Christ and Culture
>> Friday, June 8, 2007 –
government and history
In his book Christ and Culture (1951) H. Richard Neibuhr identified five different ways in which Christians have understood the relationship of the Christian faith to culture.
1. Christ Against (Opposes) Culture – The Separatist Approach
- Reject culture as ungodly and separate themselves from it.
- Sharp distinction is drawn between the world and the Kingdom of God.
- Christ is thought to be opposed to the customs of the society in which the Christian lives
2. Christ of Culture – The Identificational Approach
- Identify the best fruits of non-Christian culture as being an expression of Christ.
- Christ is in agreement with culture.
- For example, 19th Century Liberal Protestants believed the Kingdom of God was found in the cultures of the world.
3. Christ Flanks Culture – The Co-Existence Approach
- The Christian is called to live in this world, yet is a member of the Kingdom of God. These loyalties co-exist in parallel and cannot be reconciled.
- Antithesis between the world and the Kingdom of God, yet both are equally important and valid fields of Christian service.
- Martin Luther developed a doctrine of “two Kingdoms”.
4. Christ Above (Crowns) Culture – The Hierarchical Approach
- Christ completes (or crowns) the natural order
- The superior order of grace is added to the inferior order of nature. Grace is added without significantly altering the world, which has a separate existence.
- The church is God’s institution on earth. It brings God’s blessing by mediating his grace and sanctifying the natural order.
- Associated with Roman Catholicism.
This is the approach I most identify with, and I wrote about it in my post about my education course.
It is good to think through these different ideas about how we are to live in and relate to the world. Doing so can help you to understand where others are coming from when you discuss issues with them.
