Christ and Culture Revisited

by D.A. Carson

Called to live in the world, but not to be of it, Christians must maintain a balancing act that becomes more precarious the further our culture departs from its Judeo-Christian roots. How should members of the church interact with such a culture, especially as deeply enmeshed as most of us have become?D. A. Carson applies his masterful touch to this problem. He begins by exploring the classic typology of H. Richard Niebuhr with its five Christ-culture options. Carson proposes that these disparate options are in reality one still larger vision. Using the Bible's own story line and the categories of biblical theology, he clearly lays out that unifying vision. Carson acknowledges the helpfulness of Niebuhr's grid and similar matrices but warns against giving them canonical force.More than just theoretical, Christ and Culture Revisited is also designed practically to help Christians untangle current messy debates on living in the world. Carson emphasizes that the relation between Christ and culture is not limited to an either/or cultural paradigm -- Christ against culture or Christtransforming culture. Instead Carson offers his own paradigm in which all the categories of biblical theology must be kept in mind simultaneously to inform the Christian worldview.While many other books on culture interact with Niebuhr, none of them takes anything like the biblical-theological approach adopted here. Groundbreaking and challenging, Christ and Culture Revisited is a tour de force.

Genres: Theology, Cultural, Christian, Religion, Christian Living, Christianity, Philosophy

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Donald A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1978. Carson came to Trinity from the faculty of Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he also served for two years as academic dean. He has served as assistant pastor and pastor and has done itinerant ministry in Canada and the United Kingdom. Carson received the Bachelor of Science in chemistry from McGill University, the Master of Divinity from Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto, and the Doctor of Philosophy in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Carson is an active guest lecturer in academic and church settings around the world. He has written or edited about sixty books. He is a founding member and currently president of The Gospel Coalition. Carson and his wife, Joy, reside in Libertyville, Illinois. They have two adult children.

Reviews

[Mark Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carson serves up reminder after reminder that the question of context is all-important both in the interpretation of scripture and in its application to our current situation(s). Where Niebuhr is a reductionist, the Bible calls for—at different times and in different situations, not least in different "dispensations" or redemptive-historical eras—cultural transformation, participation, or opposition as appropriate.

I love Carson, but I do feel that this book meandered a bit. He seemed to be incisively critiquing everyone hither and yon, and reading an astonishing number of books on every conceivably related topic, but he did not offer much of a positive vision. That's the only reason I gave him three stars. I expected more from Carson.

If there were two things that he did contribute positively to my understanding, they were 1) the shoring up of the idea that one must understand the Bible redemptive-historically in order to apply it properly, and 2) the simple reminder that Christians in Malaysia or Botswana or Hungary might legitimately develop a different theological apparatus for dealing with issues of Christ and culture.

This is a book packed with individual insights that do not add up to a sum greater than the parts. But perhaps that's Carson's point: we are not to expect a solution to the cultural and political "tensions" in which God has placed us, not until he has put all things under Christ's feet. The very last words in the book are these:

We will live in the tension of claiming every square inch for King Jesus [as Abraham Kuyper said], even while we know full well that the consummation is not yet, that we walk by faith and not by sight, and that the weapons with which we fight are not the weapons of the world (2 Corinthians 10:4). (228)

As an addendum, here's a quote I want to type out for my own benefit:

It is unwise to speak of "redeeming culture": if we lose the unique significance bound up with the redemption secured by Christ in his death and resurrection, we lose the ongoing tension between Christ and culture that must subsist until the end. ¶ Yet it is possible so to focus on the rescue and regeneration of individuals that we fail to see the temporally good things we can do to improve and transform some social structures. One does not abolish slavery by doing nothing more than helping individual slaves. Christian educational and academic structures may help countless thousands develop a countercultural way of looking at all reality under the Lordship of Christ. Sometimes a disease can be knocked out; sometimes sex traffic can be considerably reduced; sometimes slavery can be abolished in a region; sometimes more equitable laws can foster justice and reduce corruption; sometimes engagement in the arts can produce wonderful work that inspires a new generation. When such things become part of an inherited set of assumptions passed on to the next generation, they have become part of the culture; they have effected some cultural change. Of course, none of these good things is guaranteed to be enduring; none brings in the consummated kingdom. Yet in these and countless other ways cultural change is possible. More importantly, doing good to the city [Jer. 29], doing good to all people (even if we have special responsibility for the household of faith), is part of our responsibility as God’s redeemed people in this time of tension between the “already” and the “not yet.”

