Christ and Culture Revisited

In Christ and Culture Revisited, Carson revisits the classic work of Niebuhr: Christ and Culture. Although there is no stated goal written in this book, Carson attempts to answer the question; “How [should Christians] think of themselves with respect to the surrounding culture, when they themselves cannot escape being part of that culture?” (xi)

He begins his effort by summarizing Niebuhr’s categories in Chapters 1 and 2 and criticizing Niebuhr’s work through the lens of Biblical Theology. In Chapter 3, he begins his ‘new model’ of Christ and culture in the context of postmodernism. Chapter 4 focuses on his examination of some of the dominant cultural forces of our time. In Chapter 5, Carson further discusses the relationship between church and state. And in Chapter 6, he addresses a few extra areas and some ongoing tensions.

Christ and Culture Revisited has succeeded in answering the question of the relationship between the Christian and culture. Carson’s work helps to unpack fundamental issues with Niebuhr’s categories. Carson’s arguments throughout the book are consistent.

Aligning with his observations that we can find in his preface (viii-xi), Carson argues that there is great diversity in the world and that “the locus of particular cultures is variable and may overlap with other cultures, but this does not mean that one culture cannot be usefully compared and contrasted with another culture” (85). Carson’s move on redefining postmodernism is considered necessary as postmodernism has rejected God to make sense of the world (86-89). Referring Christian Smith, “…A chastened postmodernism heartily recognizes that we cannot avoid seeing things from a certain perspective…..but acknowledges that there is a reality out there that we human beings can know, even if we cannot know it exhaustively or perfectly, but only from our own perspective” (90).

In Chapter 4, Carson makes a distinction between today’s freedom and “rights” in contrast with freedom and rights at the time of the founding nation. “Rights” were bestowed by nature or by God and freedom was thus tied to God-given freedoms that must not be breached by government. By contrast, today “rights” have to do with entitlements, which are granted by the government, without any references to the higher law; God’s law (134). Then he repeats this argument in a more specific way, saying “The democratic tradition in the West has fostered a great deal of freedom from Scripture, God, tradition, and assorted moral constraints; it encourages freedom toward doing your own thing, hedonism, self-centeredness, and consumerism. By contrast, the Bible encourages freedom from self-centeredness, idolatry, greed, and all sin and freedom toward living lives as those who bear God’s image and who have been transformed by his grace…” (138). With this we should come to the conclusion that Christianity and secularism are two entirely different worldviews.

Carson further argues that “biblical realities make for a worldview that is sharply distinguishable from the worldviews around us”. He suggests that Christians and the Christian community, as we seek to live under the word of God, should “live in some sense counter or confront the values of the culture” (143 ff.) He quickly adds that it does not mean we withdraw from culture, but that Christians should contribute to the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7). This argument does answer the question stated above, however Carson does not give any further argument on how to practically apply this in life.

In Chapter 5, Carson references Richard John Neuhas: “Jesus Christ is Lord. This is the first and final assertion Christians make about all of reality, including politics……every sovereignty is subordinate to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ” (203). This reminds us that while we wrestle with the complexity of culture, we cannot forget the truth that Jesus is Lord of all.

In the last chapter, Carson concludes his arguments with an affirmation that “Scripture will mandate that we think holistically and subtly, wisely and penetratingly, under the Lordship of Christ…” (227).

Overall, this book is good for Christians who want to know how to view culture. Carson, in Christ and Culture Revisited, successfully answer the stated question. However, he does not give any suggestion on how to deal with culture practically, for day to day life as a Christian.