europe 2014 mission impossible?
DESCRIPTION
Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?. A vision of yesterday. Strong nation states with empire aspirations Conservative, religious and confident The cutting edge of philosophical discourse White and monocultural Impervious to the outside world. The Euro-Global Village. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?
![Page 2: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
A vision of yesterday•Strong nation states with empire aspirations
•Conservative, religious and confident
•The cutting edge of philosophical discourse
•White and monocultural
•Impervious to the outside world
![Page 3: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
The Euro-Global Village•Networked with 1.19 bn Facebook users
•Playing catch up with the USA and China
•Struggling for identity and confidence
•A spiritual black hole
![Page 4: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Presenting Christian TruthMore….
•Educated•Influenced•Uncertain•Inaccessible
…than even before.
![Page 5: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
The Shape of European society
![Page 6: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
1) Consumerism A way of life
focussed on Consumption [link with personal happiness]
Deliberate policy of government, industry and us
•Thorstein Veblem
![Page 7: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Post WWII Development New technology
mass production Produce outstripping
demand = glut The box that
changed the world Advertisers
stimulated demand
New areas of merchandising [teen fashion/ accessorizing]
Economic boom & expectation– spending on impulse
![Page 8: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Problems with Consumerism A consumer society is
• Unequal• Wasteful• Dominates life
•We live in a society where the spiritual has receded in favour of the material and our philosophical history has contributed
![Page 9: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Personal and national debt• Personal 1,43 bn• 54,197 per household
• National 1,3 bn• 43 bn interest
Rise of the BRIC and MINT countries
![Page 10: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
2) Multiculturalism
• 2.1 births per woman• No western country (except USA and Albania)
maintain this• Mass immigration is an economic necessity
![Page 11: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Changing perspectives
• A Judaeo-Christian world view is no longer assumed• Other faiths occupy the same shelf space• The link between church and state becomes
untenable• Evangelism can assume no privileged position
for Christianity
![Page 12: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
The good, the bad and the ugly face of multiculturalism
![Page 13: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
On-going tensions of multiculturalism
![Page 14: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
The higher intellectual ground
![Page 15: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
3) Religious pluralism• Religious diversity• A positive attitude to diversity expressed
structurally• Social inclusion• Openness to truth claims• All religions are equal
![Page 16: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Why is pluralism an issue?• Unprecedented exposure• A collapse of confidence in
the bible• Public-private belief• A pragmatic view of religion• The assumption that
exclusive beliefs are arrogant and intolerant
• The doctrine of universalism
![Page 17: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
John Hick
• Major religions are ultimate responses to ultimate reality.
• Religions are historically and culturally conditioned interpretations of reality.
• The ability to transform is equal.
![Page 18: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Is there Hope?
Yes
But only if we do
things right
![Page 19: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Learn the 2,000 years old secret to evangelism• Feel the need v.16• Right place right
time v.17• Speak the language
v.23 (cf.Jn.4)• Get the big picture
![Page 20: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Learn to whisper forcefully
• Hard truths to communicate (homosexuality & Islam)• Learning to be robust
but gentle (and pick your battles)
![Page 21: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Be ready to carry Burdens
Moral Baggage
• People coming to faith don’t know right from wrong• People come to faith to
experience Christianity but not necessarily through guilt
Emotional Baggage
• Work pressures, family crisis, marriage breakdown, abuse, bereavement, stress, wounds
![Page 22: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Be ready to carry Burdens
Moral Baggage
• Don’t run• Maintain biblical
standards• Be Christ-like• Remember they are
babies• See the big picture• Separate acute from
chronic
Emotional Baggage
• Don’t duck any problems• Be prepared for the long
haul• Treat people sensitively• Pray for healing• Be aware of the monster
of dependence
![Page 23: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Follow the Fisherman (1Pet.3:15)
• The New Atheists (dealing with the God question)
• Postmodern-relativism (dealing with the truth question)
• Islam (dealing with the revelation question)
![Page 24: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Things to note…
• Two contradictory ideas cannot both be true!
• Sincerity does not make something true!
![Page 25: Europe 2014 Mission Impossible?](https://reader035.vdocuments.net/reader035/viewer/2022062218/5681635a550346895dd41ba5/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Remember Jesus is special
• His virgin birth• consistent life• His claim of deity• His claim to control the world’s destiny• His miracles• His resurrection• Jn.11:35 I am the Resurrection and the
Life, he who believes in me will live even though he dies