Secularisation (24) AQA A Level Religious Studies

How wise are Christian teachings on wealth? 

EARLY CHRISTIANS: 

• Some Christians adopt the way of life of the Early Christians 

• These Christians originated in Jerusalem, and they lived life simply 

• All wealth is shared among the community 

• For example, when there was a famine in Jerusalem Christians in Syria collected money to send to them 

BRUDENHOF COMMUNITY: 

• Collection of Christians in small communities across the world (around 28 communities) 

• There are three communities in the UK 

• They follow the teachings of the early Christians, and all the wealth is pooled and then shared in the community, nobody has any personal properties 

• "To put yourself completely at the disposal of the church community to the end of your life – all your faculties, the entire strength of your body and soul, and all your property, both that which you now possess and that which you may later inherit or earn” this is the vow they must take during their believers baptism 

• They believe that materialism is the root of many worlds' problems 

PROSPERITY GOSPEL: 

• Developed in the mid-twentieth century in the USA as part of the Pentecostal church 

• It teaches that good Christian actions will be rewarded by material wealth 

• They believe that wealth is Gods will for the faithful and that being poor is a punishment 

• Members are required to give generously to the church and are promised that they will be rewarded greatly by God 

• There have been many scandals around the leaders of the churches however the movement is incredibly popular in places like Nigeria, the church is very highly thought of and many see them as trustworthy 

• In Nigeria the prosperity gospel is intertwined with politics 

RESPONSES TO THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL: 

• Most mainstream Christians reject the idea of the prosperity gospel as it makes the poor feel guilty about being poor when it isn't their fault, Christians also believe the focus on wealth removes the importance from spiritual gifts, the prosperity gospel also directly contradicts with most of the Bible teachings about wealth 

MAINSTREAM CHRISTIAN VIEWS: 

• 19^th century industrialists such as George and Richard Cadbury created the Bournville village for their workers to live in  

• Churches may run food banks, homelessness shelters, Street Pastors, coffee mornings 

• Tearfund, CAFOD, Christian Aid charities giving humanitarian aid and improving the quality of life for individuals who need it the most 

Has Dawkins shown that religion is irrational? 

MILITANT ATHEISTS: 

• They believe that Miracle's, life after death, the existence of God, the virgin birth and resurrection is not based on evidence so is irrational 

• People who believe these things are stupid or insane 

• They compare religious beliefs to Santa 

• They blame religion for wars 

• They see the involvement of religion in education as brainwashing 

• Raising children as religious is seen as child abuse 

RICHARD DAWKINS: 

• Believes that science and religion should be separate 

• Religion leads to immoral behaviour e.g., Treatments of Homosexuals/ mass killings in the Old Testament 

• Raising children as religious is child abuse 

• The anthropic principle is down to chance (multiverse) not down to God 

• Religion has become a part of life as a by-product of our survival e.g. Everyone accepting that they don’t kill their tribe benefits our survival 

MCGRATH RESPONSE: 

• Both science and religion have their own spheres, but they do overlap in some places 

• Dawkins is wrong to argue that science leads to atheism (e.g. Issac Newton) 

• Dawkins replaces the perception of religion with fundamentalism people hold this view unquestionably, arguably this is the same thing atheists do 

• There are limits to science 

• Atheism may be an excuse for immoral behaviour 

STRWAMAN FALLACY: 

• Where someone distorts someone's argument to make it easier to knock down for example: 

• Person 1: I think we should increase benefits for unemployed single mothers during the first year after childbirth because they need sufficient money to provide medical care for their children. 

• Person 2: So, you believe we should give incentives to women to become single mothers and get a free ride from the tax money of hard-working citizens. This is just going to hurt our economy and our society in the long run. 

• You can see that person 2 has changed the argument of person 1 to change the context in which they are arguing. 

• McGrath says that Dawkins is guilty of this as he chooses to only focuses on the fundamentalist part of Christianity, this is an incredible small margin of the Christian population. Catholics and protestants believe that Genesis 1 and the Bible is a myth/metaphor so do accept science e.g., the BBT and evolution, this destroys Dawkin's argument. 

How is the “church” changing? 

MESSY CHURCH: 

• Messy church is where thousands of people gather of all ages to discover Jesus 

• They focus primarily on people who have never been to church before, so they meet in locations that are more suitable for families e.g.  in a community hall or café.  

• It focuses on creativity, fun, celebration and hospitality 

• Messy church isn't just about having fun it also teaches people about Jesus; however, they do this in a more informal way 

• Messy churches may encourage you to come to church on a Sunday 

• It helps people explore their faith, everyone is valued, and everyone is involved no matter their stage in their religious journey 

POTTING SHED CHRUCH 

• The church was founded in 2015 by Bishop Paul Williams who shared a view of changing the approach to church focusing on connecting individuals, families and young people in rural communities.  

• The church "gives itself away" to the local community, it preaches Jesus but in a way that is more suited to rural families.  

