Van Til on Culture and Religion II

What is the difference between culture and civilization?

Van Til says all civilizations have a culture but not all cultures mount the pinacle of civilization. Civilization is culture advanced, matured, well-aged.


Van Til uses the idea of culture to attack those who call man an "animal." Why? Because even though man has a physical body that resembles an animal's there is still a fundamental distinction between man and beast. Men think and will; beasts act by instinct. An animal never developed a culture, much less a civilization. Bees make the same hives, however intricate and well-planned, year after year.

Animals are defined by their biological wants and needs whereas man transcends his different constitute parts. No one aspect of man can define man for that one aspect comes from man.

Van Til argues that culture is always social. It "takes in the whole man, not merely as an individual, but as a member of the human organism, and therefore, in his various relationships to other men, and in the different instiutions that are thus called into existence, the institution of the home, of society, with its relationship between employer and employee, capital and labor, commerce and industry, education and science, politics and government" (32).

Man, as a social creature, takes nature and tranforms it into culture: "A river is nature, but a canal is culture. speech is nature, but a Shakespearian drama is culture; a horse is nature, but a five-gaited trotter is culture" (32).

But what about culture and individual freedom? Does culture determine what we are? Van Til likens culture to a river. The river carries you along but you can also swim in the stream and influence the stream because you are a moral agent (33).

The problem with apostate culture is that it is too conernend with the temporal and the material (33). Culture is for man's fulfillment and his fulfillment alone. The best culture will be the one in which man is the least and God the most. The most beautiful culture is when man serves the Lord who made him. If culture expresses religion then the best culture will be the true religion truly lived.

Better than a Swiss Miss Education

I wrote this little piece up for our monthly Communique at school. The recipe at the end is a real winner. I dare you to make it.

I have something to confess. My family and I are hot chocolate snobs. We didn’t intend on being hot chocolate snobs. It just sort of happened one day. I ran across a hot chocolate recipe and decided to give the heartwarming beverage a try. I was instantly hooked because I could taste the difference between the homemade version and Swiss Miss, just like most anyone can tell the difference between grandma’s apple pie and a gas station version. My children, having hardly ever tasted anything else but my special recipe, are ruined for life—hot chocolate aficionados, all of them.

In the educational world there are Swiss Miss educations and gourmet educations. At CCS we are striving to offer “gourmet” education. What goes into a gourmet education? Well, like making homemade hot chocolate, gourmet education takes discipline and patience. We live in a world that likes Swiss Miss types of things. Instant hot chocolate is quick and easy. We don’t have the time, supposedly, to spend on the gourmet version. But we make a serious mistake when we translate that into education. Like gourmet hot chocolate, good education takes time, patience, and energy. It is not easy, even for the best students. As parents we shouldn’t be surprised that our children have to discipline their mental habits to succeed. As students master the educational recipe—something which can take years—they develop the mental and emotional toughness to succeed.

While gourmet education takes discipline and patience, it also offers greater delight, both for our students and for our students as they serve others. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to make my special recipe for many people. The sheer act of making the recipe has given me pleasure because I know I’m making something worthwhile. It is my hope and prayer that students here would delight in using their talents for God. God told us to subdue the earth and we fulfill that calling through gourmet recipes and gourmet education (Genesis 1:28).

There is an intrinsic delight when we do something difficult and worthwhile. How much more delight is added, however, when we do these kinds of things for others. Isn’t that what a gourmet education is for—other people? Often our society touts how we should do things for ourselves and ourselves alone: Swiss Miss does come in individual packets after all. But my recipe for hot chocolate makes too much for a non-gluttonous person and so it demands to be shared. Gourmet education is the same. A student drinking from the cup of gourmet education delights to serve and bless others.

So please help us by encouraging your child(ren) to imbibe from CCS’s gourmet offerings. Discipline and patience are required but the delight in doing something worthwhile for others more than makes up for the inconvenience.

If you’d like to try the recipe here it is. But I warn you: You could become a hot chocolate snob!

1/3 Cup Coffee
1 oz. Baker’s Chocolate
1 Tbs. Cocoa Powder
5 Tbs. Sugar (can be lessened if you don’t like yours so sweet)
1 ½ Cup of Whole Milk
1 Cup of Cream (We often use 2% milk for both milk ingredients)
1 Tsp. vanilla

1. Mix first four ingredients in a pot and melt chocolate over medium heat. Do not boil.
2. Add milk and cream. Heat to piping hot but do not boil.
3. Transfer to blender, add vanilla, and blend for 20-30 seconds.
4. Enjoy!