We’re delighted to introduce Dr. Lauren Moore, BibleMesh Institute Research Fellow in Theology and Mission.
Tell Us a Bit about Yourself
I’m an Australian and for the past 16 years have been serving in local church ministry in southwest France with Pioneers and WEC International.
I’m doing a PhD where my focus is on apparitions and visions of the Virgin Mary, how they influence Roman Catholicism, and how Roman Catholicism influences apparitions. Particularly, I am looking at the dynamic of how these events that have developed over time interact with Catholic theology and how they have impacted the church in the long term.
What Are Marian Apparitions and Why Are You So Interested in Them?
Marian apparitions are visions people have of the Virgin Mary in various places, like shrines or churches. While there are many famous stories about apparitions throughout church history, in the past two centuries accounts of such visions have become more prevalent, and the place they play in many Catholics’ faith has increased.
The short answer for why I’m interested in this has to do with the Catholic pilgrimage in the city of Lourdes, which is widely known in southwest France. I serve as a missionary in this area, and I’ve long worked to understand not only what people believe, but also how they believe in the practices of pilgrimage and veneration.
One might think that Western Europe is increasingly secular, and therefore anti-religious. But the first time I saw hordes of people coming to this place as pilgrims to seek Mary, my perception of Western Europeans was deeply challenged.
In particular, the view that Europe is secular and therefore atheist might lead us to conclude that Western European worldviews are unspiritual. But being in Lourdes and seeing people bowing down in front of statues of the Virgin Mary completely shifted my understanding of Western Europe, and even what it means to be secular.
I was always curious to understand the Catholic underbelly of Europe and how this historical aspect influences the foundation of Western Europe. Having spent several years church planting in Lourdes, I have a desire to understand the local culture and the impact those roots have on Western Europe.
Is This A New Phenomenon?
We often think that the Western European belief system has changed a lot, but what I’ve noticed is religion has only become a taboo topic in secular society—it’s not actually gone away under the surface. This is partly due to the increase of Islam over the past 20 or 30 years, on top of a difficult history for the Jewish population (particularly in France) after World War II. All of these things have made religion a very sensitive topic that people talk about less and less. So, while the Catholicism element is rarely discussed in everyday conversations, it’s still part of their understanding of faith and all things spiritual.
Once you engage more deeply with people, you realize they are familiar with words like sin. In such cases, as missionaries, we’re not entering a culture that doesn’t have an awareness of God or the faith. These are people surrounded by churches and crucifixes daily, and the vocabulary and concepts are there. But they have a very malnourished and often negative understanding of faith.
Even though France is becoming more religiously diverse and the Catholic heritage of France not well known, there is still an interest in spiritual things like the phenomenon of Marian apparitions and the pursuit of spiritual experiences like pilgrimage offers a connecting point for us to share a Protestant evangelical Gospel.
France is Secular, and Yet the Country is Riveted with the Rebuilding of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Why?
I find it scandalous that these days people don’t know who God is or what Jesus did. But in some ways this poverty of general knowledge is an open door. In my conversations (and I think this would be true across secular Europe) people want to talk about faith, they have questions, but there’s no longer the context to do it.
By coming in as a local church, it gives us an opportunity to share who God is. As a foreigner, locals feel freer to ask questions they’d never ask of another local, but as an Australian or an American they assume we know about religion. This is helpful to break down local cultural barriers and opens the door to engage with their questions.
While they see religious symbols daily and have an awareness of conflict in the Middle East, many French people haven’t set foot in a church, and so they are missing that environment, or that person in their life to whom they can ask questions. That’s what those ministering in such context can provide.
I think ultimately people want to have a real-life relationship with a person to ask questions and learn about how to find meaning in life and make sense of their spiritual hunger. The priority is to create an opening for conversations by paying attention to the unexpected ways faith still comes in cultural or spiritual practices.
What are some other things you’re interested in exploring this year as a Research Fellow?
I am really interested in the intersection of theology, sociology and culture. My particular field of interest is of course Mariology, and I definitely look forward to exploring how Evangelical Mariology can be defined and how it could be effectively used in apologetics and missions. We don’t need to wait until Christmas to talk about Mary! But in a broader sense, we are noticing an increased interest in the Church Fathers, Thomas Aquinas, and understanding the deeper roots of our Christian faith as evangelicals. There is so much to explore in this area so that we can strengthen the foundations of our personal and communal faiths.
As an example of something I look forward to researching is the work of Leonardo de Chirico and Gregg Allison. They have worked hard at developing a framework to understand Roman Catholicism as a system. Having a systemic understanding of Roman Catholicism has a profound impact on our approach apologetics, church-planting and missions and this is something I am interested in exploring.
I’m also interested how to navigate Pre-Reformation thinkers. On one hand they have some profound insights to offer us, and there is a treasure trove for us to discover these works. On the other hand, however, the devotion that some of these thinkers had to the Virgin Mary and the saints, and the strange mystical practices some of them had can’t be justified by Scripture. What do we do when our pastors tweet a quote Saint Catherine of Sienna, without taking into account her deep mystical devotion to Mary? It is a complex question that I look forward to exploring.
Interested in theological education? Find out more about getting seminary-level biblical and theological training with BibleMesh. an online experience, integrated with a personal teaching fellow.