Charles Taylor's 3-Way Fight in the Modern World: Believers, Humanists, and Anti-Humanists

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In the modern world according to Charles Taylor, the conflict is not simply between believers and unbelievers but involves a three-way fight. This fight includes believers like Christians, humanists exemplified by Steven Pinker, and anti-humanists like Camille Palia. Depending on the question asked, such as the existence of God or the nature of morality, the sides align differently. While Pinker and Palia may be on the same side in one question, they could be opposed in another, illustrating the complexity of the three-way conflict in the modern world.

“Be true to yourself” is a dominant refrain in the Western world, but how has individualism come to be such a prominent feature of Western thought? To what extent is that individualism Christian?

Glen Scrivener and Andrew Wilson are joined by Carl Trueman, author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and Strange New World, to answer those questions and continue their discussion of our post-Christian world.

Beginning with Rousseau, they trace the ways in which our idea of the modern self has transformed and shaped our understanding of anthropology. Particularly touching on the transformations which have happened in our understanding of marriage, divorce and sex, they ask in what ways the church has become complicit in these changes and to what extent these individualistic assumptions have come to shape both the church and the world.

Credits:

Post-Christianity? is a podcast from The Gospel Coalition and The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. Learn more about The Keller Center here.

The Good Book Company is the publisher of The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener. For 25% off books on Christianity and culture, go to thegoodbook.com/postpodcast.