Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 58:1 (Spring 1996)
Article: A Confrontation with Technicism As the Spiritual Climate of the West
Author: Egbert Schuurman

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WTJ 58:1 (Spr 96) p. 63

A Confrontation with Technicism As the Spiritual Climate of the West

Egbert Schuurman

Much reflection has been done on the relationship between faith and science. But mostly the cultural influence of religion and faith is restricted to the field of philosophical and scientific thought. Generally speaking little has been said about the structural consequences of the humanistic faith in science in the development of culture as a whole, a culture which philosophy and science influence greatly through technology. This ought to be done. For under the guidance of religion, by conditioning philosophical thought and science, this humanistic faith has also influenced our culture, which is a scientific-technological1 culture. Technology and technological thinking is today the basis and the mark of nearly every cultural activity or field. Therefore, I hope to show that an approach which makes clear the relation between religion and culture offers a broadening and deepening insight into what is going on in our culture and into what we have to do about it. Such an approach leads to a better understanding of the current crisis of our culture and to a liberating perspective with broad relevance,—relevance, for instance, to a confrontation with postmodernism.

The analysis of our technological culture in the light of the relation between faith and science could be meaningful and helpful for Christians and others who are seeking to gain their bearings in modern culture, the typically technological culture that has now evolved.

1. Religious Spirit

Although much has been written about the relation between Christian faith and science that is of interest as a problem for university scholars, generally speaking it has hardly broadened and deepened the analysis in the direction of the influence of science on culture outside the university.

WTJ 58:1 (Spr 96) p. 64

For example, little is said about the influence of science on technology and on the cultural fields in which technology is a decisive factor, such as industry, economics, agriculture, health care, all kinds of education, politics, and so on. Consider, furthermore, the reverse, that is, the possible influence of technology on science. May not the overwhelming influence of technology leave its mark on the development of philosophy and science, rather than, as is so often said, the other way around? And could it be that Western thinking is more than only technicistic thinking?

Historically seen, the usual perspective is correct: the rise of modern science preceded the surprising progress of modern technology. But is the religious spirit of technological control not active earlier in both...

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