The Conditions for the Gospel in Post-secular Society

Jan-Olav Henriksen
Professor of Systematic Theology
MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society

Perhaps the most crucial outcome of discussions about the post-secular can be summarized in three questions: 

• What kind of society do we want? Is it one that will allow everyone to flourish and which will serve all?
• What kind of religion is best suited to build such a society?
• What is the Gospel to which such a society can relate and which can offer hope and promise for all – across differences?

The answers to these questions makes it necessary to return to an old position: To be a Christian is to engage the world and live on common presuppositions. It is not about another world but about articulating the conditions and the experiences we have of this world in a way that is, in principle, accessible to all. The Gospel is a promise of community, which can only be experienced in a society that recognizes what is shared despite deep differences. The Christian message articulates this fact, most profoundly expressed in the conviction that every human is created in the image of God. Therefore, it makes no sense to operate with a sharp distinction between the secular and the sacred and see religion as distinct from other spheres of life. It has to do with all of life – even when not articulated. 

Against this backdrop, it is possible to side with Ingolf Dalferth, when he underscores that Christian theology “makes no theologically relevant distinction between sacred and profane, religious and non-religious, holy and secular, and clergy and laity.” Accordingly, “No area of life and thought is intrinsically more “sacred” or “religious” than any other.” How they live and practice the presence of a loving God decides the character of their life. Dalferth continues: 

Thus, in a fundamental and revolutionary sense, Christian faith is a faith that sets humans free to use all their capacities to mold and change human life in the world in accordance with the gospel message of the saving and perfecting presence of God’s creative love. Christians are free to live a free life in responsibility to God and to their fellow creatures-not only their fellow Christians but all human beings who have become God’s freely chosen neighbors. (338)

According to Dalferth, today’s main challenge is “the widespread apatheism and indifference toward faith and God that characterizes many strands of contemporary society.” (339)  I argue that the relevance of this point is even broader than what he suggests. It concerns the fact that our societies may need religious traditions, including Christianity in a more liberal version, to overcome polarization, separation, and lack of care for those in need. Against this backdrop, it makes sense to say, with Dalferth, that “Christians must find ways to show and communicate to their contemporaries that faith, hope, and love in God are inexhaustible gifts that enrich, orient, and humanize human life rather than misconceived reactions to human dependency, misery, lack, and deficiency, and that these gifts do not add a religious dimension to human life that one may or may not practice but rather transform all areas of human life by changing the mode in which humans live their lives.” (339)  

His conclusion is, therefore, very much aligned with what I argue, namely that “Christian faith does not add a dispensable religious dimension to human life but rather transforms its existential mode from a self-centered to a God-open life that puts its ultimate trust not in any human institution, whether religious or non-religious, but in the creative presence of God’s love.” (339)