Maxwell Institute Podcast #45— How (Not) to Be Secular, with James K. A. Smith [MIPodcast]
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May 10, 2016 
James K. A. Smith, a philosophy professor and author, dives into the intriguing world of belief and secularism. He unpacks Charles Taylor's exploration of how societal plausibility conditions have shifted since 1500, making belief more contestable today. Smith explains the late medieval social imaginary and its enchantments, discusses the impacts of the Reformation on politics, and critiques the simplistic narratives of secularism. He also reflects on how Christianity can respond to pluralism, inviting deeper faith engagement and acknowledging the haunting sense of transcendence in contemporary culture.
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History Reveals Today's Belief Conditions
- Charles Taylor's project helps explain the existential conditions of belief today by tracing long historical shifts.
- James K. A. Smith says Taylor's history gives young people an illuminating 'video' of how our present plausibility conditions arose.
Medieval Enchantment Made Atheism Unthinkable
- Late medieval social imaginaries viewed the cosmos as enchanted and charged with transcendence.
- That enchantment made atheism nearly unimaginable because the world and divine presence were inseparable.
Reforms Flattened The Sacred-Secular Divide
- Reform movements exposed strains in a two-tiered medieval Christianity that privileged clergy over ordinary vocations.
- Protestant leveling sanctified ordinary work as coram Deo, undermining clerical monopoly on holiness.
James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin College and author of