First Willibrord lecture: Church and Gospel after the fall of secularism

Contours of a new theological landscape

The title of the lecture was: Church & Gospel after the Fall of Secularism: Contours of a New Transept. With this, Van Kooten referred to the historic destruction of the nave of Utrecht Cathedral by a downburst in 1674 – an event that, for him, serves as a model for the secular storm that has swept through Western Europe since the 1960s. But just as the Cathedral retained its transept and choir, so too, Van Kooten argued, today we can see the contours of the Gospel more clearly and accessibly in an open world.

From secularisation to openness

In his lecture, Van Kooten argued that secularisation, though often perceived as a threat, is now also leading to a renewed openness to faith. Whereas the twentieth century was marked by rapid church decline, both then and now surprising movements of conversion and renewed attention to spirituality can be observed. He cited examples from the Anglo-Saxon world, such as T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis, as well as contemporary figures like actress Eva Simons and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who have recently rediscovered their faith publicly.

According to Van Kooten, all this points to a broader post-secular dynamic: if even in one of the earliest and most deeply secularised countries, such as the Netherlands, new openness to the Gospel is emerging, this deserves serious attention.

Why did secularism fail to convince?

Van Kooten analysed four major nineteenth-century thinkers often regarded as landmarks of secularisation: Marx, Freud, Feuerbach and Darwin. Their insights undeniably had great influence, but, Van Kooten argued, their conclusions have lost persuasive power. Marx’s theories of power led to postmodern scepticism, Freud to a fixation on the subconscious, and Feuerbach to a radical projection theory of God. Ultimately, these perspectives prove insufficient to answer existential questions of meaning, community, and salvation. It is precisely in this shortfall, he suggested, that the renewed appeal of the Gospel resounds.

Gen Z and the search for community

Special attention was given to the younger generation. Recent surveys in The Times and The Guardian show that Generation Z identifies as less atheist than their parents and is open to religious and spiritual forms of meaning. Young people experience the pressure of social media, mental health issues, and uncertainty about the future, and are discovering that Christianity can provide a counterbalance to one-sided individualism. “We are made to be connected, and to live for and with others,” Van Kooten quoted from one young interviewee.

For Van Kooten, this closely echoes the attraction of the Gospel in the first century: it offered a new kind of community, centred on forgiveness, love, and hope.

Cyclical history and a hopeful renaissance

Finally, Van Kooten placed current developments in a broader historical perspective. Religious revivals and renaissances, he argued, return cyclically, roughly every four centuries. Just as the era of Constantine, the medieval universities, and the Reformation marked moments of renewal, so too may we expect signs today of a new phase of faith and theology. The period of secularisation, from Strauss to Fukuyama, is over. “Being church and doing theology in a new post-secular era should not be about restoring the nave, but about making the transept visible in our own time.”

Download the full lecture

The full text of Prof George van Kooten’s lecture, Church & Gospel after the Fall of Secularism, is available via the PThU website.