Envisioning the Church of Secular Age: Lessons from Charles Taylor and Karl Rahner

The process of envisioning of the church in the modern world demands a greater understanding of the complementarity of gospel and history. Actual and objective understanding of the secular world will always nourish the establishment of the church of this age and of the future. Karl Rahner and Charles Taylor provide a comprehensive treatment of the importance of understanding both history and the gospel to envision a church that is relevant to the time. Charles Taylor paying particular attention to the historical development of last 500 years in the western world and examines how it turned as a predicament to the church of today. Similarly, Karl Rahner’s analysis of ‘the shape of the Church to come’ also depicts the significance of a comprehensive and unbiased understanding of history and a prophetic awareness of the gospel as inevitable in the setting of a proper futuristic vision of the church. Comprehensive study of the analysis of the history by Taylor and Rahner assures us a strong foundation to envision a better church for today and tomorrow.