If Carson doesn't want to call those acts in that list "redemptive," I'm not sure what other term I'd use. If in fact most people (in my experience) who talk explicitly about "redeeming the culture" are triumphalistic, naive about the effects of the fall, or are sloganeering bandwagon jumpers (or all three), then perhaps care is called for in the use of "redemption" with an object like "culture." But perhaps we could stop short of an outright ban?

[Brian Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like everything that Carson writes, this book is thoughtful, biblical, and interesting. He takes up H. Richard Niebuhr's typology of Christ and cultures, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. (Carson finds "Christ of Culture" to lack biblical grounding and the "Christ Transforming Culture," in Niebuhr's view, is too universalistic.) Carson moves beyond Niebuhr, however, so one not need be familiar with Niebuhr's book to read Carson's.

Carson then shows how the totality of Scripture has complementary views of how God and culture intersect. Certain books show the two at odds with each other (such as we see in Revelation), while other books/passages seem to show how the two complement one another (Rom. 13:1-7, for example). This multifaceted view of how Christ and culture relate must be maintained, and it is helpful because at certain times and places, Christians will find themselves at odds with the prevailing culture, while at other times and places, Christians will find that their distinctive, biblically-informed culture has more in common with the prevailing culture.

There is a tendency for certain pockets of Christianity to ignore parts of the Bible, and Carson wisely spends a chapter laying out biblical theology. His contention is that any view or belief that is legitimately Christian must deal with the major turning points of the story of the Bible: creation, fall, Abraham, Moses/Law, Israel, Jesus (incarnation/crucifixion/resurrection), and Jesus' return (judgment/consummation). Christians may disagree about some details, but when someone claims to be Christian and denies Jesus' substitionary atonement on the cross, or his resurrection, then this view is no longer Christian in any meaningful sense.

Carson is also sensitive to how "culture" can be variously defined and he spends a number of pages thinking about epistemology.

He then thinks through how Christ relates to democracy, as well as how he interacts with the state. These two chapters were very interesting.

In the end, the book felt like it discussed some very significant issues but left me wanting more. And that's not a bad thing.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carson reworks Niehbur’s typology and offers numerous insights on how to navigate the murky waters of our relation to culture. Note, I say he offers insights. I do not say he solves the problem, for I don’t think this problem can be solved on this side of the eschaton. Niehbur’s typology is as follows:

(1) Christ against culture (Tertullian, anabaptists)
(2) Christ of culture (liberalism)
(3) Christ above culture (Thomism)
(4) Christ and culture in paradox (Lutheranism)
(5) Christ transforming culture (Calvin, Augustine)

It’s a clear typology but quite wrong in many areas. For example, (2) is flawed because liberalism isn’t Christian, so it’s out of the conversation. But before we answer the question, “which is correct,” we have to first answer the question, “What does the Bible say?” But even then, that’s not an easy answer.

In answering that question Carson traces the movement of biblical history: Creation, Fall, Calling of Abraham, Giving of the Law, Jesus, Church, Eschaton. We can see how this structures our reflection in noting (5). Christ can indeed have a transforming influence, but it’s always limited--the eschaton hasn’t happened yet.

Carson’s revision of Niehbur also sheds light on ethical difficulties. We often hear, “Well the apostles never did __________, so it’s obviously wrong.” Well, the apostles never had a constitutional democracy, so the latter is obviously wrong, too. Carson disposes of such inane reasoning. The apostles lived in a time of Christ against Culture. But what about when Constantine came on the scene? The problem is that the church had to reflect anew on a unique situation. Therefore, we can’t use such shallow reasoning.

