Religion and Modernity-The Fire Sermon

Authors

  • William Philip Boyce Florida State University Faculty Advisor: Amy Koehlinger Department of Religion

Keywords:

theology, religion, history, modernist art

Abstract

The progression of the modern age, in the form of modernization and the modernist artistic movement, presents a direct challenge to the historically rooted practices of man. Modernity, liberated from tradition, seeks constant innovation and enlightenment unfettered by customs or limitations. Caught in the crosshairs of this melee stands the institution of religion.

This article explores the relationship between modernity and religion through the works of Karl Marx and T.S. Eliot. In a world where “all that is solid melts into air,” to quote Marx, does religion or the phenomenology of religion offer meaning for man? Can it provide worth in its own right? Both thinkers say yes, but qualify their assessments in remarkably differing ways.

Author Biography

William Philip Boyce, Florida State University Faculty Advisor: Amy Koehlinger Department of Religion

William Boyce is completing an Honors in the Major thesis under Dr. David Kirby, he will graduate in the spring 2011 with a B.A. in History, English-Creative Writing, and Religious Studies. A Fulbright Full Grant Scholar to the U.K., he will continue his research at the University of Glasgow on the relationship between theology and the arts.

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Published

2011-03-01

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2011)

Section

Research Articles

License

All works published in The Owl are published under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike (CC-BY-NC-SA) license. The author retains copyright.