Faith Inside an Immanent Frame

Abstract

Those who are charged with the responsibility of governing, leading or teaching in Catholic schools at this time are challenged by questions which go to the heart of their school’s mission. How is it possible for the mission of the Catholic school to be realised in a culture that is increasingly secularising? What is the secularising context and how is religious belief still possible today? These are questions of profound significance also for the families who seek a Catholic education for their children. Charles Taylor’s analysis of our secular age provides a foundation for addressing these questions as do findings from the Enhancing Catholic School Identity (ECSI) research. Whilst the secularising context is sometimes painted as the enemy of Catholic education, it is presented here as being the context in which Catholic schools must realise their mission and this cultural context, like any cultural context, has elements which support the mission and elements which impede it. The following key concepts from Taylor’s analysis are reviewed because of their relevance for Catholic schools: the Expressivist Age, the Cross-Pressured context and the Immanent Frame. The Post-Critical Belief Scale from the ECSI research is also reviewed, as a key finding is that Post-Critical Belief is the only viable option for faith in a secularising context.