• "Potting shed" was chosen as the name as it encourages the connection with hospitality 

•  and nature 

• The church has a range of events including:  

• Potting shed kids: tailored services for primary school age children 

• Rooted Youth: high school age children meet in an informal setting and discuss God 

• Life Groups: informal meetings in members houses to get to know one another better 

• Saturday breakfast: Prayer and catch up over coffee 

• Alpha course: discover Christianity over a meal 

• Go deeper: to greater discover your faith with God 

FRESH EXPRESSIONS CHURCH: 

• "Fresh expression are new forms of churches that emerge with culture and engage primarily with those who don’t go to church"- Mission Shaped church report 

• Fresh expressions gives people an opportunity to be creative in how they preach God for example: 

• The Creepy Cove Community Church: it is an online sermon started by Peter Laws in a spooky old church. He is a church minister who left 10 years ago to write horror books about an ex-pastor turned atheist professor who helps police catch Christian murders. Due to horror being controversial among religious folk his work aims to bring together Christians and those who enjoy horror providing a safe space for them to discuss both God and Horror. The movement isn't a "typical church" but those who attend feel they are at a "service"  

• Anyone can start a Fresh Expressions Church; the organisation provides a book that can help guide you on your journey to creating one of these churches.  

•  The church promotes listening, loving and serving, building a community, exploring discipline, churches taking shape and then you repeat the process to build love and Jesus into your community. 

NEW CHURCH MOVEMENT: 

• The British New Church Movement is a nonchromatic evangelical Christian Movement 

• It was originally known as "the house church movement" 

• Arthur Wallis and David Lillie became convinced of the validity of Spiritual Gifts after receiving the "baptism in the spirit" 

• They believed that the church needed to be restored to the New Testaments forms of church government that were outlined in St Pauls epistle to the Ephesians.  

• This became known as the "fivefold ministry model" and this was important for the New Church Movement 

• Growth and Development: 

• In the 1970s the "magnificent seven" came together who recognised each other as apostles and prophets sought to restore the church. In 1976 they diverged into two groups: 

• Restoration 1: followed the teachings of Arthur Wallis  

• Restoration 2: followed a more relaxed view of cinema/popular culture and "secular" culture and they encouraged leadership of ministries of women. 

• R1 and R2 didn’t represent two different organisations.  

• They spilt due to the differences in opinions on gospels and prophets, different view on grace an law, women, culture, appropriate discipline of leaders. 

• Modern day: 

• Restoration 1 diverged into 3 groups: one led by Bry Jones, Terry Virgo and Tony Morton. Eventually Bryn Jones's group spilt into five parts 

• Restoration 2 had at least 3 groups led by Gerald Cotes, John Noble and George Tarlton. The groups quickly fell apart.  

• R1 churches have maintained their impetus but R2 churches have been less successful 

• There was no leadership in the movement, so it was hard for the groups to survive, 

• New streams have developed focusing on the idea of spiritual gifts. 

Cultural relatavism 

The belief that morality is not objective but rather dependent on the norms and rules of any culture  

eg. in the UK (secular) any sexual orientation is permissible but in Islamic countries this is not the case. 

-with cultural relativism we cannot say one is “right” and one is “wrong” rather we would say: “here we approve/disproove homosexulaity” rather than “homosexuality is moral/immoral” 

2011 and 2021 Census Data UK

Which Christian denominations are growing? 

• Charismatic 

• Evangelical 

• Pentecostal 

Which Christian denominations are declining? 

• Catholics 

• Church of England 

• Baptist 

• Orthodox 

Who was Oscar Romero? (he is an example of the liberationist approach)

• Oscar Romero was Archbishop of El Salvador from 1977 until his assassination in 1980​ 

• He was initially regarded as a "safe "choice to hold the position, but he became increasingly outspoken about human rights violations in El Salvador​ 

• He denounced violence and spoke out on behalf of the victims of the civil war​ 

• The media was very censored, and Romero used his radio broadcasts to tell the people about what was really happening​ 

• He defended the poor and demanded political change​ 

• Before he was assassinated, he wrote to US president Jimmy Carter urging the US to stop backing the El Salvador government and supplying t with military advisors 

 What are some examples of the UK being a Christian country? 

• The NHS was regarded as “the closest thing the English people have to religion” 

• The Monarchy is the head of the Church of England 

• The Monarchy service says that we are “the children of God” 

• The Trussell Trust is a Christian organisation with their website saying they follow Christian values 

• The national anthem says “God save the King/Queen”  

• In courts you have to swear an oath on the Bible 

• Christianity is still the largest religion 

• Bishops automatically get a place in the House of Lords 

 What evidence could be used to say that the UK is not a Christian country? 

• Christianity has decreased to 46%, the majority of people are not Christian 

• There has been a rise in other religions eg. Islam 

What % of people are Christian in the world? (as of 2022) 

31.6% are Christian 

25.8% are Muslim 

15.1% are Hindu 

14.4% are Unaffiliated (not religious) 

6.6% are Buddhists 

5.4% are Folk Religionists 

0.8% are other religions 

0.2% are Jewish