Culture and the Kingdom of God

Review of Joe Boot's The Mission of God: A Manifesto of Hope for Society (part 7 of 10)

Why is western culture in decline? Are the culture wars really “religious” wars? Why are so many modern evangelicals trapped by cultural defeatism? What would a Christ-centred approach to culture look like? What effect might a renewed emphasis upon cultural dominion have upon the plight of masculinity in our time?

If Christians were successful at not only agreeing upon, but applying the principles and foundations for Biblical law and punishment within modern society, they must also think about the very things we hold dear which the law is designed to protect and support.

Before moving on to issues like family and education, in chapter 10 Boot gives an account of a Christian approach to culture. He begins with a reflection on why the early church was persecuted: because its confession and life directly undermined the religious idolatry bound up with ancient Roman culture. Some today may see this as non-equivalent to our time because we now have a ‘secular/sacred divide’. But as Boot has shown throughout the book at various points, this is simply a ruse. The ‘culture wars’ often decried as distractions by modern evangelicals are, in fact, religious wars.

Christianity as Culture War