As part of his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Tom’s written a number of book responses and given several short presentations (personal and group). In this series he not only “shares the wealth,” but also looks forward to your feedback as he refines his project: An argument for vocational discernment for graduate studies in the context of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Stay tuned to learn more!). Earlier posts on the program: Ministry to Emerging Generations and The Big Picture of Ministry to Emerging Generations.
Christ and Culture
Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) is a 20th century classic built upon a series of lectures at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (1949). In “Acknowledgements,†Niebuhr shares, “If I think of my essay as an effort to correct Troeltsch’s analyses of the encounters of church and world it is mostly because I try to understand this historical relativism in the light of theological and theo-centric relativism†(xii). In James M. Gustafson’s “Preface: An Appreciative Interpretation,†one reads critiques and affirmations of Christ and Culture. Does one side with critics such as Evangelical historian George Marsden who finds Niebuhr’s categories “simply not historically adequate†and his definition of culture, i.e., “anything people do together,†insufficient (xxii)? Or advocates such as Yale theologian James M. Gustafson who declare ideal types to be “heuristic devices to enable readers to understand materials and issues to which they refer†(xxvi)? [Read more…] about Book Response: Christ and Culture, by H. Richard Niebuhr