Can Your Civilization Do This?

Last updated on: March 19, 2019 at 5:13 pm by D. G. Hart

Can Your Civilization Do This? 2019-03-19T17:13:24-04:00 D. G. Hart

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.

Do not get me wrong. The West, for all of its faults, is sometimes glorious display of human achievements. Sometimes Western Civilization is hard to define, but it has had many defenders. One was the political scientist, Samuel Huntington:

the Western heritage is rooted in “Greek philosophy and rationalism, Roman law, Latin and Christianity,” a common culture with penchants for the separation of “spiritual and temporal authority,” the rule of law, representative governments, and civil liberties. In the post-Cold War world, Huntington advised that the West reanimate its principles and avoid meddling in the affairs of other civilizations that were rediscovering, and taking pride in, their own traditions.

But you did not need to teach at Harvard to recognize the West’s accomplishments. According to the founding president of Fuller Seminary, Harold John Ockenga:

You might ask the question, “Well what do you mean when you speak of Western civilization?” Well, I mean those great Christian principles which have been infused into society over centuries, and which now are bearing their fruit. You all are aware of the concept of the infinite value of individual man, which concept is being battered about in these days by men who do not believe in its source nor believe in the principles which underlie it but will talk about the infinite dignity of the individual; that concept, I say, is born out of the Hebrew-Christian tradition. Then, beyond that, comes the concept also of responsibility to God which has resulted in the moral fiber of our Christian thinking, the moral fiber of the masses of the people in which they have been responsible unto God and divine law for the incorporation of the ideas and responsibilities thereof, and then the expression of those principles, ideals, and practices in a community life. Now we have seen in the centuries that are past a gradual growth of this culture. We have seen the seed of this civilization come from a little seemingly insignificant thing until it spread abroad throughout Europe, bore its fruit, came to its great harvest time, until in our day we have the heritage of the centuries of Christian teaching.

Now compare those human goods to the work of redemption that Paul described (and praised) in the first chapter of Ephesians:

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

I don’t want to sound like the church lady or Bible-thumper man, but if you do not see that the salvation Christians have through Christ is so much more glorious than any civilization or culture, from ancient China to twenty-first-century Manhattan, then you may think that social justice or cultural engagement are as important as word and sacrament. You would not be alone. But you may be guilty of the same category mistake that led defenders of the West to identify Western Civilization with Christianity. Since Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, identifying his ministry with any civilization — woke or traditional — fails to heed Paul’s teaching.

Image

Culture Wars

evangelicalism

Otherworldiness

sacred/secular distinction

Previous Post

March 15, 2019

What Did Evangelicals Know and When Did They Know It?

Next Post

March 25, 2019 The Difference a Degree Makes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2016 Presidential Election 2020 Presidential Election Apocalypse Bible in American Life Biblical authority Books and culture Calvinism Church Life Civil Religion Culture Wars Doctrine evangelicalism Gullibility Heaven and Hell Intellectual life Jesus Ministry modernity moralism Nationalism New Testament Old Testament Otherworldiness Otherworldliness Paul Peter Piety Popular culture Protestantism Psalms Puritans Race Roman Catholicism sacred/secular distinction Sex Shameless Self Promotion Sports Ten Commandments U.S. politics Uncategorized vulgarity worship

Select a Month January 2022 October 2021 August 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 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz