Christ and Culture Revisited

My paper on Christ and Culture, by H. Richard Niebuhr, has turned into a critique of the book. My basic thesis is that the book is still useful, but is in need of some serious revision. This week, I was delighted to notice that none other than tallskinnykiwi had linked to my posts about the book in order to introduce people to a poll he was giving. Click here to see what I'm talking about. The discussion that ensued made me think twice about my thesis, though. Perhaps Niebuhr's typology is not really all that salvageable.

If it is salvagable, this is what I think needs to be revised:

1. It needs a view of Christ more solidly rooted in scripture. Glen Stassen has done a great job of talking about the way Jesus is so easily co-opted by any number of agendas. People like N.T. Wright, who writes about a more historically Jewish perspective of Christ are helping in this area.
2. It needs a more postmodern perspective on culture. Howard's Yoder's criticism is that Niebuhr's view of culture is too monolithic, for example. I found that Kathryn Tanner's book, Theories of Culture, was a great resource for moving beyond modern anthropological views of culture.
3. It needs a more careful treatment of history. When examples are given they should be more historically accurate. Consulting people from the group being described might be helpful!
4. It should not be so biased toward a particular view. I suppose Niebuhr had his reasons for the way he structured the book, but I think a little more objectivity might go a long way.

One other problem that can't easily be helped is that people simply misunderstand or misuse typologies. The structure is supposed to allow for discussion about general trends. It is not supposed to be a way to label everyone. Nonetheless, if you understand the five different approaches, I think that maybe you can begin to understand the general direction that others are coming from.

That's the basic gist of my paper. Now I've gone and spoiled it for those who were waiting to read the whole thing. ;-)

Comments

[brodie]

bill - thanks for your comments over at my place. It's good to read here what your doing thus give it a sence of context. I've posted soem more on Christ and Culture which may or may not be of interest to you.

[andrew jones]

thanks bill

cheaper than buying the book. appreciate it