Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Van Til on Culture and Religion

While Van Til is concerned with culture he knows that culture, by itself, does not restore man, for that would be Pelagianism. As image-bearers of God, all humans will contribute to culture, but what kind of spirit animates that culture? He draws an antithesis between godly culture and ungodly culture (23).

Van Til argues that culture does not include religion (27). Religion is not one aspect of culture. To claim so is a naturalistic position. "The reason religion cannot be subsumed under culture is the fact that whereas man as a religious being transcends all his ativities under the sun, culture is but one aspect of the sum total of these activities and their results in forming history....The meaning of life does not lie in culture as such, but culture derives its meaning from man's faith in God; it is never an end in itself, but always a means of expressing one's religioius faith" (28).

The Calvinistic Concept of Culture

Before Schaeffer, Sire, and Ravi there was Henry R. Van Til. His book, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, is not about TULIP. Though Calvinism is often reduced to soteriology it is more than that. Rather, his book is about Christianity and culture. A son of the Dutch tradition, Van Til's work takes the best of Augustine, Calvin, Kuyper, and Schilder and sets forth a profound formulation of what Christian culture is and should be.

Van Til describes culture in several ways. Culture is "that activity of man, the image-bearer of God, by which he fulfills the creation mandate to cultivate the earth, to have dominion over it and to subdue it" (xvii).

He defines culture as "any and all human effort and labor expended upon the cosmos, to unearth its treasures and its riches and bring them into the service of man for the enrichment of human existence unto the glory of God" (30).

As a counter-point He quotes Matthew Arnold on culture: It is the "pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world' (25).

While this is partially true, Van Til says, it is also faulty. Culture is not just knowing; it is also producing. It is not just learning passively; it is acting.

Thus, culture is not just an activity of civilized nations but of all men everywhere. Where men are, there culture exists (27).

I look forward to reading more of Van Til. As a shaper of young minds I hope to mold them into positive agents of cultural transformation.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving

This is our first Thanksgiving in SC since were were married almost 12 years ago. Both our parents are here celebrating and to mark the occassion I whipped up this liturgy (and a quiche lorraine to go with the turkey):

Thanksgiving Liturgy

L: And you shall spend…money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires.

P: We shall eat here before the Lord our God, and we shall rejoice with our family.

L: You shall rejoice because the Lord sends springs into the valleys; they flow among the hills. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man.

P: We shall rejoice that God brings forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.

L: You shall rejoice as you look forward to the day when Jesus will drink of the fruit of the vine with you in his Father’s consummated kingdom.

P: We shall rejoice as we wait for the marriage supper of the lamb who was slain that we might have life. We shall rejoice because his love is better than wine.

L: Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.

Adapted from Deut. 14:26; Ps. 104:15ff.; Mt. 26:29,;Eccl. 9:7; Rev. 3:18; 19:9

We then sang Come, Ye Thankful People Come.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

How not to apologize

This analysis is right on the money.

Before we jump on the self-righteous bandwagon and condemn this politician, though, we should meditate on how often we have apologized in a similar manner.

It is so tempting to offer an apology that is not quite an apology because it saves us from admitting the truth: we are wrong. It is so tempting because it offers a (dead-end) way out of the shame (we should feel) over what we've done. It is so tempting because we think we can dupe someone into believeing we're sorry even while making them feel sorry for making us apologize.

In short, it is tempting because of our pride.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Never Again...

will I eat Chinese food after reading this.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A Passion for Truth

“Minds dulled by the smothering conformity of popular culture cannot plumb the depths or explore the breadths of the distinctively Christian virtue of hopeful contentment in the face of perpetual tasks. Thus they rush toward what they think will be the termination of this, that, or another chapter in their lives. They cannot wait to finish school. Thus, for instance, graduation is not a commencement, but a conclusion. Afterwards they hurry through their lives and careers: they plod impatiently through their work week anxious for the weekend; they bid their time until vacation and plod on toward retirement—always coming to the end of things until at last things come to an end.”

--George Grant, "A Passion for Truth," Tabletalk, September 2006