Re-Thinking the Human Condition in the Age of Modernity

Abstract

rom where does the anxious suspicion arise that the biblical eschatology of last things and end times is rapidly approaching? Apocalypse originates in the ancient Greek word apocalypsis, which means to uncover what you could not see before—to reveal. The biblical use of the word “apocalypse” means that which is revealed by divine intervention. For purposes of this paper I will adhere to the ancient Greek meaning which can be stated as simply taking note of that which has been overlooked. One thing that has not been overlooked is how European history is riddled with violence over religious beliefs. The modern response has been to diminish religious relevance. But that was followed by unparalleled nationalistic violence in the 20th century. Today, 21st Century Europe remains embroiled in religious conflicts despite its best efforts to avoid them. In the hope of pursuing a more promising path to peaceful existence, I offer some overlooked biblical and secular observations about the human condition. Modernity originates with Western culture; and that culture is overwritten with Christendom. To re-think the human condition begins with re-thinking the biblical. But to that there is resistance. Europe has turned Christendom into a relic. It has turned away from entanglement in conflicts over dogma and moral certainty by embracing the materiality of an endless progress regulated by the modern equivalent to spirituality found in an enforcing of liberal Democracy. The belief in the endless amelioration of human conditions that is imbedded in the word “progress” has no last things or end time. Instead, progress is about endless change. Its relationship to eschatology seems clear enough: the eschatological tribute to last things has given rise to the modern answer of endless offerings through progress. But progress presupposes knowledge of human http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/8142-286-4.39