5 Minutes in Church History: The Enduring Problem

Last updated on: January 5, 2017 at 12:05 pm by Christian Podcast Central

5 Minutes in Church History: The Enduring Problem 2017-01-05T12:05:29-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

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.

How does Christianity relate to culture? In this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols reviews H. Richard Niebuhr’s five models for understanding this relationship.

The twentieth-century theologian H. Richard Niebuhr once put his finger on what he called “the enduring problem.” The phrase comes from his book Christ and Culture. He said,

“A many-sided debate about the relations of Christianity and civilization is being carried on in our time.”

He uses the word “civilization”; we could also just say “culture”—”the relations between Christianity and culture.”

Niebuhr goes on to say of this debate:

“Historians and theologians, statesman and churchman, Catholics and Protestants, Christians and non-Christians, participate in it. It is carried on publicly by opposing parties and privately in the conflicts of conscience. Sometimes it is concentrated on special issues such as those of the place of Christian faith in general education or of Christian ethics and the economic life. Sometimes it deals with broad questions of the church’s responsibility for social order or of the need for a new separation of Christ’s followers from the world.

The debate is as confused as it is many-sided.”

How does Christianity relate to culture?

Image: Amy K. Hall

This classic text of Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, was written in 1951. The fiftieth-anniversary edition was put out in 2001, and here we are still talking about the relationship, sometimes the precarious relationship, between Christianity and culture. The nature of this relationship is what Niebuhr called “the enduring problem.”

What perhaps makes Niebuhr’s book a classic of twentieth-century theology is that Niebuhr came up with categories for understanding the relationship of the church, or the Christian, and culture. Niebuhr identifies five different models of the relationship. The first is “Christ against culture.” This, of course, is the idea that the culture is the world, in the pejorative sense that John uses “the world,” so Christ is against it and the church rejects it. The second model is “Christ of culture.” In this case, Christianity simply accommodates or accepts culture. In many ways, this is the route taken by twentieth-century liberalism: there is no real difference between the worldview and philosophy and basic belief structures of the liberal and the secularist.

Then there is “Christ above culture.” This model attempts to synthesize Christ and culture by noting that Christ is Lord of the realm of nature or culture as well as of the realm of the supernatural. Thus, the creation of culture is made possible by the grace of God. Fourth, there is “Christ and culture in paradox.” This model is similar to “Christ above culture,” but rather than seeing continuity between Christ and culture, there is a duality. Christ and culture are two entirely different worlds, yet Christians live in both at the same time, leading to contradictions and paradox. In the midst of these contradictions, Christians find grace.

The final model is “Christ the transformer of culture.” This is the view that Niebuhr endorses. In this view, we bring the truths of Christianity to bear upon the world in which we live. Heaven is our home, but it is not as if we sit around and pine away for heaven; instead, we try to bring heaven to earth. So, there’s Niebuhr and his five categories in his classic book Christ and Culture.

Stay connected with 5 Minutes in Church History by getting the weekly podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, or via RSS. You can also subscribe to the blog via RSS and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

(This podcast is by Ligonier Ministries. Discovered by e2 media network and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not e2 media network, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.)

Previous Post

January 5, 2017

White Horse Inn: Finding Yourself in God’s Story

Next Post

January 6, 2017 Reasonable Faith Podcast: Bathroom Wars and Identity

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 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 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz