Taking Philosophers to Church
Modernity has powerfully shaped the church, although we are often unaware of its assumptions and commitments that reside in our theology and practices. Postmodernity have challenged these assumptions and commitments, putting many Christians (particularly evangelicals, it seems) on the defensive. I think Smith makes a good argument that this cultural moment provides an opportunity for serious work in philosophical theory to serve the practice of the church. As Francis Schaeffer did before him, he believes that we must take philosophy seriously, as philosophy does have practical implications.
I especially liked Smith’s treatment of Michael Foucault, the postmodern philosopher who criticized the formative nature of political, economic and societal structures. Knowledge, Foucault claims, is not a neutrally determined reality but a construct shaped by networks of power. Smith uses the example of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next to highlight how institutions attempt to shape people into what they perceive as normative. Discerning Christians can concede much of Foucault’s critique of modernity’s power structures. What mechanisms of control has the church ignored, or even allowed to conform it into their image? One thinks here of Constantinian Christianity, when the church became nearly indistinguishable from the Roman Empire. When denominations and their churches grieve their numerical decline, I have to ask with some skepticism: Are we longing to participate in God’s mission in the world, or do we long for the days when the church held a privileged place in the cultural centre?
Foucalt helps us to see the role of discipline in our understanding of truth, which begs the question: Who or what shapes our ecclesiology?
However, not all discipline is bad, explains Smith. Demonstrating how the church can respond to modernity’s emphasis on consumerism and individualism by using its counter-forming practices, he writes: “Discipline and formation are good insofar as they are directed toward the end, or telos, that is proper to human beings: to glorify God and enjoy him forever (Westminster Catechism, question 1).”
