Faith & Culture....these men have turned the world upside down.

Transcription

1 Faith & Culture...these men have turned the world upside down.

2 From Michelangelo to Madonna faith and culture have converged to create art, convey meaning, and break boundaries.

3 What is faith?

4 Exploring the nature of faith from the New Testament to the Early Churches rule of faith to the modern use of Creeds and Confessions.

5 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11.1 Read together... 1 Corinthians

6 The rule of faith or regula fidei in Latin first came into use during the Patristic period of the church. As Tertullian and Irenaues engaged the Gnostic heresy they found the need to have recourse to the original teachings of Christ and the Apostles. The rule of faith stood for the canon of scripture. Latter in the Medieval period of the church the rule of faith came to stand for the churches early Creeds. Read James 1.3 Faith as a noun stands for the official teachings/proclamation of the church that were handed down from Christ to the Apostles. Faith here is not so much belief but rather the contents of belief.

7 The testimony of the church Fathers was the public highway of apostolic doctrine...a royal road...the pilgrim could travel safely on this road; but if he or she strayed to the right or to the left away from it, he would be lost in the detours of one or another sort of novelty. Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, Church Historian at Yale Faith as the content of belief was later used as a safeguard from heresy through the use of ancient Fathers

8 Exploring the nature of faith from Saint Augustine to Saint Anselm to John Calvin.

9 Moreover, faith refers to things past and present and future. For we believe that Christ died; this is a past event. We believe that he sitteth at the Father's right hand; this is present. We believe that he will come as our judge; this is future. Again, faith has to do with our own affairs and with those of others. For everyone believes, both about himself and other persons--and about things as well--that at some time he began to exist and that he has not existed forever. Thus, not only about men, but even about angels, we believe many things that have a bearing on religion. Augustine, Enchiridion, 420 a.d. Faith is intellectual. Faith is about historical knowledge of things past, present, and future. Everyone has faith, its not just about religious knowledge.

10 Nor do I seek to understand in order to believe, but to believe in order to understand. For I believe this too, that unless I believe I shall not understand. Saint Anselm, Proslogion, 1077 A.D. Faith leads us to understanding, understanding does not precede faith. Faith is necessary to understand anything in life.

11 Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God, and of ourselves...now, the knowledge of God as I understand it, is that by which we not only conceive that there is a God but also grasp what befits us and is proper to his glory, in fine, what is our advantage to know of him. Indeed, we shall not say that, properly speaking, God is known where there is no religion or piety. John Calvin, Institutes, 1559 A.D. Faith is part of what it means to be human. Its how we are able to view ourselves, God, and life. Faith is more than historical knowledge it is a worshipful vision of God that is pietistic.

12 Faith & Culture...these men have turned the world upside down.

13 What is Culture?

14 Exploring the nature of culture from what we make in the world, to how we make sense of the world, to what we leave behind for others to make a new world with.

15 ...culture, etmologically speaking is a concept derived from nature. One of its original meanings is husbandry, or the tending of natural growth...the word coulter, which is a cognate of culture, means the blade of a plough share... Culture here means an activity, and it was a long time before the word came to denote an entity. Terry Eagleton, The Idea of Culture, Englands most famous living literary critic Culture is an activity more than just an entity. Culture is what we make in the world.

16 So how do we make sense of the world? The two senses turn out to be more intertwined than we might have thought. We make sense of the world by making something of the world. The human quest for meaning is played out in human making: the finger-painting, omelet-stirring, chair-crafting, snow-swishing activities of culture. Meaning and making go together - culture, you could say, is the activity of making meaning. Andy Crouch, Culture Making, Inter Varsity minister at Harvard Culture is how we make sense of the world. Culture is the application of our values to all areas of life.

17 Now both the thing that He has made and I, who am also made by Him, have wonder, awe, and real value. But we must remember that the value I consciously put on a thing - each on its own level - will finally be my own value, for I too am finite. If I let the wonder go from the thing, soon the wonder will go from mankind and me. And this is where we live today. Francis A. Schaffer, Pullution and the Death of Man, One of the most gifted apologist in the 20th Culture is a way to practice a wonderment toward creation that leads to its substantial healing. Culture is what we leave behind for others to make a new world with.

