Christianity At Sunset (eBook)

This book investigates the claims of a "e;post-Christian era"e; and the factorsthat are leading Christianity to a sunset. It digs into the theological writingsof Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Stanly Hauerwas, finds theirmeeting points and where the two diff er, and remedies they offer to combatthe crisis. These two great theologians seem to envision a dying Christianitywith its greatest enemy as Relativism. Joseph Ratzinger rates relativism as thegreatest challenge of the church today. In a like manner, Stanly Hauerwas fightsthe same battle on the Protestant side. This book therefore seeks to argue outthe best response to relativism that affects both the Western Church as well asthe global church, the Catholic Church as well as the Protestant Community.Relativism in imposing itself as the new world culture, depicting all othercultures and perceptions as inferior and obsolete. Ratzinger christened this the'Dictatorship of Relativism,' while Hauerwas calls it 'Policing of ChristianValues.' While Ratzinger's greatest worry is relativism's denial of Truth extraekklesia, Hauerwas' claim is that relativism is not a force from without (ofthe Church), but rather, part and parcel of the peoples' modern ways of life,in which Christian values are persecuted in the name of peaceful existence.Both perspectives point at a crisis of cultures where the past is canceled outand the future disconnected from the present, which trend inevitably leadsto disintegration - a leap into the dark. While the pre-Modern world soughtGod, and the Modern world sought knowledge, the Contemporary worldseeks relativism. However, all is not lost. The truth can still be found throughthe word of God and the Christian culture.