Pragmatism

Since I've been dealing with the defined Protestant groups, its now on to the undefined groups. I see two different ways for undefined groups to go about their task: pragmatism, and something similar to the tension model of sola Scriptura.

First, I'll talk about pragmatism, and why I don't think that it can solve the relevant issues. But before I start that, let me say that I am rather attracted to the view; I think that I've remained a Christian at least in part because of William James and Kierkegaard. I think that pragmatic/existentialist views can lead one into the right view through a number of ways. However, I don't think that they can support the view.

In order to come to a practical conclusion concerning something, we must have an end we wish to meet. If I want to find my car, I look out into the parking lot. My method is successful if it finds my car when my car is out in the lot, and more generally if it finds my car period. Theoretical concerns can then be based off of this.

So, how do we choose our ends? I can choose the method of finding my car based on practical concerns, but how why am I looking for my car? This is because I want to use my car to do something. It is some other, more ultimate end which sets the agenda, and the mediate ends used to get there.

However, the religious life appears to be, among other things, about our ultimate end. There cannot be another end beyond religion which religion serves, unless it is to become a mere tool. We could use religion for social, political, economic, etc. goals, but then it ceases to be what it claims to be.

So, if religion is about our ultimate end, we cannot use practical reasoning to determine what this end is. There must be something outside of pragmatism which tells the pragmatist what to do. The problem I have with overly practical people is that they fail to realize this, and spend their "practical" lives worrying away on trivial issues (although accomplishing them very well!).

However, how we can determine this end, and the stability it has, is what is really at the heart of the issue. The member of an undefined Christian group is not going to be a pure pragmatist; the above is prolegomena for a more complicated strategy, which I will discuss next time.