Reflections on Christ and Culture
In 1951, Richard Neibuhr wrote a book titled Christ and Culture that is still considered a defining theological work on the subject. The book is not without its critics, nor is it beyond critique. But it is a helpful tome for all who seek a deeper understanding of what it means to live as faithful Christians in human culture.
In light of our sermon topic this morning (8/5/07), I thought I would offer some more extended quotes from Neibuhr as he seeks to define what we mean by the word “culture.” His scholarly wisdom is evident even in the title of the sub-section: “Toward The Definition of Culture.” (“Toward” is scholar-speak for “I’m going to do my best to define this word while humbly realizing that my reflections won’t do justice to the breadth of the subject.”)
What we have in view when we deal with Christ and culture is that total process of human activity and that total result of such activity to which now the name culture, now the name civilization, is applied in common speech. Culture is the 'artificial secondary environment' which man superimposes on the natural. It comprises language, habits, ideas, beliefs, customs, social organization, inherited artifacts, technical processes, and values. This ‘social heritage,’ this ‘reality sui generis,’ which the New Testament writers frequently had in mind when they spoke of ‘the world…’ is what we mean when we speak of culture.
Though we cannot venture to describe the ‘essence’ of this culture, we can describe some of its chief characteristics.
For one thing, it is inextricably bound up with man’s life in society; it is always social.
Culture, secondly, is human achievement… [it] is the work of men’s minds and hands. The world so far as it is man-made and man-intended is the world of culture.
These human achievements, in the third place, are all designed for an end or ends; the world of culture is a world of values.
Again, culture in all its forms and varieties is concerned with the temporal and material realization [and conservation] of values… culture is social tradition which must be conserved by painful struggle not so much against nonhuman natural forces as against revolutionary and critical powers in human life and reason.
Finally, the values a culture seeks to realize in any time or place are many in number… societies are always involved in a more or less laborious effort to hold together in tolerable conflict the many efforts of many men in many groups to achieve and conserve many goods.
Culture is more fundamental to our reality than we often realize. The problem of “not being able to see your own face” is magnified on a cultural level, because what we conceive of as normal is in large part dependent on how we have been enculturated. So our starting point in critiquing culture comes through recognizing our identity as “resident aliens,” immersed in the culture of the world and also in the culture of the kingdom of God. Opening ourselves to our brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world is a second way to see our own cultural blind spots and the ways we have domesticated the gospel to our cultural idols.
In light of our sermon topic this morning (8/5/07), I thought I would offer some more extended quotes from Neibuhr as he seeks to define what we mean by the word “culture.” His scholarly wisdom is evident even in the title of the sub-section: “Toward The Definition of Culture.” (“Toward” is scholar-speak for “I’m going to do my best to define this word while humbly realizing that my reflections won’t do justice to the breadth of the subject.”)
What we have in view when we deal with Christ and culture is that total process of human activity and that total result of such activity to which now the name culture, now the name civilization, is applied in common speech. Culture is the 'artificial secondary environment' which man superimposes on the natural. It comprises language, habits, ideas, beliefs, customs, social organization, inherited artifacts, technical processes, and values. This ‘social heritage,’ this ‘reality sui generis,’ which the New Testament writers frequently had in mind when they spoke of ‘the world…’ is what we mean when we speak of culture.
Though we cannot venture to describe the ‘essence’ of this culture, we can describe some of its chief characteristics.
For one thing, it is inextricably bound up with man’s life in society; it is always social.
Culture, secondly, is human achievement… [it] is the work of men’s minds and hands. The world so far as it is man-made and man-intended is the world of culture.
These human achievements, in the third place, are all designed for an end or ends; the world of culture is a world of values.
Again, culture in all its forms and varieties is concerned with the temporal and material realization [and conservation] of values… culture is social tradition which must be conserved by painful struggle not so much against nonhuman natural forces as against revolutionary and critical powers in human life and reason.
Finally, the values a culture seeks to realize in any time or place are many in number… societies are always involved in a more or less laborious effort to hold together in tolerable conflict the many efforts of many men in many groups to achieve and conserve many goods.
Culture is more fundamental to our reality than we often realize. The problem of “not being able to see your own face” is magnified on a cultural level, because what we conceive of as normal is in large part dependent on how we have been enculturated. So our starting point in critiquing culture comes through recognizing our identity as “resident aliens,” immersed in the culture of the world and also in the culture of the kingdom of God. Opening ourselves to our brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world is a second way to see our own cultural blind spots and the ways we have domesticated the gospel to our cultural idols.
posted by Bob | 7:22 PM
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