The book was a joy to read. Carson brings mature and sharp reflection to every page. I would offer further reflection on some parts. (3) is an unstable concept and as Carson hints elsewhere, these categories blend into each other. (4) is wrong because dualism is wrong, yet (3) has within itself an implicit dualism. Of particular importance, though not noted in this review, is his dismantling of James K. A. Smith and later the neo-anabaptists.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, this was a much more difficult read than I'd anticipated. Carson interacts with a great deal other authors--most of whom I've never even heard of, as he wades through the interaction of Christ and Culture. It is a very good book--but not one I would advise many others to try to read. It is heavy on epistemology and philosphy, though with a background in both one could surely navigate it well.

Carson demonstrates that there is no easy paradigm for Christians to follow--but that we must constantly use wisdom and discernment as we reflect upon Holy Scripture while interacting with the culture around us--and that may mean different methods for different people in different situations.

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the impression that the middle of the book was not so well structured — but it could my difficulty in leading with three almost simultaneous mournings. An apt transcending of Niehbur’s half century old five models of interaction between Christ & culture, including apt commentaries on intervening alternatives & practices old & new, notably on plausible reasons for the ephemeral kuyperian experience.

[Stephen Hiemstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

For about my first 3 years of college, I never went to church voluntarily. In my senior year of high school, the session had let our youth director go and I felt betrayed and angry. Instead of enjoying my senior year in youth group, the group disappeared overnight and I graduated a fairly isolated and lonely teen. Later, I learned that the youth director had been discovered to be lesbian; another prominent member of the congregation (who I also knew well) was charged with pediphia about the same time. Membership plunged after that point. The church building was sold in 2014. After journeying through some dark times, I able to make peace with God after I realized that the people around me, not God, had been responsible for my pain. We live in a toxic culture.

In his book, Christ & Culture Revisited, Carson (viii) starts his preface observing that: “even since Pentecost Christians have had to think through the nature of their relationships with others.” His other three reasons for writing have a more professional focus—the need for an international perspective on culture, Niebuhr was the focus of his seminary discussion group, and an invitation to lecture in Paris [1] on the subject (ix-x). Still, the preface to his paperback edition provides more insight into his motivation. He writes (vi): “The famous Niebuhr typology…drives us toward mutually exclusive choices we should not be making”. Ideas matter. I tell my kids—if you want others to take you seriously, first take yourself seriously. Carson is a serious thinker and a serious writer.

D.A. Carson is a research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield just outside Chicago in Illinois. His book cover is a painting, The Last Supper by Conrad Romyn. He writes in 6 chapters:

1. How to Thinking about Culture: Reminding Ourselves of Niebuhr;
2. Niebuhr Revised: The Impact of Biblical Theology;
3. Refining Culture and Redefining Postmodernism;
4. Secularism, Democracy, Freedom, and Power;
5. Church and State; and
6. On Disputed Agendas, Frustrated Utopias, and Ongoing Tensions (v).

An important observation from this list of chapter titles is that Carson focuses on Niebuhr primarily in the first two chapters. Throughout the remainder of the book, he looks beyond Niebuhr to take a fresh look at the relationship of Christ and culture.

So how does Carson interpret Niebuhr’s work?

Carson starts his analysis of Niebuhr with the observation that: “If he [Niebuhr] is going to talk about ‘Christ and culture’, Niebuhr must provide reasonably clear definitions of both ‘Christ’ and ‘culture’” (9). This task proves harder than initially meets the eye because of a clear diversity of opinion about the information content of both terms.

In discussing Niebuhr’s definition of “Christ”, Carson cites Niebuhr saying: “If we cannot say anything adequately, we can say some things inadequately” and cannot “limit oneself to the forms of confessional Christianity that explicitly and self-consciously try to live under the authority of Scripture” (10). Hmm.

As Carson observes, Niebuhr’s definition of culture proves no more easily defined as “Niebuhr wants to avoid the technical debates of anthropologists.” (11) Carson then opines that “Niebuhr’s definition of culture embraces


‘ideas’ and ‘beliefs’ as well as customs, inherited artifacts, and the life.” (12)

Having demonstrated that Niebuhr’s definitions of both “Christ” and “culture” are oblique, offers an insightful interpretation: “Niebuhr is not so much talking about the relationship between Christ and culture, as between two sources of authority as they compete within the culture.” (12)[2] Christ as an authority competes with other authorities in society today and in the past who define culture. This interpretation is interesting because it is at least coherent offering an apples-to-apples comparison [3].

