Using the Humanities to Present Christianity to Generation Z

Introduction

To counter the pluralism of today's culture, it is important that the Christian faith be presented objectively and with an insistence on truth. In today's world, truth is seen as subjective. Everyone has his or her own "personal truth." "Tell your truth," is how the saying goes. This is a problem because very often one's personal truth conflicts with another's truth or with objective truth — that is, reality. Since Satan is the father of lies, it is important that Generation Z recognize that real truth matters, as commitment to real truth is the only way to disentangle oneself from the culture of lies and come to Christ, as the Yanomamo convert to Christianity Bautista states: Christ is the only one who can save a soul from being lost.¹

This means that there is a need to focus on truth — real truth — and to see the world through the eyes of one who recognizes the spiritual realities of this world, that God and Satan are real. One way to do this is by using the realities of this world to show the way to Generation Z, which is inundated with an atheistic, politically correct doctrine similar to that supplied to the Soviets of the 20th century.² The key to opening up real truth to this generation can be literature, music, art, philosophy — that is, the humanities. The humanities are one of the best ways to present biblical Christianity to Generation Z. The humanities have taught people about the real truths of God and life for centuries, and today they have been pushed to the side. This paper explains how the humanities are one of the best ways to present biblical Christianity to Generation Z.

Who Is Generation Z?

Commonly referred to as Gen Z, this generation is completely unique in history.³ Technically speaking, anyone born since 1997 is a member of Gen Z.⁴ Also known as the iGeneration — because of its affinity for iPhones — this generation is technically savvy and has never known a world without the Internet. Yet there is much more to know about Gen Z than simply the fact that it is comfortable with digital technology. As White points out, the modern soul of the 21st century is completely devoid of Christian sensibility, even if nominally Christian. White calls the time now upon us the seventh age, in which the very question of what it means to be human is no longer clear. There is no longer any religious affiliation among the "nones" — Gen Z. The nones, those without any religious affiliation, were five percent of the population in 1930. Today they are 30 percent and their numbers are rising.⁵ In short, Gen Z has little to no faith in Christ. Christ is irrelevant in the great Digital Age. The iPhone and the atheistic ideology of social justice have usurped His throne. To drive home this point, a recent survey reveals that one in ten Millennials would sooner give up a finger than give up their iPhone — and those are Millennials.⁶

With Gen Z one can assume that feelings towards smartphones have not lessened. Once formed, these attachments are difficult to break. They grow and consume one until they become like a part of one's body, a part of one's soul. This is the state of things today. Gen Z wakes up in the morning and finds itself fulfilled — primarily because every waking moment is filled by some form of digital media consumption. There is no time for spiritual reflection. There is no reason to stop and wonder why things are the way they are. There is no reason to stop and ask oneself, "Who am I?" Everything in history has reached a final pivotal point in which social justice is within reach (so they are taught). Technology has eliminated all obstacles (so they are taught). Human perfection is happening now (so they are taught). The real pivotal moment in history — the Incarnation — is lost upon them. They have not been taught its significance. They do not sense the lack because they are not given a mirror that shows them who they really are. They are constantly fed projections of an ideal self and an ideal world rooted in atheistic materialism, justified by social justice banter that hides the true reality of things.

The bottom line is that they do not see that they have an immortal soul in need of saving. They do not even realize they are atheists in many cases, because they have simply given no thought to the matter.⁷ They are like the closed-minded characters of any Flannery O'Connor short story — more will be said on that below. Few authors of the 20th century have done a better job of holding the mirror up to human nature and showing the reader who he really is. For that reason, O'Connor can be an excellent tool for the apologist, because she helps to open the door to real reality and the real need for salvation.

White also asserts that apologists today must adapt to address this new generation because the old ways do not line up with the needs of this new generation.⁸ It is not just a matter of getting this new generation re-engaged with a latent faith. That faith is not latent. One must realize that one is preaching the Gospel to a generation that has never heard it. Generation Z must be considered no different from the heathens of the past. It is as though they have returned to some of the pagan rituals that were incorporated into Christianity, but have left Christianity behind in doing so.⁹ They may be Christian in name — some of them — but they are not acquainted with the Bible or its relevance in their lives. The Gospel needs to be made new to them, and it needs to be made relevant.¹⁰ But it is difficult to see the relevance of an important fact when one does not see how it applies to one's own life. The Pharisees did not see the relevance of Christ's gift of grace because they thought themselves already saved; they thought themselves already perfect; they thought in terms of earthly power — and neglected to actually think about the true state of their souls (Matthew 12:38–42; Luke 11:29–32; Matthew 16:1–4). Gen Z is very much like the Pharisees of old, often adopting a mocking attitude and tone towards Christianity. With cancel culture all the rage among them, they resemble the Puritans of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter: they imagine that they are pure and must cast the impure out from among them. They very much resemble the Pharisees looking down their noses at Christ when he allowed the sinner to touch him (Luke 7:39–40).

But as Christ said from the cross, we must "forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). It is true — but that does not mean we must forget them. The apologist's job today is one of reaching out to Gen Z and presenting to them the truth of their own selves; for until they see that truth, they will not realize why they need Christ.

One point that summarizes the situation is taken from the film Gravity, in which a character cries that she is about to die and wishes she could pray but that no one ever taught her how to pray. That is where Gen Z is now: it is a generation that has not been taught the first thing about religion.¹¹ Yet at the same time this is a group that is heavily networked, understands technology and social media, and is involved in social justice.¹²

This is a generation that has to be engaged. Apologists of today must accept their questions, answer them, and engage with them wherever and whenever possible.¹³ This is a generation that believes in ghosts but does not believe in the redemption of the soul by Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross. Those two things — that belief and that unbelief — have to be bridged: that is the primary purpose of the apologist seeking to spread the faith among Gen Z.

To be successful, the anti-Christian aspect of the world today has to be carefully considered.¹⁴ It is this anti-Christian world that Gen Z faces and has grown accustomed to: Gen Z is too wrapped up in technology, and Gen X — the parents of Gen Z — has been too hands-off in raising their children.¹⁵ This is a generation that believes social media presence will make it happy.¹⁶ It is a generation that believes in worldly perfection rather than in spiritual perfection.¹⁷ It is a generation that does not even realize that each person has a spirit. It is a generation that has no concept of spiritual perfection or the need for spiritual perfection because it has no sense of spiritual imperfection. It is a generation that has been taught that if it says and does all the right things politically, then it will reach a kind of social justice heaven.

The parents of Gen Z are to blame to a large degree — but they themselves were given little to go on.¹⁸ The fact is it has been a slippery slope downward since the Baby Boomers embraced the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Freedom has been the buzzword ever since, but as E. Michael Jones points out, freedom — typically preached as sexual liberation — always leads to enslavement of the mind, body, will, and spirit.¹⁹ Gen Z has been given far too much freedom and independence, and their parents have not sought to protect the innocence of their children. That has made Gen Z particularly vulnerable to the temptations of the devil — and once snared and devoid of faith as they are, it raises many obstacles for the apologist of today. This is a Gen Z that is enslaved by Satan and does not even realize it because, to quote the film The Usual Suspects, "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."²⁰