My education course
I am finding my education course interesting, but stressful. It is an intersive course, as 18 months is crammed into 1 year. What I most appreciate about the course is studying from a Christian perspective. After years studying at a secular university, I fully appreciate being able to study God's word at the same time as gaining formal qualifications in primary teaching.
Today I read about five different models of the relationship of Christian faith and culture. I discovered that my views fit best with "Christ Restores Culture - The Transformational Approach". This view sees Christ as the converter of humankind and culture. Here are some points about this view:
* Salvation won by Jesus Christ is not against culture, nor simply alongside or above it. Jesus's redemption can also transform culture.
* This model focus on creation, fall, and redemption
* Culture has never been without God's ordering action.
* God's sovereignty extends to all areas of life. Secular and sacred are not pitted against one another. Christ created all things and Christ redeems all things. The Christian is called to obey God in all areas.
Hoekema, in The Bible and the future states that the kingdom of God "means nothing less than the renewal of the entire cosmos, culminating in the new heaven and the new earth."
"we should see all of life and all of reality in the light of the goal of the redemption of the cosmos. This implies, as Abraham Kuyper once said, that there is not a thumb-breadth of the universe about which Christ does not say, "It is mine."
The readings on this topic point out that most Christians do not have a coherent view of the way Christianity should interact with culture. I am grateful that this course gives me an opportunity to solidify my own views.
"thumb-breadth"? I've never heard that before. I used that quote in a sermon recently and said "square inch" - and somebody at the door pointed out to me that Kuyper would have said "centimetre".
But all the Dutch people in the congregation were thrilled that I'd quoted him. :)
It sounds like you've fallen in with a nice crowd of people. ;)
I noticed on one of your earlier entries that you had to spend $700 on a mattress. I live in Lonnie and experience back pain and am wondering what mattress you bought, and from which store. You can email the details to rosspark@fastmail.fm
Thanx.
Actually, what you have posted here is classic Neocalvinism. Not that there's anything wrong with that: the Reformed umbrella is able to contain many sub-groups - neocalvinists, neo-puritans, federal-visionists...
Oh! At least I fell in the Reformed camp :). I will have to post the four other options I was given for how to view Christ and culture at some point, so people have some context for why I chose this one. I am sure it was the best of the five! Of course, there are probably many more options than five, and lots of mixtures.
Thanks for the link on Neocalvanism. I think it does describe me quite well . . . and one of its key people is named Abraham, one of my favourite baby names. Not that this sways me at all. I must read more about Kuyper, my interested has been aroused by reading about him in the page you linked to.