Modern Church Issues: Racism, Environment, and Secularization

The essay discusses the various problems confronting modern churches, such as social and political instability, racism, and environmental challenges, emphasizing their deconstruction in today's relative worldview. It highlights conflicts between Church and State and explores secularization due to evolving moral beliefs. Additionally, it addresses internal issues within churches that increase social tensions. The historical impact of Protestant Reformation is explored, noting its transformative role during the sixteenth century as a response to economic and political spheres, leading to significant doctrinal challenges against established church practices like purgatory and monasticism. Through these discussions, the essay underscores the ongoing relevance of these factors in shaping contemporary societal changes.

Running head: THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Theology and Religious Studies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
The Church in the modern times has been facing several problems like that of the social
or political stability. Other serious issues or challenges include that of the racism issues and
environmental crises. All the things have been deconstructed in the modern age and the truth has
to be looked at with a relative viewpoint. These facts of deconstruction are not logically coherent
(Southern 2016). Apart from that, the conflict between the state and the church is on the all the
time. There is always a contradiction of viewpoints of the Church and the State or the
Government itself. Lives have been secularized by certain social and moral beliefs. This has
become a big challenge for the Church as well (Southern 2016). Another issue or challenge
exists in the condition of women within the church. The use of technology has decreased the
participation of human life in the daily activities and that has caused many environmental crises
(Montgomery 2013). The racial discriminations have been increasing in the recent times as the
society is not able to handle these issues properly (Montgomery 2013). The interference of
Churches is not well accepted by this issue. The ethnicity of the people and multiculturalism has
been a supreme barrier in integrating the racism problems. Other aspects like the inner problems
within the Church itself have raised the social tensions as well.
Another impact that these churches had on these factors is the Protestant reformation. The
church has been one of the primary institutions because of this Protestant reformation in Europe
mostly (MacCulloch 2017). It can be said that many attempts had been done on the reforming the
Catholic Church in the sixteenth century. Most of the reformation that had been done was due to
the economic and political spheres. Some groups have been formed in Europe like that of the
Albigeness and Waldenes. They had been opposing the rules and customs imposed by the Roman
Church and blood began to flow like water. Many things were said against the church and the
topics were like pilgrimages, worship of the saints, papacy, relics and many other things. The
Churches taught that the human beings needed to believe and have faith in God so that they
could be rescued and their sins could be salvaged. The purgatory things teachings dictated that if
people wanted to reach the waiting room of Heaven, they had to be faithful to God and God
would relive all their pains and heal them effectively. Christian monasticism was another
impactful thing in the reign of the Church (Hannay 2017). This means the act of dwelling or
living in a secluded manner from the entire society. The people who believe in these should be
celibates and they should withdraw themselves from the society and the world. Thus the impact
of the several forces on the Church has been very relevant for the social changes.

2THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
References
Hannay, J.O., 2017. The spirit and origin of Christian monasticism. Lulu. com.
MacCulloch, D., 2017. Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation.
Penguin UK.
Montgomery, K., 2013. Pedagogy and privilege: The challenges and possibilities of teaching
critically about racism. Critical Education, 4(1).
Southern, R., 2016. The Penguin History of the Church: Western Society and the Church in the
Middle Ages. Penguin UK.