In this article, which was part of a symposium on the “Post-Christian Man” in WFMT Perspective, Ong argues his disbelief in the Post-Christian man.  He believes the meaning of Christianity has changed over time due to the “relationship of man to nature.”  Ong argues that a person is not Post-Christian simply because he or she believes in the sciences and technologies of society.  Ong also considers that people do not need to have others understand their Christianity, but each individual should understand his or her own meaning.  According to Ong, Christianity is clearly evident, due to the millions of people practicing, but he also recognizes that numerous people have left Christianity.  By the same token, many individuals have found a way back into Christianity.  In fact, Christianity has spread over the last few decades.

Ong responds this way to Paul Goodman’s article “We Are Post-Christian Men,” also in the same issue of WFMT Perspective.  Goodman expresses his belief in why people are Post-Christian, and unlike Ong, Goodman believes that the changing society results in people abandoning Christianity.  He includes economics, the sciences, and technologies as contributing factors to why people are no longer Christian.  Ong refutes Goodman’s ideas, and he goes on, in later writings to express his ideas about Post-Christianity.  These later articles include “Do We Live in a Post-Christian Age?” and “Realizing Catholicism:  Faith, Learning, and the Future.”

Tina Santa Maria
University of Dayton