Because Carson’s interpretation of Niebuhr hangs on competing authorities, he needs a concrete set of ideas to characterize Christ’s role in interacting with culture. This he finds in the great turning points in salvation history (67) which then, in turn, define Christ’s contribution. In this latter respect, Carson focuses on Jesus’ words: "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Luke 20:25 ESV)[4] Carson notes that God as creator of the heaven and earth abides no competitors [5] so Jesus is clearly asserting authority over culture (56-57).

A complete review of Carson’s Christ & Culture Revisited would require almost as much study and ink as his review of Niebuhr. It is sufficient for my purposes here that Carson’s careful review of Niebuhr’s pays homage to Niebuhr even while making the limitations of his classification scheme (typology) painfully clear [6]. Carson is a good read. I learned a lot—perhaps you will too.


[1] I find it the height of irony that Carson should lecture in Paris in French on a book about culture both proclaiming the obsolescence of postmodernism (vi-vii) and an end to the “high culture” critique implicit in Niebuhr (1-2). I wish that I could have been there!

[2] This interpretation is insightful because truly innovative thinkers, like Niebuhr, do not have the benefit of refined thinking when they express themselves—they define entirely new thought patterns—and their expressions are invariably enigmatic. While they know what they mean, their words only partially express their underlying thinking.

[3] The other apples-to-apples comparison option would be to compare Christian and pagan cultures—a perilous task.

[4] Also Matt 22:21 and Mark 12:17.

[5] See Gen 1:1 and Exod 20:3-5. Culture is a perfectly good idol for many people which has direct bearing on Jesus’ words when he points to a coin with a picture of Caesar (Luke 20:24). A good Jew in Jesus’ day would refuse to carry a denarius which is why, for example, Jesus had to ask for one.

[6] My own review is at: Re-examining Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture (http://wp.me/p3Xeut-Po).

[Jonathan Labrecque · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carson critique bien les autres auteurs et les différentes idées sur le sujet mais n'arrive pas à bien exposer ses propres conclusions de manière clair. Par exemple, il reste très vague en disant que vivre dans un état démocratique nous donne plus de responsabilités chrétiennes face à la société comparativement au temps et contexte de Jésus et des apôtres mais n'explique pas en quoi précisément. Il mentionne un seul verset de Jérémie sur lequel il fonde l'idée qu'il faut rechercher la paix de la ville mais n'explique pas comment ni en quoi ça consiste "rechercher la paix". Il fait un bon travail sur le plan des différentes définitions mais reste vague sur sa propre position laissant ainsi la porte ouverte à tous et chacun pour se faire sa propre idée de comment pratiquer la recherche de la paix pour sa société dans un état démocratique. Il va discuter de quelques extrêmes et dire qu'il faudrait rechercher une position à quelque part au centre, selon les libertés que nous avons, mais il ne donne pas vraiment de pistes pour y arriver et n'expose pas vraiment en quoi pourrait consister cet position concrètement.

[Theunis Snyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent book. The author gives deep insights on the topic of how the church should react to the culture in which it lives. He starts with Niebuhr’s views on this and shows that modern culture changed the way the church should view culture. And things like secularism, democracy, freedom and power can be used for good as well as for bad. He also discusses the relation between church and state. Finally he gives his own view of how the church should relate to culture which differs radically from any of the views Niebuhr proposes.

Carson has read widely. He shows how the views of Abraham Kuyper shaped the church in the Netherlands and South Africa. But they are largely rejected today.

[Jonathan Prudhomme · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most helpful books I’ve read on the relationship between Christ and culture. I appreciate how Carson pushes readers to look at the whole of Scripture in all of its redemptive historical turning points in order to make sense of the options/models available to us. Overall, I’m also impressed that he did not push one specific model but instead said that choosing just one would be too reductionistic in relation to Scripture.

[Dan Mays]

This is complex and any simple answers don’t work. At times we are called to transform people/culture, but at other times we are to be against culture. It takes discernment. We live in 2 kingdoms, already but not yet.

