But I am inclined to go a bit broader than an awakening.
Just like geographic
time periods (eras) have sub time periods (periods), maybe the Great Awakening
is a period of a larger era.[1] As I determine the validity of the Fourth Great Awakening, I
have researched other theories. These theories have helped me form a
broader picture of what is happening.[2]
A Great Emergence
Phyllis Tickle in her
book The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and
Why outlines a religious transition as it happens every 500
years. Tickle has outlined a great semi-millennial change in
religious and spiritual direction since the time of Jesus. She
refers to these eras as great rummage sales where the culture does a thorough
cleaning and gets rid of ideas and practices that are no longer needed. [3] Here we are at the turn of the 21st century
and ready for another semi-millennial change. Our world is ready for
another rummage sale and Tickle calls this the Great Emergence.
Tickle describes the
last semi-millennial religious shift as the Protestant Reformation and spends a
great deal of time outlining its development in an effort to better understand
the patterns we observe in the twenty-first century. She notes that
one important aspect of the Protestant Reformation is that the leaders of this
movement set themselves directly against Roman Catholicism. She
says, “We cannot look, however, at the huge gifts to Western civilization of
either Protestant or Roman Catholicism without looking as well at how our
forebears on both sides of the divide chose competition over cooperation.”[4] And by doing so, created a church culture
which is always set up and against others. This is known as
hegemony.
Today, humanity lives
more closely with a diverse religious world.[5] technology advances give us quick access to information from
around the world and global communication present us with many religious and
spiritual possibilities. Humanity now sees many correct religious
choices even as each identifies or differs from one’s own. The
normal competitive and hierarchical model of church is being put in Tickle’s
symbolic rummage sale so that room can be made for to more pluralistic and collaborative
models. This is a powerful aspect of today’s change in
religion, church and spirituality. In a world where we are all
connected, there is a drive for collaboration. A global religious
community with many diverse beliefs and faiths may be a major part of its new
identity.
Entering the Age of the Spirit
Harvey Cox in The
Future of Faith takes it a step further and outlines a major religious
transition occurring after fifteen-hundred years. Cox believes that
Christianity has had two defined eras with a third currently
emerging. The first era occurred during the first 300-400 years of
Christianity he titles, the age of faith. This era held the essence
of newness and vitality which defines beginning Christianity. The
faithful followers of this time gathered believers, built the initial
understanding of church and worked with the less privileged.
Around the time of
Emperor Constantine when Christianity moved from a persecuted faith to the
faith of the empire, Christianity entered the age of belief. This
age emphasized the importance of apostolic authority and the need for common
beliefs as defined in the Christian creeds. This period of
hierarchical church and creedal control has lasted 1500 years. Now,
Christianity is ready to evolve to a new place.
Cox is unsure what to
call this new movement but currently favors the name, the age of the spirit.
Ironically, many aspects of this age look a great deal like the initial
movement: the age of faith. Instead of an emphasis on authority,
hierarchy and creedal adherence; faithful people are drawn to the collaborative
and experiential elements of church and faith.
Conclusion
Currently, Christianity
is in the midst of a major global transition and unable to fully define what is
happening. It helps to have good thinkers and writers
help us on this journey of understanding. I have appreciated the
unique perspectives of Harvey Cox, Phyllis Tickle and Diana Bulter-Bass as I
reflect on what is happening in the church today. Historians will be
able to look back decades or centuries from now and better name this era of
Christian transition. Now, Christianity can celebrate the fact that
they have a front row seat to the transition and a role in its current
developments. I am unable to research and name this era because I am
too close to its occurrence but I am able to live it, reflect on it, talk with
colleagues, and write about it from a first-person perspective.
Are we in a great
awakening? Yes, I believe we are. I also believe that we
could possibly be experiencing something greater like a great emergence and the
renaissance of the age of the spirit. It is possible that each of
these identifications are true. Each of these provide a framework
and with this framework comes an easier way to communicate observations with
others. No matter how we name it, this makes this a pivotal age for
Christianity specifically and religion in general.
Endnotes:
[1] For a discussion about geological time periods see http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/histgeoscale.php. I use the language of era and period even though I could easily use eon, era, period, epoch or age. For this paper, the term is not as important as understanding that it is possible that a period exists within a larger period.
[2] Bulter-Bass, 31. I am aware that Butler-Bass frame her discussion of Christianity’s transition in the Great Awakening because it was a more manageable time-frame. I believe there is wisdom in this and gave me a look at transition in its 40-year window. Now I wish to extend this conversation to a broader picture.
You may wish to
read more on this subject. The books cited in this article are a great
place to begin.
Colleague note: Thank you Greg Boyd for urging me to read Phyllis Tickle's book!
Works Cited
Butler-Bass, Diana. Christianity After
Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a
New Spiritual Awakening. New
York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2012.
Cox, Harvey, The Future of Faith. New
York: HarperCollins, 2009.
Tickle, Phyllis, The Great Emergence: How
Christianity Is Changing and Why. Grand Rapids, MI: BakerBooks, 2008.
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