Father Nicholas Nelson: ‘The Religion of the Day’

Handing on the Faith 

In the July 2021 issue of The Northern Cross, I wrote about a short book entitled “From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age,” from the University of Mary. The book argued that cultures and societies have a prevailing vision. This vision is taken for granted. Most people don’t consider it, much less describe it or argue for it. From this vision, people act. The way people live depends on this vision of reality. 

So, when we speak of Christendom, we indicate a time in the past when the Christian vision was the prevailing one. It is obvious today that we don’t live in Christendom anymore. The prevailing vision of existence is not that of the Christian faith. Today’s context is similar to that of the apostolic age, the first centuries after Christ. 

Well, the University of Mary recently published a sequel to that book entitled “The Religion of the Day.” This book suggests that we need a response to the current prevailing culture and narrative — or “the religion of the day.” But if you are going to respond to it, you need to better understand it. To be a Christian means to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, as opposed to another alternative. This book seeks to explain what that is. 

This religion of the day has many different strands to it, but there is a fundamental unity to them. It may be called, “Modern Neo-Gnostic Progressive Utopian Revolutionary Religion.” Or for simplicity’s sake, “progressive religion.” Those that follow this “religion” might not call it a religion, but it looks like one. It has a particular set of beliefs and practices that people hold in order to have a meaningful purpose and vision for life. Its followers are committed to a set of doctrines and dogmas that are not self-evident. They hold to those doctrines as if they were provable. They look for other fellow-believers who can cooperate in their project and with whom they can experience “communion.” They also quickly vilify those who disagree with them, those they might call “heretics.” 

It has a similar structure to an actual religion, yet different than Christianity. The scheme is self-initiated rather than God initiated. They locate the source of the evil of the world in corrupted oppressive social structures rather than in the heart of the individual. It promises to overcome the evil in the world through the destruction of the prevailing structures of oppression rather than personal conversion. It promises to inaugurate a new age of freedom within this world, as opposed to a new heavens and a new earth in the life to come. Their idea of salvation is achieved through the application of some specialized technical knowledge, rather than conversion of the individual. Ultimately and essentially this “progressive religion” is an expression of human pride. 

If you have trouble understanding what this “Neo-Gnosticism” looks like, the author mentions that we see this new religion in one of our political parties. “One of our major parties has more fully embraced a neo-Gnostic Progressive faith as its political platform while the other has maintained more elements from the tradition of limited government as it arose from Christian ideas” (p. 63). 

So, how do we respond to the “religion of the day”? It can’t be solely on political fronts, because it is ultimately a spiritual battle. First, we must stand. We must refuse to be moved off our ground. Second, we must present the Gospel. 

But in a time like ours there is no real distinction between living life and evangelization. “In a Christendom age, missionaries are sent off to unbelievers. In an apostolic age, unbelief is in the very atmosphere we breathe, and to conform our lives to Christ, even privately, it is necessarily to bear witness to him” (p. 121). 

What does this witness entail? It entails the centrality of Christ. “To be a Christian is to belong to Jesus, to know him, to be in union with him, to become a part of him” (p. 123). It entails the importance of an awakened mind. Every Christian must gain as much treasure as possible from the vast storehouse of wisdom from our intellectual tradition. It entails being able to share the authentic narrative — salvation history — with others: That we are created good, fallen, and yet redeemed. It entails appreciating mystery and the invisible world. There are mysteries, such things that we just cannot know in the full because they are beyond the grasp of our limited minds. This witness entails true friendships in Christ. This is what Christian community is all about, sharing life together as disciples of Christ and members of his one Body. 

This community can be summed up with one paragraph toward the end of the book: “In a time like ours, individuals will not often be evangelizing on their own. The most effective witness to the life of Christ will come communally. Others will be drawn to Christ by meeting a group of Christian friends, or by getting to know a Christian family, and by recognizing a deeply attractive quality among those they are getting to know. Thus, the inner life of the Christian faithful and the task to reach out to others run along similar lines. Each demands a depth of common life, to be lived and to draw others to Christ” (p. 127). 

Father Nick Nelson is pastor of Queen of Peace and Holy Family parishes in Cloquet and director of vocations for the Diocese of Duluth. He studied at The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome. Reach him at [email protected].