This term, "re-enchantment" is starting to enter the lexicon of right wing discussion. We should resist this. I am not sure I have a better one, but this label works for the machine, not against it.
We will believe anything if it allows us to avoid the God who says we are broken sinners in need of a Savior. But, we are restless until we find our rest in Him.
Unfortunate there does not seem to be a word for re-Divinization, or opening our eyes once again to the Wellspring of creation that sustains us.
Even in mundane things people will ascribe to technology what is rightly ascribed to God. When a series of coincidences (if such things even exist) lead to my adopting a dog from a new novice monk is it appropriate to say, "wow, crazy things happen thanks to social media" or "God meant this to happen?" The former is what we are all socially expected to do.
Yes. We have all learned these habits. This is what I mean when I say “functional materialism.” We have learned the habits of thought and speech which sends the message, matter is all there is.
I’m yet more of a curmudgeon than you, and I’m Catholic. Fancy that.
I find nothing redeeming or charming in this term “re-enchantment”. I hate it, and rue the fact it’s gotten traction.
Why? There are two fatal problems with it. First, as you lay out, its etymological links to magic and sorcery. But second, and perhaps even worse, is its focus on the subjective. The focus it puts on the person being “enchanted”, rather than on the divine.
“Re-enchantment” borders almost on a marketing term. To see how it’s used by Christians arguing for it is to see how the term itself affects their approach. Which is no surprise. Because as you rightly say, the language we use is crucial.
I, too, am a curmudgeon, maybe senior to you. I was raised an orthodox Presbyterian, but, like many of my contemporaries, became disillusioned in the 60s and fell away from “organized” religion. I am new to your Substack but find much wisdom here. If you can overcome prejudices I find common among modern “Christian” denominations, might I suggest you consider Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I suggest this simply because it addresses- directly - the very conflicts you are grappling with here. You may not approve, much less embrace, Eddy’s work, but it may give you something to think about. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.
We will believe anything if it allows us to avoid the God who says we are broken sinners in need of a Savior. But, we are restless until we find our rest in Him.
Yeah. We have an almost perverse resistance to grace.
Unfortunate there does not seem to be a word for re-Divinization, or opening our eyes once again to the Wellspring of creation that sustains us.
Even in mundane things people will ascribe to technology what is rightly ascribed to God. When a series of coincidences (if such things even exist) lead to my adopting a dog from a new novice monk is it appropriate to say, "wow, crazy things happen thanks to social media" or "God meant this to happen?" The former is what we are all socially expected to do.
Yes. We have all learned these habits. This is what I mean when I say “functional materialism.” We have learned the habits of thought and speech which sends the message, matter is all there is.
I’m yet more of a curmudgeon than you, and I’m Catholic. Fancy that.
I find nothing redeeming or charming in this term “re-enchantment”. I hate it, and rue the fact it’s gotten traction.
Why? There are two fatal problems with it. First, as you lay out, its etymological links to magic and sorcery. But second, and perhaps even worse, is its focus on the subjective. The focus it puts on the person being “enchanted”, rather than on the divine.
“Re-enchantment” borders almost on a marketing term. To see how it’s used by Christians arguing for it is to see how the term itself affects their approach. Which is no surprise. Because as you rightly say, the language we use is crucial.
Good points. Completely agree.
The picture of the three “fairies”? A trans-humanist’s recasting of the three Norns. They don’t need a rope—they have their phones.
I found great comfort whilst reading this essay, the answer lies within us and we all have the capacity to reach for that answer.
We have been given a map that deliberately leads us along the wrong path.
Superb content thanks.
Thanks!
I, too, am a curmudgeon, maybe senior to you. I was raised an orthodox Presbyterian, but, like many of my contemporaries, became disillusioned in the 60s and fell away from “organized” religion. I am new to your Substack but find much wisdom here. If you can overcome prejudices I find common among modern “Christian” denominations, might I suggest you consider Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I suggest this simply because it addresses- directly - the very conflicts you are grappling with here. You may not approve, much less embrace, Eddy’s work, but it may give you something to think about. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.