Emerging ideas regarding God, reason, nature, and humanity from the Enlightenment period (17th and 18th centuries) were synthesized into a new worldview that achieved a wide consensus among Westerners. The period spanning the rise of industrial societies between the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly marked the beginning of a paradoxical shift in beliefs and perspectives that reject objective thinking to focus on self-consciousness and the expression of one’s self. This shift in perspectives, known as modernism, became even more evident in atheism and religious skepticism, and has since spread through the world of arts and literature to become an integral part of global cultures and attitudes.
For Christians, we must view modernism as part of the Apostle Paul's prophecy about the end-time people who are "lovers of self" (2 Tim 3:2-5). The current advance in modernism reflects the fulfilment of this prophecy. Humanity’s incline to self-expression and self-fulfilment goes hand in hand with rejection of God. The modernism ideas encourage us to seek the satisfaction of our flesh desires and the search for self-pleasure rather than the search for God and salvation. The apostle Paul made it clear that when we follow our fleshly desires, we oppose the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17). It is, however, very unfortunate that some religions teach or encourage modernism ideas in their belief system. In the Apostle Peter’s warning, he predicted the arrival of scoffers and skeptics following their own evil desires to deceive the flock and push humanity into the final judgement (2 Peter 3:3, see also Jude 1:18).
Christians should guard against modernism because it consists of man's rejection of God by trying to understand himself and embrace life without the aid of God's revelation. Believers in Christ should never attempt to focus on “self”, for this is the result of embracing falsehood. Our role, as Christians, is to use our talents, intelligence, and resources to influence culture with God's truth. We must treat those who are trapped in untruths with gentleness, through prayer, and by speaking the truth in love and not letting our light be covered (2 Timothy 2:24–26; Ephesians 4:15, Matthew 5:14–16).
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Further Resources
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- Online Christian degree from Open Christian University (USA)
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