(Girl: freerange stock, Luther: Wikimedia commons, photo editing by Emma Crisp)
One similarity between both reformations is distrust with church. Many 16th century Catholics were losing trust in their religion’s clergy. Similarly, many young adults today distrust organized religion. Many don’t see the need for a religious network to connect with God. In the words of Phillip Melanchthon, they want to “put [their] minds to the sources … [and] begin to understand Christ rightly.” Deism, agnosticism, and queer Christianity are on the rise as the younger generations take their spirituality into their own hands.
The current expansion of communication media draws another similarity between each of the reformations. The printing press allowed for a rapid spread of ideas and enabled communities to rally together. Everyone was able to participate. John Calvin’s suggested this when he said, “Scripture, when read, preached, and heard in faith is the living voice of God.” Whether a person wanted to read, preach, or just hear the word they were allowed to do so. With the advent of the internet we can see another religious communication boom. New spiritual groups are being formed. People can contribute to any circle they desire. Like their predecessors, today’s reformers are using technology to participate in their own faith communities.
There are many parallels between the Protestant reformation and this modern religious reformation. If we look closely, we can see history being written today! The unit, or the individual believer, is being recognized and accommodated, not just the network of believers. We may not know where this modern movement will go, but one thing is for sure – we know where it came from.
Joseph Pratt, Alexander Silinas, Emma Crisp, and Cassidy Crosby
What a cool idea! I never thought to draw the parallels between religious ideals of the reformation and faith practices of many people today. It makes me wonder what will come from this 21st century reformation? Will we see parallels to later periods in history? Thanks for the thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI guess modes of communication such as the printing press and internet are both helpful and harmful to religions. On one hand, religious organizations can reach out to more people, but on the other hand people are also likely to join other faiths or learn about anti-religious views. However, I believe the spread of technology has been a good thing. Great blog post you guys!
ReplyDeleteOkay, first of all, that image is great. Second, what an interesting comparison. I totally see how it seems as if the reformation is happening today as well. The reformation of olden times led to many new religions. We are still in the process of this reformation and therefore still unsure of what all the outcomes will be. For now, it seems as this reformation is turning people away from religion all together. I wonder, after it’s all over, what future historians will say about our time.
ReplyDeleteReally cool parallels between Luther's time and our time. This post made me think about the title "Reformation." In Luther's time, his reformation didn't really mean to fix a broken church, it was about creating a new church based on original doctrine. In our modern "Reformation", it seems that again many people aren't as concerned with fixing something broken as creating something new. This certainly varies with the church and the individual, but both reformations seemed to involve individuals creating a church that they see as better, whether that draws on original scriptures or personal intuition and beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI love the connections here--especially the one drawn between increased communication and the spreading of ideas, then and now. Thinking about it, in our modern world, the mass communication channels that seem to increase each year must make the sharing of ideas increasingly easier. This would support the perception that Christianity is splitting into wider factions than ever before. I don't know that I would call it another Reformation; I would suggest that maybe the Reformation never ended in the first place but is still ongoing.
ReplyDeleteThat picture is so cool and really sums up the message of the post nicely. It will be exciting to see what comes out of our day and I too am curious what historians will say about our era hundreds of years from now. I think it is really quite hard to grasp the complexities of our current communication world. It is definitely not self evident where we are heading on a global scale relative to religion. But just as your photo suggests, the world is not an amorphous force but is made up of individuals each making decisions, but individuals that are ever more connected online while sometimes feeling more isolated than ever in real life. Great thought provoking post!
ReplyDeleteNot to beat a dead horse here, but that image is probably the crown jewel of this post for me. It goes really well with the title and sums up the article quite well. I also liked the comparison between the internet and the printing press but would have liked to see it articulated a little more clearly. Another thing I liked about this piece was that usually we hear about how the rising generation is areligous. I enjoyed reading a perspective on how religious habits and practices are simply changing, not necessarily dying.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. There were many people in Uruguay that had a distrust for the church while I was one my mission. Do you think this distrust will subside with the emergence of their own religion or be the general downfall for organized religion?
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