1. Church and Culture Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism North Park Theological Seminary

2. Social Construct of Reality Objectification Institutionalization Internalization Externalization

3. Christ and Culture (H. Richard Niebuhr) ► Christ AGAINST Culture ► Christ OF Culture ► Christ ABOVE Culture ► Christ and Culture in PARADOX ► Christ TRANSFORMING Culture

4. Christ AGAINST Culture ► Sole authority of Christianity over the Christian  Rejects culture’s claim to loyalty ► Church rejects the world  20 th century Christian Fundamentalism  Amish culture

5. Christ OF Culture ► God is transcendent and can be found in all human endeavors  Church and culture are not in conflict  Assimiliation ► Church embraces the world  20 th century Protestant Liberalism  Seeker sensitive movement

6. Church and Culture ► Marginalized (Christ AGAINST Culture)  Antagonistic relationship to the culture ► Modernist vs. Fundamentalists (Scopes Trial)  Noah’s Ark mentality ► Creation of a Christian sub-culture ► Mainstreamed (Christ OF Culture)  Church is held captive to culture ► Western/White captivity of the church ► Mega-church ► Feel-good Christianity

7. Marginalized Christianity

8. Ark - itecture

9. Mainstreamed Christianity

10. Christ ABOVE Culture ► Acknowledges the centrality of the church but seeks after knowledge of God through reason and revelation ► Church gets to Christ passing through the world (e.g. – logic, reason, science)  Thomas Aquinas / (seminaries)  Christian modernist philosophy

11. Christ and Culture in PARADOX ► Great difference between the two  Similar to difference between law and gospel  Church as salt/light to prevent the onslaught of evil ► Living life precariously and in tension  Both engaged and disengaged  Acknowledges reality of sin and evil

12. Christ TRANSFORMING Culture ► Refuses to abandon the earth to the Kingdom of Satan ► Kingdom of God can transform and retake the world ► Transforming power of the gospel to transform individuals and culture

13. Metaphor for Gospel and Culture ► People in a stadium  View of the field is different depending on where you sit ► Christians  in a stadium (Christianity / World)  in a specific seat (cultural lens)  looking at the field (the gospel message) ► Christians need to talk to each other to get a clearer, broader, fuller picture

14. DifferingPoints of View

15. Andrew Walls : Two Principles ► Indigenizing  Creation-centered theology  The Gospel adapts to the culture  The Gospel affirms what exists in the culture  missio Dei ► Pilgrim  Redemption-centered theology  The Gospel challenges our culture  The Gospel seeks to change what exists in the culture  Prophetic, counter-cultural role

16. Andrew Walls : Two Principles IndigenizingPilgrim

17. Stephen Bevans : Four Models (actually six but four that apply to us) Bevans, Stephen. Models of Contextual Theology (Maryknoll: Orvis Books, 2002) ► Anthropological (strongly indigenizing) ► Counter-cultural (strongly pilgrim) ► Translation (neutral) ► Transcendental (allow the receiver to determine)

18. Anthroplogical ► Strongly indigenizing  Primary concern: preservation of cultural identity/norms  Focused on the human experience in culture ► Culture is basically good / equal to Scripture and tradition  Seeds of the gospel are in the ground ► the ground simply needs watering ► Examples:  missio Dei (God was here before our arrival)  Indigenous names for God  Afro-centric churches in America

19. Counter-cultural ► Strongly pilgrim  Primary concern: gospel message  The gospel story gives us the lens to critique history and culture  Focused on redemption and transformation  Culture needs to be weeded and fertilized before the seeds can be planted ► Examples:  Missional theology  Resident Alien (communal)  Widow burnings / human sacrifice

20. Translation ► Neutral  Accommodates to a particular culture ► Yet, sees the message of the gospel as unchanging  Translate the meaning of the gospel ► A supra-cultural message can be separated out ► Looking for dynamic equivalence in translation ► Contextualization is a necessity  The cultural context is basically good ► Bring seeds (gospel) put into the ground of culture ► Examples:  Language / Bible translation (Dynamic equivalence)  Jokes / Humor / Idioms  Music and Art?

21. Transcendental ► Allow the receiver to determine  As outsiders, we can not understand all things ► We need a complete change/conversion  Begin with one’s own contextual / communal experience to determine particularities ► The “subject” is involved in determining and shaping realit ► The individual’s particular context and the individual’s experience in God  Cultivate your own garden – others will cultivate their own ► Examples:  Elements of racial and ethnic identity / pride?  Ancestor worship?  Art? Dance?

22. Discussion Board Assignment ► Church and Culture Examples ► Niebuhr  Against Culture / Of Cultures  Above Culture / In Paradox / Transforming Culture ► Walls:  Pilgrim  Indigenizing ► Bevans  Anthropological  Counter Cultural  Translation  Transcendental