Kryzys chrześcijaństwa w kontekście doświadczenia religijnego

Abstract

In his paper entitled Crisis of Christianity from Philosophy of Religion’s Perspective, Ireneusz Ziemiński diagnoses two kinds of problems viz. institutional and doctrinal which were the causes of the crisis of Christianity. Although I agree that the problems do occur, I believe that the causes are quite different.

In the first part of my paper, I argue that neither institutional nor doctrinal problems can be the source of the crisis. When it comes to the first, many religions (which do not show any sign of the crisis) might be similarly diagnosed, and in the case of the latter, one seems to presuppose, illegitimately, as I believe, that contemporary societies undergo some change of morality, unprecedented in history. In the second part, I suggest that the crisis has been caused by the religion itself: through centuries Christianity has been transformed into a set of propositions, very similar to scientific theories. Such a structure leaves very little room for fulfilling religious experiences, whereas religious experiences are the main source of religious faith. The only way for Christianity to prevent the crisis is to put more stress on the practical dimension of faith. However, I am not sure, if this solution is applicable.