I titled this column with the title of Tomáš Halík’s book The Afternoon of Christianity: The Courage to Change. Halík is a Czech theologian, philosopher, sociology scholar, and Roman Catholic priest. The book, first published in 2021, carries a further subtitle: On the Way to a New Era. The English translation appeared this year in the US (translated by Gerald Turner, University of Notre Dame Press, 2024). There is no way I can do it justice in this brief column, but I hope that I can whet your appetite. The content is rich and thought provoking.
The book starts with a solid groundwork for its call for change. In the early chapters the clear distinction is made between belief (dogma) and faith (trust). English is fortunate to have these two separate words, whereas several other Germanic languages only have one: belief. But the distinction is essential. It reminded me of the little book by James Carse, The Religious Case Against Belief (2008), which provided the inspiration for the sermon I preached at the end of my term as moderator of the Presbytery of Boston, calling for the presbytery to live as a true community of faith—amid the strife surrounding ordination requirements and same-gender marriage. Halík’s book also leans heavily on Fratelli Tutti, the 2020 encyclical of Pope Franciscus,a work well worth reading.1https://www.usccb.org/resources/fratelli-tutti-overview-summary
Starting from the church as a faith community, Halík develops in the final chapters of the book a vision for the church’s future—a community of listening, understanding, and compassion—leading to four ecclesiological concepts: the church as God’s people on their pilgrimage; as a school of Christian wisdom; as a field hospital; and as a place of meeting and dialogue, serving in accompaniment and conciliation. And offering these services to all in our societies, to all humanity. Not to turn them into Christians, but to be fellow humans to those who need company. To serve as chaplain to our societies. Therefore, religious language may be reserved for when we encourage each other within our Christian community of faith, but is not to be used in our service to the world. In that context the language of compassion, comfort, consolation, and encouragement is needed in person-to-person encounters. It is not something the church has to do all by itself: Halík sees this as the mission of all religions, together with those who adhere to no religion. Put differently: the future of the church is in supporting people, any people, in their spiritual, emotional, and any other needs, out of compassion and solidarity with our fellow human beings and out of concern for the wellness of societies, for peace and justice; a church in this world and for this world. Serving as chaplain, truly pastoral, without dogmatic baggage.
A community of listening, understanding, and compassion
And that reminded me of Huub Oosterhuis, a Dutch former Jesuit priest. He left an impressive legacy of poetry and hymns, as well as the centers for encounter and dialogue that he founded. He died last year and recently his life partner, Colet van der Ven, delivered the first annual memorial Huub Oosterhuis lecture. She painted a picture of a passionate man for whom the church was too small and whose life was driven by compassion and solidarity; a true pastor and a rebel. The Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God, contains one of his hymns, “What Is This Place,” # 404.
Finally, Halík realizes that one may suspiciously ask whether Afternoon of Christianity might imply that Christianity’s end is nigh. In response he points out that in some religions, like Judaism, sunset signals the start of a new day. So, what follows this afternoon is the beginning of a new day for Christianity. I must admit that, from my professional background, I was reminded of the old naval and astronomical use that had the new day start at noon. That way we are beginning a new day by entering Christianity’s afternoon. And I like that better.
