Christ and Culture Revisited: Carson’s Summary of Niebuhr’s Taxonomy (5)
The final three views in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy are all forms of "Christ above culture." 5. Christ the Transformer of Culture Summary: While the previous two views were respectively synthetic (Christ above culture) and dualistic (Christ and culture in paradox), this view is "conversionist." And, as Carson points out, Niebuhr is not foregrounding individual conversion but conversion of the entire culture. "What distinguishes conversionists from dualists is their more positive and hopeful...
Christ and Culture Revisited: Carson’s Summary of Niebuhr’s Taxonomy (4)
The final three views in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy are all forms of "Christ above culture." 4. Christ and Culture in Paradox Summary: While the previous view was synthetic, this view is dualistic. "In one sense, this group is much like the first, those who hold to the 'Christ against culture' position. But in that position there is a tendency to put the strongest emphasis on the distinction between 'them' and 'us'; in this dualist position, by contrast, we are all lost, we are all sinners"...
Quick Questions For/About Helm
I just expressed appreciation in my last post for what I felt was a very helpful point on Paul Helm's blog, Helm's Deep. I confess I don't get one thing, however: why does Helm dismiss BT (replacing it with ET!)? I’d go so far as to maintain that the systematic theological task does not need biblical theology or any of its friends. What we do need is exegetical theology. I gain some encouragement to assert this from something that John Piper says. ‘Behind each of those actions is the...
Paul Helm on John Piper on N.T. Wright
I'm aiming at an early seminary readership (or its equivalent) on this blog, so let me summarize some fairly difficult stuff for my help and, D.V., yours. Paul Helm has written an appreciative reflection/expansion on two points in John Piper's The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright. I admit that Helm is capable of writing stuff too difficult for me to summarize; but you and I should be able to get this! I'm limiting myself to the first point. Helm expresses appreciation for...
Christ and Culture Revisited: Carson’s Summary of Niebuhr’s Taxonomy (3)
The final three views in Niebuhr's five-fold taxonomy are all forms of "Christ above culture." 3. Christ above Culture Summary: This view, which Niebuhr thinks is the majority position among Christians throughout history, believes that "Christ and the world cannot be simply opposed to each other. Neither can the 'world' as culture be simply regarded as the realm of godlessness; since it is at least founded on the 'world' as nature, and cannot exist save as it is upheld by the Creator and...