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The history of Christian approaches to culture clearly enters a stage of transition in the work of Dutch Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920). VanDrunen argues that Kuyper retained enough of the important categories of two-kingdom theology to be categorized squarely in its line of thought. In fact, even one-kingdom proponents such as Jeremy Begbie acknowledge [...]
Continue Reading →I believe that the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians ought to guide our thinking concerning the relationship of our efforts to minister the grace of Jesus Christ and so-called cultural relevance. This series has been slowly working through those chapters, seeking to understand the words of [...]
Continue Reading →No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead. I mean this as a principle of æsthetic, not merely historical, [...]
Continue Reading →John Calvin’s (1509–1564) position regarding the relationship of the church to the surrounding culture is one of intense debate. For example, VanDrunen argues that Calvin essentially agreed with Luther on the two-kingdoms and natural law Continue Reading →
Non-literary and non-musical arts powerfully shape the imagination. Since the media triumph of television and film, these arts have taken a back seat. Only art aficionados seem to go to galleries anymore, and the popular use of this kind of imaginative work has become an almost exclusively decorative or utilitarian one. Regardless, such works [...]
Continue Reading →Following Luther’s lead, each Protestant group reacted against the Christendom approach to culture in some way. The most radical rejection of the Christ above culture model of the Roman Church was that of the Anabaptists. Niebuhr categorized them as Christ against culture, and in many ways he was right if by that categorization he meant [...]
Continue Reading →When we discuss the Christian imagination, people tend to think of fantasy, story-books and films. Those parents who agree that the imagination ought to be shaped often think in two directions: limit the SNVL, and find ‘good Christian themes’. That is, cut out (or down) the Sex-Nudity-Violence-Language element, and find stories that seem to preach [...]
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