Charles Taylor's A Secular Age Explained: How to Find God in A Secular Age

Prof Jason Blakely explains philosopher Charles Taylor's notion that expressive individualism is a distinctly modern form of spiritual and religious search--and one of the most promising for opening new windows onto transcendence and enchantment. Where many conservatives think expressivism is corrosive to traditional religion Taylor instead sees it as offering a privileged place for modern people's encounter with the divine. This is the final excerpt in a series of lecture remarks delivered in the Spring of 2020 for an undergraduate course in political theology.
Texts discussed:
Charles Taylor, "Future of the Religious Past"
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age

[@steveareeno65]

"Return of the festive" Burrning man festival is the first thing that came to my mind. Also think Sturgis.

[@chrisyoung2179]

Jason, fantastic summary of this crucial aspect of Taylor’s work! Bravo my friend

[@drewjames1778]

Such insightful awareness Taylor shared through his work. Thanks for the great commentary!

[@landontilley1599]

Well said!

[@jedanderson8172]

Thanks for this. The prevailing nostalgia (in some of my circles) for a mythic past where everyone was devout can be very tiring. It's even worse when Taylor's writing is hammered into another citation to support this unhistoric claim.

[@jasonwblakely]

i hear that! 🙏

[@Greg-n]

I think the sentiment you express is the same reactionary "can" in the trad circles just kicked further down the road my friend. The reality of the "immanent" world is not the rosy self liberation that Taylor hints at. I'm more in agreement with Maistre on this one.. "immanent fullness" leads to nothing but a self-indulgent form of social atomism, the likes of which fuel the engines of a consumer economy. I'll take that "mythic nostalgia" over the contemporary milieu any day

[@waltershumer4211]

Nice 👍

[@emmashalliker6862]

This was absolutely brilliant.

[@johnstewart7025]

God's sovreignty is a good place to start. Spinoza also taught determinism. Nothing happens outside God's will.

[@hanskung3278]

So Taylor writes a monster book that Augustine explained in one sentence "our hearts are restless until we rest in you "