ensures that the values of the dominant Christian religion are upheld, at times with coercive force. We may note examples of this in early French Canada, and most of Roman Catholic Latin America until the 1960s.

3. A Christian country is one in which Christianity is the dominant religion and its values are reflected in the laws of the land but the government does not use coercive power to assist religious organizations. Some laws, such as the prohibition against Sunday shopping, and the use of the Bible in courts, may incorporate Christian values. Government does not promote Christian values but typically grants Christian groups the freedom to do so. The tradition in Canada of the Gideons distributing New Testaments to grade five students is emblematic of this. This definition reflects the situation in Canada from about 1840 until the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982, elevating minority and individual rights, which Redekop believes significantly changed the Canadian landscape and ushered in further examples of secularism.

4. A Christian country is one in which Christianity is the dominant religion but while some government policies may still incorporate certain religious values, these are generally described by governments, the media, and educators in secular terms. The basic government stance is that no religion is to be given preferred treatment for the government itself is secular by definition. To demonstrate that they are not in any way pro-Christian, governments, media, and educators sometimes give preferred treatment to minority, non-Christian religions. Redekop believes this was the case in Canada from about 1982 until about 2000. While we may dispute the dates used to provide a timeframe, the outcomes described have been observed in Canadian political and religious life.3

5. A Christian country is one in which Christianity, although mostly in a nominal form, is still the dominant religion, and its principles and ethos still impact society. Governments, courts, media, and the schools, however, at all levels strive to remove from the public institutions of society anything that is obviously Christian, for example, Christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter. Religion, especially Christianity, is relegated to the margins as a purely private matter. This has been the situation in Canada since about 2000, though the seeds of this may be observed in Canadian culture from the 1980s; many battles are currently underway in the United States on this front. According to this criterion, a country is Christian only because most of its people identify with that faith, whether seriously or only superficially, not because Christian values and practices enjoy public support or endorsement.

Though there are other ways of approaching this classification, I believe that Redekop’s categories bring clarity to the discussion without binding us to his method of delineation. His approach assists us as we seek to understand the historical journey Canada has traversed in terms of Christianity. Though scholars may wish to challenge minor details used to describe each category, or perhaps the specific years assigned to each period, there is nearly unanimous consensus based on statistical evidence alone that Canada has experienced profound movement as a nation towards post-Christendom in the last half-century. In chapter 3 I will demonstrate that in the last fifty years Canada has transitioned in its relationship with Christianity from Definition 3, through Definition 4, to Definition 5. As such, it is incumbent upon Pentecostals to evaluate both their understanding of new cultural realities, and their efforts to evangelize successive generations of Canadians.

Purpose, Rationale, Methods, and Limitations

The goal of this work is to serve as a primer for pastors and other Pentecostal leaders as they endeavour to understand trends towards secularism and post-Christendom, and from that vantage point create new ways of engaging North American culture. I strive therefore to provide a study of both Pentecostalism and current cultu...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Pentecostalism in North America
• Chapter 3: Current Societal Context
• Part 2
• Chapter 4: A Sample Pentecostal Denomination
• Part 3
• Chapter 5: Theme 1: Generational Issues
• Chapter 6: Theme 2: Creativity and Risk
• Chapter 7: Themes 3 & 4: Being Missional and Influencing Culture
• Chapter 8: Themes 5 & 6: Reclaiming Our Supernatural Heritage and Embracing Post Christendom
• Chapter 9: Themes 7 & 8: Essence over Distinctives / Beliefs VS. Values
• Chapter 10: Conclusion, Summary and Limitations
• Appendix 1: First PAONL Survey 2007
• Appendix 2: Second PAONL SURVEY 2009
• Appendix 3: Third PAONL Survey 2011
• Appendix 4: Provincial Survey of PAONL Membership 2012
• Works Cited