[Rodrigo Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

O autor aborda um contra-ponto as 5 visões de Niebuhr sobre o cristianismo e a cultura. É uma leitura interessante para podermos entender melhor como podemos relacionar essas duas visões.

[Benedict Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carson's great strength in this book is avoiding the temptation of offering a 'totalising' model of how Christians (whether as individuals or as a 'church') ought to relate to the wider culture. As the title suggests, he begins this book by engaging with Reinhold Niebuhr's 'Christ and Culture,' especially in considering the five models that Niebuhr identifies.

I haven't read Niebuhr's work, but I found Carson's treatment of Niebuhr's work refreshingly even-handed. In today's political climate which is extremely polarised, it's nice to read a measured voice, even kind and gracious at times, which does not demean those with differing opinions.

Carson is characteristically careful in his usage of terminology, so he does spend time unpacking terms like 'culture,' the possible pictures people envisage when using the expression 'separation of Church and State' and many more. Hence, this is more of a survey, a review of the various voices that have contributed to this debate, rather than Carson's own proposal.

Readers looking for a definitive answer to 'how' Christians and the church will be disappointed. This is because Carson is consistent. Chapter 2 is titled 'Niebuhr Revised: The Impact of Biblical Theology.' At first, I wasn't sure why Carson chose to centre his argument in the biblical theological method/approach. But as I reached the conclusion and found that Carson did not espouse any single 'model' as the way Christians and the church should relate to the broader culture, I began to see the implications of his biblical theological approach.

A quote in p.45 is helpful:
'[...] it is the commitment to think about all of them [Niebuhr's five models] at the same time that preserves us from forging very different patterns of the relationships between Christ and culture, and commends one complex reality that can nevertheless be worked out in highly different contexts.'

An important component of good biblical theology is that it affirms both Scripture's unity, as well as diversity. Different strands of biblical theology might emphasise unity or diversity more, but Carson has tried to find a middle ground, focusing on the Bible's story line.

The problem with many views on how managing relations between Christ and culture is that it's reductionistic, in a 'modern' way. One lesson post-modernity has taught us is that life is complex. So, Carson's proposal is that 'we must insist that they are not alternative models that we may choose to accept or reject. Rather, we shall ask in what sense they are grounded in the Scriptures and ponder their interrelations within the Scriptures, and how and when they should be emphasised under different circumstances exemplified in the Scriptures' (p. 62).

In essence, there is no single way for all Christians in every country in all times to relate to 'culture.' The Bible clearly gives us principles and examples - and perhaps more importantly it tells us of God's big story of creation, redemption and new creation - in it's many twists and turns, characters, circumstances and events.

Carson ends his book quoting Jean Elshtain:
'Avoiding these extremes, we must see Christ against and for, agonistic and affirming, arguing and embracing. This is complex but, then, Christianity is no stranger to complexity. (p.227)'

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by DA Carson. I found it often hard to follow but that is probably because I'm not very familiar with seminaryese and because the topic is one I'm not familiar with. It's not what I was expecting. I was thinking of culture more like entertainment and ethics, this deals more with political questions and how we should interact with the state. He is writing in response to Neibuhr's book called Christ and Culture, evidently a very influential book but I never read it so I felt a little lost. Having said all this, there was one section I really liked on Biblical theology, beginning around page 45 and continuing a good number of pages. One favorite quote about the signs of hope in spite of the fall: "God still sends his sun and rain upon the just and the unjust; he still guides the surgeon's hand and gives strength to the person who picks up the garbage; the sunset still takes our breath away, while a baby's smile steals our hearts. Acts of kindness and self-sacrifice surface among every race and class of human beings, not because we are simple mixtures of good and evil, but because even in the midst of our deep rebellion God restrains us and displays his glory and his goodness.... Christians cannot long think about Christ and culture without reflecting on the fact that this is God's world, but that this side of the fall this world is simultaneously resplendent with glory and awash in shame, and that every expression of human culture simultaneously discloses that we were made in God's image and shows itself to be misshaped and corroded by human rebellion against God"

[Cole Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carson adequately critiques Niebuhr’s already helpful categories for Christian positions on Christ and Culture, and using Biblical Theology to replace these categories is genius. Although very dense at parts, this is a helpful resource in thinking through American Christianity, and Christianity in general, from a plethora of cultural perspectives.