18 Where does Culture happen?

19 Culture-making happens at the individual level, the communal level, and within domains or spheres.

20 Culture-making happens at your kitchen table, at your favorite cafe, and it happens at local leisure spots.

21 Faith & Culture...these men have turned the world upside down.

22 How have Christians related Faith to Culture?

23 Richard Niebuhr s five models of Christ and Culture have been the dominant way Christians have discussed the relationship of faith to culture in the 20th & 21st century. But with fame comes criticism...

24 Nobody fits easily into just one category. Niebuhr s work was a product of its time. Written in a post WW II setting it needed to be hopeful regarding the power of Christianity but has been used in a way that misses the power of Christ. Niebuhr s categories can mislead us into thinking that there has to be one right answer to the relationship of faith to culture. And each category has its own problems & dangers.

25 Biblical reasons behind this view OT - God desired Israel to be separate from the nations; i.e. Exo NT - The conflict between the Church and the world ; Rom. 12.2, Jam. 1.27, John Historical examples of this view Faith The Early Church, ascetic movement; i.e. Tertullian Modern Fundamentalism; i.e. the separatist doctrine Against Problems with this view It confuses culture with world. World in the NT is a technical term used to convey various meanings. Often world is indicative of the bad part of culture. Christ is against the world but he s not blandly against culture. Culture

26 Biblical reasons behind this view OT - Many examples of literary borrowing from the ANE are present in Scripture. NT - The philosophical arguments of John 1, the incarnation of Christ Phil Historical examples of this view Faith The Early Church, the Greek Apologists; i.e. Justin Martyr Modern Liberalism; i.e. higher criticism As Problems with this view It confuses contextualization with cultural accommodation. And it typically plays down the grievousness of sin and the noetic effects of sin upon human reasoning. Culture

27 Biblical reasons behind this view OT - The absence of God during the testing of his children like Esther, Daniel, etc. NT - The language of providential care in places like Acts 17 Historical examples of this view The Roman Catholic Church; i.e. Thomas Aquinas Modern Deism & Modern Mysticism Faith Above Problems with this view It separates nature and grace into two separate phases. Allowing nature to take its own course without the continual, interspersed power of grace ends up leaving people with a view of grace as a supplement to nature. Culture

28 Biblical reasons behind this view OT - The laws for inclusion of foreigners. NT - The admonitions to honor the local authorities because God has given them their own sphere of ruling; i.e. Rom 13, 1 Tim Historical examples of this view The Reformation; i.e. Martin Luther s right and left hand sovereignty of God Post-Conservative and Post-Liberal views on politics Problems with this view It allows for different norms and moralities in each spheres and separates God s sovereignty into private realms. Which in turn creates a normalcy for castle culture in the churches relationship to the world. Faith And Paradox Culture

29 Biblical reasons behind this view OT - Genesis s narrative engagements of Enuma Elish & the Gilgemesh Epic NT - The adoption of Tyrannus s hall for the care and worship of the church; i.e. Acts Historical examples of this view Faith Enlightenment Utopianism The social gospel movement & mainstream evangelical and reformed approaches to being cultural transformationalists. Transforming Problems with this view Eschatology is left in a malleable place where it becomes over-realized so that the goal of the church is to change the world before Christ returns. Or people who use this view can co-opt cultural transformation for any and every trendy social action program. Culture

30 Faith & Culture in the BIblical Story From a Garden to a City

31 The Genesis of Culture The genesis of creation & cultivation

32 Culture & The Image of God Let us make him in our image...

33 The Fa! of Cultur" Alienation, shame, and sin as the sphere of culture-making

34 The Fa! of Cultur" The Fall and Urbanization as the Critical Mass of Culture-Making

35 The Redemption of Cultur" From Leather to Tribes

36 The Redemption of Cultur" From Nations to Untidiness

37 The Redeemer of Cultur" Jesus Redeeming Culture by Redeeming Israel

38 The Consummation of Cultur" From an upper room to a descending city!

39 Faith & Culture in the BIblical Story From a Garden to a City