Essentials of Faith

Church and Culture

Beginning in September, upon completion of our  study of the book of Judges, we will begin a comprehensive study of the Church and Culture.  As Christians, what should our role be in the culture in which we live?  What is our biblical mandate? What does God expect of us in regards to His church and the culture? We will begin our study by looking at the meaning of the "kingdom of God." Jesus Christ came to reveal the kingdom of God and yet many Christians remain confused as to what exactly the kingdom of God is and what role the church should play in it.  To understand the role of the church in culture, we must first understand the centrality of the kingdom of God to the church's mission on earth.  To do that we must first come to an understand of what is the kingdom of God. 

How Should We Then Live?

Beginning on November 11, 2007 we will explore Francis A Schaeffer's book and file series "How Should We Then Live?"  Our study will give us a perspective on the development of the history of the West and trace the impact of a Christian Worldview on the surrounding culture, beginning with the time of the Romans. The following review taken from Amazon.com provides a brief summary of what we can look forward to as we journey through history with Francis Schaeffer as our guide.

To order the book click "How Should We Then Live?"

 

A Christian Who Engages Culture, July 4, 2005       

      

       

By	Jokim Schnoebbe  - See all my reviews

      

The idea of the project How Should We Then Live?, both as a film documentary and as a book, was conceived in 1974 and completed in 1976. In the Acknowledgments, Francis Schaeffer writes about the idea behind the project: "Using my study, over the past forty years, of Western thought and culture as a base, we could attempt to present the flow and development which have led to twentieth-century thinking, and by so doing hope to show the essential answers." The subtitle to How Should We Then Live? is "The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture." Starting from ancient Roman times, tracing man's development throughout the Middle Ages, going to the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, he shows the steps which led to the modern era.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

Chapter One-Ancient Rome
The finite Graeco-Roman gods were not a sufficient inward base for the Roman society: Rome crumbled from within, and the invasions of the barbarians only completed the breakdown.

Chapter Two-The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages were the post-Roman age: a time of uncertainty in which there were great advances of the church but also great distortions of Biblical truth, eventually leading to the Renaissance and the Reformation.

Chapter Three-The Renaissance
Although the Renaissance revived the realization that man and nature are important, it went overboard by making man the measure of all things-and by that destroyed the importance of man.

Chapter Four-The Reformation
Like the Renaissance, the Reformation sought to bring freedom to man, yet unlike the Renaissance it did not lose sight of the Bible and absolute values.

Chapter Five-The Reformation-Continued
The impact of the Reformation on society at large was the opportunity of freedom without chaos.

Chapter Six-The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment believed in the perfectibility of society, and sought to bring it about mainly by the means of revolution.

Chapter Seven-The Rise of Modern Science
Modern science could only have arisen from a Christian foundation: namely, that man is not part of a closed system but can observe and act into the system.

Chapter Eight-The Breakdown of Philosophy and Science
The foundation in Philosophy and Science was changed from antithetical thinking to dialectic thinking-and because of it reason became more and more pessimistic.

Chapter Nine-Modern Philosophy and Modern Theology
Due to the pessimistic view on reason, Philosophy and Theology started to seek meaning in the irrational.

Chapter Ten-Modern Art, Music, Literature, and Films
What began in Philosophy now made itself felt in the Arts: the abandonment of reason and increased fragmentation.

Chapter Eleven-Our Society
We have come full circle, since our society has become like the declining Roman Empire of old: it is marked by the love of affluence, a widening gap between rich and poor, an obsession with sex, freakishness in the arts, and an increased desire to live off the state.

Chapter Twelve-Manipulation and the New Elite
Because our society stands on the verge of chaos, we are in danger of coming under an authoritarian elite which will increasingly manipulate our lives.

Chapter Thirteen-The Alternatives
The only plausible alternative to authoritarianism is to align ourselves to a Biblical worldview-a worldview which produces freedom without chaos.

CONCLUSION
Whether or not one agrees with all of Schaeffer's points, his passion to be a Christian who engages secular culture has laid the foundation stone for much of Christian thinking in the past three decades.

To order the book click "How Should We Then Live?"