At the turn of the 19th century, two factors rise as influential in maturing the nova of unbelief that emerged in the 18th century, namely i) the scientific stance as a higher standard, and ii) the continued unfolding of the new cosmic imaginary that had little place for a personal God. Faith came to be seen as childish and immature, and even standard exclusive humanism came to be seen as not far enough in affirming the human person and their fulfilment.

How are we called to respond as missionaries in this space? In this episode we explore the power of self-reflection, patience in accompaniment, and fostering curiosity as directions we might be called to take.

References:

-Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor: (361-376)

In this episode we track the development of art as opening up a space of mystery and intrigue that comes to be a neutral space for unbelief to land in the Romantic era.

While at first the arts largely captured inherently beautiful things and expressed them in the appropriate public context, the context was first removed and later the subject, such that art could then just be beautiful and about nothing in particular.

Further, we posit that the next development has been that art no longer even has to be beautiful. But if beauty is something that naturally leads us to God, what does all this mean for the missionary in this space?

References:

-Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor: (352-360)

-The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron

What happens to our understanding of our world and who we are within it when we start to realise that there is a mystery surrounding the physical origins of humanity and the world?

Charles Taylor highlights three themes that can emerge with this line of questioning:

i) ruins and deep time (time), the sense that there is an unrecoverable past that we have emerged from

ii) the sublime (space), the sense of the infinite expanse of nature at both the universe and microscopic levels

iii) the dark genesis of humanity (existence), the sense that our origins are mixed up mysteriously with that of the natural world around us, and we are perhaps less different than we might first imagine

As these directions spurt more and more avenues, so too does the no man's land between belief and atheism seem to widen. How are we to respond? We turn to a popular biblical narrative and return to the marketplace to find out.

References:

-Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor: (335-351)