Modernism in Church: A Troeltschian Perspective - Essay Sample

Introduction

Modernism in the church as elaborated by Troeltsch lies in viewing the dogmatic theology that saw history and the theology philosophy influencing Christianity (Troeltsch, 1898). It was a movement started by non-Catholic theologists. He saw the onset of modernism in the early church to rise medieval form period where the church doctrines were deeply rooted in the early Roman church, especially the European continent. Modernism, in a sense, refers to more recent past and today traits as opposed to the orthodox and tradition inheritance of the church. This term came in the nineteenth century when politics and theology form were changing. His proposition to modernity lies in these contexts:

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The absolute religion claims concerning other religions; the modernism claims opposed the centrality of the church authority to limited to the Pope only; the Papal bureaucracy.

Cultural change; the biblical Protestants argue that the Bible's Old and New Testament writers were summoned at the time when the historical events favored them.

What are the Challenges of Modernity?

It faced resistance from the traditionalist supporters who objected to the modernist philosophy. Modernism was objecting to the dogmatic and the traditional historical Roman Church's way of Christianity. They advocated for liberalisms and tried to validate the true meaning of Christianity. Modernism was not freely accepted because of the secular influence it had. (Grenz & Olson, (N.Y) proposed the original way of the Catholic Church to be based on the existence of God. However, modernists based their theology philosophy on the arguments of the liberals who were Protestants at the time. Troeltsch approach in modernism was influenced by Max Weber, who was a sociologist (Troeltsch, 1898). Many people were against the modernists' message of adopting the new culture because it opposed the evidence of the existence of God the way the Catholic Church knew it. It was at odds with the catholic teachings of the divine transcendence; and divine immanence. It proposed that religion was entirely on sentimentality and feelings but not dogmatism. It also defied the Catholic Church doctrines. Modernists were of the view that dogmas changes cannot be the same till now, hence the need for the current culture. This is contradictory because faith states that God is not a contradicting Himself.

Conclusion

Modernism eventually was rejected. The constant battle at the center of modernism was based on the Catholic Church's ideologies. The emerging political and scientific views add to it. Despite the growing numbers of atheists and agonists, the church beliefs are still deeply rooted. However, some modern culture has been adopted like hierarchical leadership in the church, the changing Pope's role and the ideologies in regards to some secular views in dress codes, among others.

References

Grenz, J. S., & Olson, E. R. (N.Y). 20th Century Theology. God and the World in a Transitional Age.

Troeltsch, E. (1898). The Historical and Dogmatic Methods in Theology.