[Mark Gring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read this book again in the last 2 weeks. I am struck by several things I missed when I read it previously. He addresses the Radical Orthodoxy ideas that were growing at the time--it is a good analysis/critique of RO.
Secondly, I am struck again how the 4 of 5 positions, from H. Richard Niehbur, Carson considers biblically acceptable are all considered inadequate and incomplete. He argues the church takes various stances at different times and under different sociopolitical and geographical contexts. Partly it is survival for the church and partly it is how easily we are affected by the situations in which we find ourselves. The whole counsel of Scripture, though, is the only complete and sufficient way to understand culture--by the power of the Spirit we are challenged to see the world and our culture from a more biblical way.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Carson revisits H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture and demonstrates how the older categories do not work any longer. Dr. Carson's "The Non-negotiables of Biblical Theology," pages 44-59, is worth the price of the book alone; a very well written overview of the Bible. Indeed, it is his conclusion that "the robust and nourishing wholeness of biblical theology... the controlling matrix for our reflection on the relations between Christ and culture will... help us... think holistically and subtly, wisely, and penetratingly, under the Lordship of Christ." p. 227.

This will be helpful as I prepare a sermon series on "The Believer, the Church & Politics."

[Daniel Markin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this went right over my head. Will need to revisit his revisit of Christ and culture.

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chantel Hall
4/23/18
Book Review: DA Carson Christ and Culture Revisited
Throughout the ages Christians have struggled with how to handle situations where the popular culture does not coincide with their faith and Christ’s teachings. D.A. Carson realized this dilemma and after doing some of his own reading he decided to take on the challenge and write about managing your faith and culture together. Carson writes this deeply theological book titled Christ and Culture Revisited with the intent to get readers wrestling with the complex subject of the relationship between Christ and culture. As the title implies, this book was written in response to the earlier book by H. Richard Niebuhr titled Christ and Culture. In Christ and Culture Revisited, Carson makes his own more modern critique of Niebuhr's work and expands upon the ideas laid out in Christ and Culture. Carson’s thesis statement may be described by his statement in the first chapter that reads “Christians can thoughtfully engage in their society; while remaining faithful to the fact that Jesus is Lord.”
Carson does this is a specific form. He starts by summarizing what Niebuhr had said and then he makes his own analysis of how accurate he thinks Niebuhr’s assessment was. He adds on his own analysis of the contemporary issues. He goes through this form for most of the chapters with an exception at the beginning where he first summarizes Niebuhr’s work and explains why he is creating this work. At the end of the book Carson focuses less on Niebuhr’s work and provides more of his own ideas on intertwining Christ and culture.
To provide a brief overview of the book...
In chapter 1 Carson is mainly describing Niebuhr’s original work. In this he describes what he calls the five paradigms that describe the relationship between Christ and culture. These paradigms are... Christ against Culture, Christ of Culture, Christ above Culture, Christ and Culture in Paradox, and Christ the Transformer of Culture. Carson explains each of these paradigms and gives a short analysis of them.
In chapter 2, Carson makes some of his more major critiques of Niebuhr. He discusses the way that he feels Niebuhr has underused scripture. He also talks about the major historical events that influence Christianity and their effect on culture and what they should mean today. The historical events he refers to are historical events from the Bible. He says we must take into account the creation and the fall, distinctive nature of Israel, and coming of Christ and the inauguration of the new covenant when we discuss Christ and culture.
In chapter 3, Carson takes time to specifically define culture and give us the precise meaning. In this chapter he also takes some time to explain postmodernism and talks about epistemology. This chapter is the first chapter where Carson really starts to give us some of his own ideas and theologies.
In the fourth chapter, Carson focuses on four major influences in a democratic western culture. These four influences are secularism, democracy, freedom and power. Initially reading these things as an American I was really puzzled as to why these could be negative forces against Christ, but Carson does a very eloquent job of explaining the issues that we encounter with these.
In chapter 5, Carson discusses church and state. Carson writes about how the separation of church and state was originally set up to help Christians and all others to feel free to practice their faith. Now it has become something that binds Christians and makes it hard for them to discuss their religion or faith with others.
In the last chapter, Carson provides a model of “options”. These options are ways he proposes to think through some of the issues of Christ and culture.
This work targets highly academic audiences. Carson gives some advanced theological references and analysis that make this book a good choice for readers with some prior knowledge in religion theology and culture. This book may not be ideal for someone new to the subject material.
Overall, this book was well written and insightful. It reveals that Carson possesses sound knowledge of the scriptures. He backups all of his propositions with scripture. Carson narrates a valuable discussion about Christ and culture for us and gives us key information that can help us navigate the two. Carson, insightfully, is able to both summarize and critique Niebuhr's work.

