Secularisation

• What is secularisation?

  The action or process of converting something from religious to secular possession or use
• What does secularisation require?

  Disassociation or separation from religious or spiritual concerns
• What is the impact of secularisation on Christianity?

  1. Loss of authority, failed to persuade people of its beliefs or moral values
  2. Christian moral values have become so embedded in society that there is no need to acknowledge them
• When did the Church have the most authority?

  Prior to the protestant reformation
• In the 16th century, what were religious things?

  The Church, its sacraments and the hierarchy of leaders
• In the 16th century, what were secular?

  Social and political orders
• What were the two major changes at the reformation?

  1. Authority of the Church is challenged
  2. Reformed Churches encourage the study of scripture
• What happened to the Church in the 19th and 20th century?

  It was rejected even more
• What did the 1960s see?

  A phenomenon of secularisation
• How did people view faith in the 1960s?

  As a matter of personal commitment
• What did Marx believe about religion?

  It kept the working classes from fighting their oppressors
• What did Freud say about religion?

  It satisfied a psychological need- wish fulfilment
• What did Karl Marx say religion was?

  "Religion is the opium of the people"
• What did Ludwig Feuerbach say about God?

  "God is no more than a projection of the highest aspiration of humans"
• What did Dawkins say he would like to see happen to Christianity?

  “I’d like everybody to be secular. I suppose I have to say politically I would like religion to become gentler and nicer and to stop interfering with other people’s lives, stop repressing women, stop indoctrinating children, all that sort of thing. But I really, really would like to see religion go away altogether.” 
• What did Dawkins say about making life meaningful?

  “There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.”