UNIVERSITATEA „AUREL VLAICU” DIN ARAD

FACULTATEA DE ȘTIINȚE UMANISTE ȘI SOCIALE

PROGRAMUL DE MASTER „FAITH AND LIFE”

PORTFOLIO

VLAD VALERIAN LEUCUTA

year 1, semester 1

Paper presented to
Prof. univ. dr. Mihai Handaric

in fulfillment of the requirements for the course

Christian Identity
 I. True Christian identity - Theological reflection

In our troubled world, it is up to everyone to follow their path by giving shape to their own
identity, itself made up of various partial identities, such as ethnic, cultural, professional, religious
identities ... However, I am not intending to analyze the multiple facets of human identity, this
goes beyond the limited framework of this work. Also, it will be a question here essentially of the
believing identity, more precisely of the Christian identity.

Many Christians today seem to have no clear idea of their identity. Certainly, since the
1960s, the secularization process which affects our society has contributed considerably to
reducing the importance of spiritual values in the life of the individual. On the other hand, the
pluralism of Christianity and the increasing institutionalization of the Churches force believers to
rethink their identity. In addition, the inevitable excesses of the Churches give rise to doubts and
weaken the believing identity of each. Would this amount to saying that from now on the believer
is led to forge his own identity by referring mainly to the great founding texts of Christianity? Let’s
observe for a moment this crisis of Christian identity.

Secularisation

A word in many senses, secularization is generally defined as a disappearance of religion

from public space. Confined in the private sphere, religion thus loses its influence on the
functioning of societies. This religious mutation - conveyed by globalization - appears as an
irreversible process (despite the resistance) and of long duration, particularly characterizing
western countries. If secularization, generally, promotes religious indifference and atheism, it can
on the other hand contribute to the quest for an authentic spirituality ... enough to cause perplexity
in those who are trying to discover God or feel the need to grow in faith!

Ultimately, although adherence to the Christian faith has been more difficult since the
withdrawal of religion from the public sphere, it is not, however, incompatible with this
privatization of religion which can even encourage the development of a deeper faith. and more
personal, without this being a return to traditional faith
 Growing pluralism

Taking into account the cultural and religious diversity inherent in modern societies can
disturb anyone's beliefs. Within Christianity itself, growing pluralism and dissent within the
churches are forcing believers to reconsider their identity.

Even though they belong to different faiths and do not necessarily share all points of view,
Christians are (should be) fraternally united in the same hope.

Let us not forget that if Christian pluralism shakes up identity, on the other hand - far from
the temptation to withdraw identity - it can provoke reflection, encourage an interfaith approach
and lead to a fruitful dialogue between Christians who are sure to rely on a common foundation of
beliefs.

Excessive institutionalization of the churches

Beyond a century of existence, we generally find that most of the Churches are gradually
settling, affected by institutionalization! As a process that frequently leads to increasing
bureaucratization, few churches escape this perverse shift. Suffice to say that this element also
contributes to distort both the collective identity of the community and the individual identity of
the faithful.

In short, in many secular Christian churches (and even younger ones), more and more
faithful and men of the Church denounce - in vain - the heaviness and the inadequacy of the
administrative apparatus while hoping for a refoundation of their Church which should go through
a daring reform of the structures, the abandonment of a bureaucratic government, a radical
simplification of the management and especially the refocusing on the primary objective.

And even if in our modern civilization, institutionalization constitutes an inescapable

means in the implementation of ecclesial activities, the freedom of the Gospel requires however
that there is a lot of "play" in the structures. In other words, institutions, depending on their level
of flexibility, are tools that help to serve or ... to paralyze the evangelization activities of the
Churches.
 The true foundation of Christian identity

In our highly secularized and individualistic society, however, it is legitimate to question

the true foundation of Christian identity, the affirmation of which nevertheless takes on its full
meaning in light of the elements mentioned above. In fact, the latter continue to challenge the
identity of believers ... some of whom find themselves very disoriented by so many transformations
in the religious field.

As we saw before, we are witnessing in particular an individualization of religion and a

disjunction between belief and confessional belonging. Therefore, many of the faithful define
themselves not so much as members of any community or institution, but rather as disciples of
Christ.

On this subject, Donald Cobb, professor of New Testament and Greek at the Jean Calvin
Faculty in Aix-en-Provence, is right to observe that “in the perspective of the New Testament, our
identity is first of all built up unrelated with sociological or denominational considerations, but
with regard to the one to which we belong. These sociological and ecclesial elements certainly
have real importance. But they can only be secondary, complementary, in what determines our
identity as Christians, that is to say of those on whom the name of Christ has been invoked ".

True Christian identity is necessarily rooted in the story of the life of Jesus Christ. This
story told in the biblical accounts therefore constitutes the authentic foundation of the identity of
Christians.

Sadly, for many people today, the cross is no longer the symbol of the salvation brought
by Christ, but at most that of God's compassion towards the forsaken of the world, the poor and
the afflicted! Consequently, the redemptive sacrifice of the cross is neutralized ... while the name
of Jesus seems more and more forgotten! Certainly, a necessary scrub for those who strive to find
a minimal consensus among the religions of the world in favor of a common planetary ethics ...
one of the foundations of the new world order!