[Luiz Munoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Christ and Culture Revisited” by D.A Carson was a theological experience I genuinely enjoyed. The topics that he addressed in this book are issues that are currently happening now and affecting the society we live in. In the book, Carson offers ideas that we can keep those issues in order in accordance with Christian scriptures. While the book is relatively small, the density of the information made a relative impact on my understanding of the culture we currently live in. He provided multiple positive aspects but there were also components of his writing that needed improvement and that I found incohesive with my own theological beliefs.
In the first chapter of the book, D.A. Carson gave us an understanding of what the culture should look like in accordance with the Christian scriptures. I believe this was a great way to start the book because it allowed the audience to have an understanding of what the book was going to be about. As a reader it made me have some sense of the direction he was going to go towards. The understanding of the culture he provided was quite detailed. D.A. Carson wrote, “Today, culture” has become a fairly plastic concept that means something like “the set of values broadly shared by some subset of the human population” (pg. 1). We see Carson bring the idea of common culture in the United States before the reader. I personally like how he did this because it puts me in the seat of reality.
Having this understanding from the first chapter, in the next chapters Carson makes the reader understand that we have drifted away from the Christian culture. This is shown through Carson’s details and descriptions of how the “Christians” have blended into culture and people cannot tell the differences of Christians and non-Christians. Carson explains how we should not be part of the culture that goes against the Christian scriptures. He reminds of John 17:16 to not be of this world. This passage brings back the understanding that though we live in this world and this country we are not supposed to be part of it. We are called to be different just as Christ was.
I think a lot of readers might have a difficult time reading and comprehending this book if they are not accustomed to reading Christian literature. He uses theological language to explain his points to support his ideas. This can cause trouble for the readers especially if they do not have a proper understanding of theology or Christian literature. I personally believe that this book was meant for those who already have a solid foundation of Christianity and are looking to have a deeper theological stance in this culture. He also expresses a deep stance on reformed theology that can cause some conflict if you do not agree with him.
I did like how he made his points clear to the reader. He broke down cultural theology and how people have had the wrong idea. He shows us in Scripture the stances we should be taking against this culture and what we believe. He reminds us that we are not to be part of the world, but to love it. We have to love those around us and stand up for what we believe because if we do not then, we will not make the impact that our King did while He was alive in this world. Carson uses theology and apologetics to defend his understandings.
In conclusion, I personally like the book and the topics Carson covered. He made it clear that we are not to be of this world. He shows us that though we might be the black sheep of the herd it matters more to stand up for what you believe then conforming your beliefs to the world’s standard. He explains his reasonings with full detail and brings sources from other theologians. His writings uphold an aliquot standard. He gives great detail to his understandings. I think this is a good book to read for this culture in which we are currently living. It will show the reader truth and remind them to never deny the faith they hold to dearly.

[Robin Bittick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ultimately, I found this book to be a disappointment. Carson makes some good points in his book about H Richard Niebuhr's book, Christ and Culture, but ultimately fails in his critique and attempt to replace Niebuhr's scheme with a better model.

On the positive side, Carson accurately notes that some of the examples of Christian churches in Niebuhr's book are unorthodox. Likewise, Carson attempts to understand the complexity of churches living in cultures. There are many other worthy parts to this book.

