Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
CRT In Light of Ephesians 6:12

CRT In Light of Ephesians 6:12

Last updated on: June 26, 2021 at 11:27 am by Darrell Lackey

CRT In Light of Ephesians 6:12 2021-06-26T11:27:23-07:00 Darrell Lackey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m no expert on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and I doubt the reader is either. I haven’t read any books on the subject, nor spoken with anyone very knowledgeable of the theory. I’ve read more about the controversy the theory seems to inspire, than the theory itself. That’s probably true for most of us.

However, I have looked into it a bit. Reading this essay, I came across this:

“Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.”

My first thought after reading that description was it would appear CRT aligns very closely to what we are told in Ephesians 6:12:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Yes, sin is an individual thing, but none of us are naïve or ignorant enough to think that if one individual racist changes their mind, then racism is over and done with. Whenever we think about crime, racism, sexism, poverty, health issues, the environment, or any social and cultural problem, we should always focus on both the individual and the root or greater structural (and historical) causes.

Many evangelical/fundamentalists seem to think if we teach or give credence to CRT, we are somehow taking away the focus of the gospel regarding salvation and the idea of our individual fallenness. I think each fear is based on a misunderstanding of Scripture and Christian theology.

First, the good news of salvation (the gospel) is not simply about the individual salvation of people or souls; it’s about the salvation and redemption of the entire cosmos. The entire cosmos died with Jesus upon the cross and he brought the entire cosmos out of the grave in his resurrection.

Second, while we need to keep in mind individual choices and decisions, we also need to remember that those never happen in a vacuum. It is impossible to understand the root causes of many crimes without considering poverty, child abuse, and other factors. We can hold people accountable individually for their decisions, while at the same time addressing the larger forces at work that contributed to the choices available to them and their decision making.

So, in my view, CRT isn’t new. St. Paul wrote of social constructs as a conveyance for embedded fallenness in Ephesians 6:12. We simply used to call these “principalities and powers.” In that passage, Paul is acknowledging that the problem (struggle) isn’t against individual people or “flesh and blood.” The problem is more about what can be built-in (so to speak) to society/culture through the political, economic, media, educational, and other vehicles of influence and power.

Theologians like Walter Wink and Marva J. Dawn have addressed these areas deeply. In speaking of the principalities and powers, Marva Dawn quotes John H. Yoder:

“Now what these ‘cosmic authorities’ were in Paul’s mind is not easy to say in modern terms. They are not human persons. Yet they influence human events and structures. What we call the state, the economy, the media, ideology—these are their instruments.” (Pg. 11-12)

And please, let’s have none of this nonsense that we need only the Bible alone to address societal problems, racial or otherwise. For any Christian, all truth is God’s truth, but there is no Bible verse that explicitly/literally states such; it’s an insight from philosophy/theology and logic. We have gained truths/insights from science, history, other religions, and every area of knowledge and expertise available to us.

To not take advantage of any such insights, such truths, is to denigrate creation and to mock God—the very (for the Christian) embodiment of Truth.

Further, it is this idea of scriptural sufficiency that is partly responsible for the very need for something like CRT to begin with. Given it was the misuse and misunderstanding of scripture that was a key factor (the Bible was used to justify both slavery and white supremacy) behind the rise of racist cultural structures historically, the “Bible alone,” attitude is hardly helpful here.

The more I learn about CRT, the more I like it. In my mind, it sounds a lot like Ephesians 6:12. And the more I learn about why, especially white evangelicals, and others don’t like it, I’m only reminded further of the reason the theory exists in the first place.

I have a Patreon—please consider supporting my writing.

Previous Post

June 1, 2021

Evangelicalism: May 15, 1957—January 6, 2021

Next Post

July 25, 2021 Book Review: Jesus and John Wayne

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2025 February 2025 December 2024 October 2024 September 2024 July 2024 May 2024 January 2024 November 2023 September 2023 July 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 December 2022 November 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which parable illustrates God's joy over one sinner who repents?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lost Sheep The Sower The Ten Virgins The Two Sons