Is Cultural Conservatism the Same as Theological Conservatism?
Churches that are faithful to the apostolic gospel are sometimes also the ones that are loyal to a culture becoming increasingly passé. In such a situation cultural conservatism can easily be mistaken for theological conservatism, for theological orthodoxy. In an age of confusing empirical pluralism and frankly frightening philosophical pluralism, in an age that seems to be stealing from us the Judeo-Christian worldview that prevailed for so long, it is easy to suppose that retrenchment and conservative responses on every conceivable axis are the only responsible courses for those who want to remain faithful to the gospel.
Such a course is neither wise nor prophetic. Sometimes it is not even faithful. The church may slip back into a defensive, conservatism that is fundamentally ill-equipped to address postmodernism…. The challenges of biblical illiteracy demand, among other things, that we begin “farther back” in our articulation of the gospel—i.e., it is becoming more and more necessary to expound the Bible’s story-line, the main lines of a Christian theistic worldview. Cultural conservatives may think of this as succumbing to the demand for relevance; I think it is prophetic wisdom, demanded by the Scriptures themselves.
~ Donald A. Carson, The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Zondervan, 1996), 470-71.
B.G.
So Dr. Gonzales, how does one articulate the Gospel in a post-modern world as Carson says is wise? Just become more Biblically literate in order to address questions that come our way?
Trent,
Here’s how I think Carson would answer your question(s) based on the larger context of his remarks:
(1) Give greater emphasis to teaching people the Bible storyline from Genesis thru Revelation so that they have a redemptive-historical context in which to understand theological categories and simple gospel presentations like “the Romans Road.” IOW, folks usually need to know about creation, the Fall, God’s choice of Abraham, the Exodus, Israel’s history and her hope of a Messiah, etc., before they can rightly process and grasp ideas like what it means to be God’s image, what it means to be a sinner, what it means to speak of one’s need for a Savior and Salvation, what the cross and resurrection mean in human history, etc. BTW, Carson has attempted to do this very thing in a recent series that has been published into a book: The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story
(2) Don’t assume that the language and conceptual forms in which the timeless truth of Scripture was expressed in former times and cultures (i.e.., 16th century Europe, 17th century England, mid 20th century America, etc.) are always intelligible and adequate for communicating said truth to a target audience in, say, 21st century America. Accordingly, we need to spend time not only exegeting the Bible in his original context, but we also need to spend time exegeting our own culture so that we can, in the words of John Stott, effectively communicate “between two worlds” (the title of Stott’s classic work on preaching).
Hope that helps.
Trent,
If I might venture an answer to your question….Post-modernism is marked by what one has called “an incredulity toward metanarratives.” Metanarrative is a term referring to one overarching narrative that gives meaning to all other narratives and to which all other narratives are accountable. (For example Marxism is, or was, a metanarrative) To say that Post modernism is marked by incredulity toward metanarratives is to say that people no longer believe that there is or that there can be one story to which all our own individual stories are accountable….i.e that there is no overarching reality (story) that gives meaning to all others to which everything is acccountable and is to be tested. As another has put it, “all that exists are the little stories of each individual person or culture”
When Carson says, “The challenges of biblical illiteracy demand, among other things, that we begin “farther back” in our articulation of the gospel—i.e., it is becoming more and more necessary to expound the Bible’s story-line, the main lines of a Christian theistic worldview”….he is saying that we cannot simply assume that people think in the categories of biblical worldview any more. Therefore we need to help them to see the big picture of the bible story, the divine metanarrative…the big picture of redemptive revelation and how it all relates to each other and answers the big questions of human existence etc…..To summarize that story (I use story not in the sense of fable, this is an infallible inerrant story we are talking about)..That story has four major acts. 1. Creation: where did we come from. 2. Fall: what’s wrong with us. 3. Redemption: what hope is there and where is it found 4. Consummation: Where is this world heading…..We need to be careful that we don’t just assume that people in America think within that framework as previous generations have, sometimes almost unconsciously. We often speak with these basics assumed, but in speaking to lost Americans today we cannot assume that this basic framework is there with many if not most. So a good place to starte is the first question of the children’s catechism “Who made Me?”
Thanks, Jeff. Your reply is much fuller and clearer than mine.
Actually, Bob I like your response better. I posted before I saw yours.
I think we must have been typing an answer about the same time. I posted mine, checked my email, and saw your response. But two voices are better than one.
Ah! Thanks for your input!