At the end of this paper, we will particularly remember that beyond the denominational
doctrines and traditions, it is the biblical stories founding Christianity - more precisely the history
of Christ - which constitute the true foundation of the identity of Christians ... and that it is a
question of constantly rediscovering by dissociating from the drifts.
II. The Structure of Christian Existence, John B. Cobb Jr. - review

In his book The Structure of Christian Existence, John Cobb traces the development of
conscious experience in our species, Homo sapiens, as it has evolved over the many millennia of
our history in continuity with the prehuman animal experience that preceded us. Cobb identifies
three primary elements that constitute experience in the human psyche: experience that is
significantly organized, experience lacking such organization (which he terms receptive
awareness), and what is by far the preponderant element--the unconscious. While it is useful, for
analysis, to speak of components of the psyche, it should be clearly understood that this entity, or
process, is a unity--a unity which is partly conscious but, for the most part, unconscious. "It is this
exceedingly complex process," Cobb writes, "and the various structures which it embodies that
constitute the subject matter of this book."

As Cobb notes, he refers to this process in various ways. When viewed objectively, he uses
the words "psyche" or "soul." "Existence" is used when the focus is on the process as it is for itself
in its subjectivity or immediacy. By "structure of existence," Cobb means how consciousness is
structured or organized, and unified.

A central thesis is "that the major religions and cultures of mankind embody different
structures of existence, and that this is the deepest and most illuminating way to view their
differences." This is not to say that one is better or worse than the others; each structure is, "in its
own terms, an ideal embodiment of human possibility."

"Climatul intelectual şi cultural al celei de-a doua jumătăţi a secoulului al XX-

lea"p. 23-85, Schaeffer, Francis, Trilogia, Oradea: Casa Cărţii, 1992 - review

Schaeffer begins this 1968 book with the statement, "The present chasm between the
generations has been brought about almost entirely by a change in the concept of truth... men and
women are being fundamentally affected by the new way of looking at truth and yet they have
never even analysed the drift which has taken place... this change in the concept of the way we
come to knowledge and truth is the most crucial problem, as I understand it, facing Christianity
today." (Pg. 13) He draws a line labeled "Europe around 1890"/"The U.S. about 1935," which he
calls "The Line of Despair." He explains, "Above this line we find men living with their romantic
notions of absolutes (though with no sufficient logical basis). This side of the line all is changed.
Man thinks differently concerning truth, and so now for us, more than ever before, a
presuppositional apologetic is imperative." (Pg. 15)

He suggests, "If it is true that philosophy, the first step in the line of despair, touched only
a very few people, art, the second step, influenced many more..." (Pg. 30) He adds, "The various
steps on the line---philosophy, art, music, theatre and so on---differ in details... but in a way they
are only incidental. The distinctive mark of the twentieth century intellectual and cultural climate
... [lies] in the unifying concept... the concept of a divided field of knowledge." (Pg. 44) He
concludes the first section on the note, "the greatest antithesis of all is that He [God[] exists as
opposed to His not existing. He is the God who is there." (Pg. 48) Later, he explains, "I have chosen
to use this expression 'God is there' as being equivalent to 'God exists' ... in order to meet the
problem of the new theology, which denies that God is there in the historical biblical sense." (Pg.
145)

He argues that "Neo-orthodoxy leaped to what I call the 'upper storey' in order to try to find
something which would give hope and meaning to life. The 'lower storey' is the position to which
their presuppositions would have rationally and logically brought them. So theology too has gone
below the line of despair." (Pg. 53) He adds, "The new theology itself is having an internal problem
through separating the 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' into such water-tight compartments... In actual
fact the new theology has a dead god in both the upper and lower storeys." (Pg. 78-79) He
concludes, "So there is open to the new theology the possibility of supplying society with an
endless series of religiously motivated arbitrary absolutes." (Pg. 84)

Weber, Max, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, p. 35-46 - review

Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism (Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des
Kapitalismus) is a sociology work of religions, written by Max Weber, famous for his study of the
origins of capitalism, a book that appears (for the first time) in Germany in 1904. Max Weber was
the first researcher who has dedicated his life to comparative socio-economics. His study of
pioneering combines a broad vision of human desires and ideas with details exhaustive about how
certain religious movements have changed the economic structures of feudal Europe and then of
the United States, turning them into a competition-based economy.
 In this paper, Max Weber aims to show that ethics and Protestant understanding of the
world has positively influenced development. Thus, he demonstrates the way the Protestant church
went before to other traditional churches, he reconciled the principles of Christian dogma with
accumulation of wealth. Protestant ethics meant for the evolution of capitalism at least as much as
the pattern meant, innovation that produced social changes unprecedented. The two principles -
that of rational action and that of democracy expressed through freedom, equality, fraternity - they
have borne fruit on the European continent.

The innovations brought by the Protestant church (wealth as grace of God and access
marginal to social competition) offered legitimacy to the ethics of principles Enlightenment.
Differences between Catholics and Protestants are revealed through multiple examples Weber
offers us:

- Protestants, as students and graduates, had a higher education towards Catholics; the large share
of the most protestant protesters did not it merely emphasized the poor participation of Catholics
in the capitalist gain.

- Of the Calfians, Catholics are those who manifest an activity more skilled craftsmen, more and
more becoming the craftsmen, while the protesters go in one relatively higher size for factories
to reach the upper echelons of skilled workers and of industrial officials

- Protestants demonstrate a specific inclination towards economic rationalism, which the Catholics
could not find nor can it be seen in the same way.

This cause of the different behavior must be sought in the “specific sustainable interior of
confessions ”.