If you look at
the map of Olympia above, three civilizations—each based on their own
distinct religion—are identified. These are Christendom, Caliphate, and Judaicum (my apologies for the new word), based on Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, respectively.
The fourth religion of Olympia is Olympianity. It is the oldest, largest, yet least recognized religion in Olympia and the world. The whole map of Olympia, in fact, marks merely one small area of an entire world where Olympianity rules through the Global Technological System (GTS). The colorful boundaries of Christendom, Caliphate, and Judaicum locate the enduring past of traditional religions but not their dynamic present. That belongs to the GTS.
The GTS, which began around 1750 with the beginning of the Technological (not “Industrial”) Revolution, has always been parasitic. It has always lived off the vitality of civilizations, societies, cultures, individuals, and creation. It has grown so large, and has sucked the vitality of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism so much for so long, as to leave them almost completely drained of meaning.
Now, except for a few scattered and diminishing embers, all three traditional religions have been reduced to three forms of Olympianity. Their participants are now primarily Jewish Olympians, Christian Olympians, or Muslim Olympians. One example of this: progressive Christian Olympians now identify more strongly with progressive Jewish and Muslim Olympians than they do with conservative or restorative Christian Olympians. The fault lines in our churches are now much more political (Jupiter) than theological (Jesus).
This means that Christendom has been disappearing as a civilization.
This is not the first time that change on the scale of a civilization has happened in the area we call Christendom. Only in the fourth century after Christ (the 300s) did the area encompassed by the Roman Empire become Christendom. Before that, it was dominated by Olympianity. When it became Christendom, this by no means meant that Olympianity vanished. It was a question of priority and proportion. With the establishment of Christendom, Olympianity became subordinate to Christianity and determined a much smaller proportion of social structures and cultural expressions.
Today, Olympianity increasingly dominates Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and continuously assimilates Jews, Christians, and Muslims. As prophetic Christian witnesses and mission groups, Jesus is calling us today to discern and affirm ways of responding creatively to this profound challenge.
Copyright © 2017
by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved.
