We need a Reformation More than a Renaissance

And there's too much damned salad dressing

Time is so weird right now. I don’t know if it’s post-pandemic, a baby, or what, but I honestly cannot believe we are almost through 2024.

The Soaring Twenties are nearly halfway done. It is difficult to paint a picture of an era when the era is ongoing, and the chapter is yet to be finished…but I’ll try it anyway.

The obvious: the 2020s to date have included a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, geopolitical eruptions, and rapid technological disruption that is both exciting and unsettling. While it makes being human much harder, it doesn’t preclude a path to a Renaissance-like state; human intellect flowered during this time amid social, religious and political upheaval. Occurring after the bubonic plague killed roughly a third of Europe’s population, the Renaissance weathered its fair share of pandemics. Humanity reached new heights in science, the arts, and our understanding of our place in the world despite uncertainty.

The Bad: I recently went to the grocery store and my wife asked me to pick up some salad dressing. Poppyseed…maybe.

I can’t find a single poppyseed dressing. A dozen kinds of ranch, several brands of bleu cheese. I can’t find anything amid the cornucopia of things I don’t want.

Except, there is one. One poppyseed dressing…with strawberries.

My wife is many things. Great wife, baker, mother, worker, and someone who hates artificial strawberry flavor.

Just as I struggled with the wide range of salad dressing choices, it applies as well to how I experience most of our modern culture today. There’s an overwhelming amount of content from both the masses¹ and legacy media, spanning streaming services, digital music platforms, blogs, and endless headlines. It’s hard to navigate it all.

I know what I sound like.

“We used to have one dressing and one book we’d share with the whole town. And we liked it!”

So be it. I may be getting older but this feels real enough.

With so much happening, it is difficult to discern a unifying cultural ethos like what propelled enthusiasm for knowledge, virtue, and optimism that rekindled the human spirit through the Renaissance.

It may be harder to be human without cultural factors driving the human spirit, but that may not preclude a Renaissance-like state from here. The Renaissance was ultimately a phenomenon for the nobility, wealthy merchants and bankers, and the clergy. It did not require mass adoption or appreciation of the same cultural touchstones that inspired Michelangelo or Medici.

The Good: the obvious and the bad do not preclude a move towards a Renaissance-like state. If anything they may be unexpected catalysts as we rise to the challenges we face today.

I do wonder if the Renaissance is really an accurate portrayal of where we are going and what we should strive for during the Soaring Twenties. Seen cynically, the Renaissance was defined by a handful of wealthy parties revisiting the beauty and insights from the ancient world. We want the flourishing intellect and return to beautiful aesthetics of the Renaissance, but I wonder how many of those answers we will find looking to the past.

Is it possible that we could have a Renaissance going in the wrong direction, one that takes us to new heights while leaving out our humanity for our current generation? It might be something we already see today.

The keys to avoid this outcome may lie more in the Reformation than the Renaissance. The Reformation, spurred by Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, redefined the role of the Church in daily life, reshaping European society in profound ways. While the Renaissance celebrated the revival of classical knowledge and beauty, the Reformation fundamentally questioned the institutions that structured daily life. Coupled with advancements like the printing press and global exploration, this period laid the foundation for modernity.

What is our equivalent institution today that requires a Reformation? What is embedded deeply into our way of life that may be leading us astray or betraying our humanity?

As our technological understanding has grown by leaps and bounds coupled with mass quantity of culture, perhaps the reformation is on our relationship with technology². We have seen exponential growth in our technology adoption that make it easier to work, play and connect, and yet it has come at a cost such as deeper social isolation, addiction to our phones, or physically altering our bodies. Perhaps to our humanity, and who knows what else.

While a Renaissance that takes humanity to new heights in the Soaring Twenties would be fantastic, it would be worth reflecting on what it means to be human to ensure those new heights enhance humanity instead of exploit the worst in us all.

As of September 2024, I think we are on our way through to the Soaring Twenties. It is worth reflecting on how a Reformation to assess how best to engage this technology is to ensure we get this right. Perhaps we are at a moment that calls for both— a Reformation of the systems that govern our lives that can unleash the Renaissance of intellect and creativity.

It may be difficult, and the challenges daunting, and there may be no hope. But we must try for the Soaring Twenties anyway.³⁴

1. You’re probably bored of statistics like this.

2. The irony that we’re all generating and experiencing this on technology was noted.

3. Many thanks to Professor Rick Knight of Colorado State for inspiring discussions that shaped key elements of this essay.

4. This essay was written (quickly) for the Soaring Twenties Social Club (STSC). The STSC is a small, exclusive online speakeasy where a dauntless band of raconteurs, writers, artists, philosophers, flaneurs, musicians, idlers, and bohemians share ideas and companionship.