Today Prof. Bolger said that post modernism has not erased religion but modified it into spirituality. This is a step away from the institutional church but not necessarily from orthodoxy or traditional doctrine.
However, I think that post modernism's spirituality is at its core a real departure from orthodoxy and traditional doctrine as it was understood in the modern and premodern era. I cannot help but see that modernism, with its foundation in the enlightenment and strict objectivity, tried to erase religion and any superstitious model of reality. The theory of evolution and other advances in scientific understanding, contradicted what orthodox Christianity had to say on the nature of reality and the origins of the universe. Subsequently, the very existence of God was called into question because findings in science so contradicted what was held as fact by the Church based upon a literal reading of certain texts. I do not believe that post modern spirituality is trying to reconcile science with scripture. I think the spirituality we see today is comfortable with the Bible as errant and non authoritative on numerous issues including the process by which the universe came to exist. I am cool with that, but let's admit that post-modern spirituality is a departure from the traditional orthodoxy of the Christian religion.
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Some really great thoughts here, I agree that there is an idea of 'orthodoxy' in each age, modernity rejected some of the key elements of the pre-modern era (as you stated) and now post-modernity is doing the same. This is where contextual theology comes in and discernment with the Spirit.
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