However, Carson fails to understand the nature and purpose of Niebuhr's book, which is central to his purpose in this writing. Christ and Culture is mostly descriptive and analytical. This seems to be Carson's made problem with Niebuhr. As I read Carson's book, I got the impression he believes there is no room for description in research, such that if you describe something, you must judge it (he may not believe this to be true, but it is the impression his book gave me as I read it). The strength of Niebuhr's book is that it describes how Christians have approached culture, and he analyzed each approach. As such, it is not prescriptive, as Carson suggests at the end of his own book.

Likewise, Carson's critique of the idea of separation of church and state does not define what "private" means, except by the most extreme non-religious adherents. For example, a common claim that one's religion is private usually means that this is a decision left up to individuals, not governments. Yet, Carson only defines "private" to mean "not in the public sphere." He then attacks views that religion should not be in the public sphere. In doing so, he neglects to include other definitions that better describe what separation of church and state means.

Carson's error is rooted in his failure to distinguish between politics in the public sphere v. government roles and practices. This is a common mistake. Politics is about "who gets what, when, and how" (per political scientist Harold Lasswell), and it is about choosing the leaders who make such decisions. Government is about putting these decisions into practice. Originally, the idea of religion being a private matter did not pertain to politics in the public sphere, but rather, to the role and purpose of government: governments are not to establish a religion nor prohibit free exercise thereof (1st Amendment, US Constitution). As such, private does not mean "secret." People can attempt to persuade others about the truth of their faith, and people have the right to listen, not listen, believe or not believe. Private in this sense means freedom to evangelize. Because Carson took the worse examples of those who are anti-religious to try to prove his point, he did not sufficiently explain what separation of church and state originally meant.

Furthermore, at the end of the book, he offers a different way to view churches in context of culture that lacks the parsimony of Niebuhr's approach. He descriptions of different approaches to church and culture do not help the reader make sense out of the world in which we live. Niebuhr, on the other hand, begins with a simple proposition, and then proceeds to analyze different approaches in their complex environments in which they live and worship. In doing this, Niebuhr's scheme is very helpful in reflecting about one's church and how it interacts with the surrounding culture.

There is more I could say, but will stop here except to recommend a very good book by Tim Keller entitled, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Keller takes the strengths of Niebuhr's book, slightly modifies his scheme, and uses it in context of a Biblical approach to ministry.

[Ben Bartlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

How shall Christ and Culture interact? The question is universal. From Christians hiding in China, to the power and majesty of Catholicism, to the Moral Majority in America, to the reclusive Amish communities in Pennsylvania, the Church has struggled with the correct understanding of how faith applies to local context. For years, various groups have fit themselves into one of H. Richard Niebuhr’s five categories;

Christ against Culture,
Christ of Culture,
Christ above Culture,
Christ and Culture in Paradox, and
Christ the Transformer of Culture.

D.A. Carson’s, “Christ and Culture Revisited,” critiques Niebuhr, and offers a more thoughtful and orthodox path forward. It is an excellent bird’s eye view of a contentious topic, painted with broad but well-researched strokes. In this review I describe its six chapters, draw out the, “takeaway,” ideas, insert a few notes, and give my overall thoughts.

Summary
Chapter 1 explains and reviews Niebuhr’s, “Christ and Culture.” Niebuhr’s categories cast a fairly wide net, and Carson’s analysis begins to narrow it. He argues that at least one category (Christ of Culture) necessitates a heretical view of Christianity, and as such is not acceptable as a category.

Chapter 2 continues critiquing Niebuhr by applying biblical theology. Carson evaluates Niebuhr’s strengths and weaknesses, handling of Scripture, assignment of historical figures, and understanding of canon. He also makes a key argument; to suggest that there are multiple views of Christ and Culture and that individual groups can rightly choose just one is incorrect. This limiting of oneself to a single theme of Scripture (such as, say, appreciating God as Creator but not as Redeemer) is an affront to the wholesale acceptance of the historical-Biblical perspective. It is akin to saying you are eating a Caesar salad when really you are just eating lettuce (my metaphor).

Carson then shows that a true paradigm for understanding Christ and Culture must necessarily accept a “bundle” of clear Scriptural perspectives. This bundle includes;

Creation and Fall,
Israel and the Law,
Christ and New Covenant, and
Heaven and Hell.

Any paradigm that does not include or proportionally mishandles these perspectives is inherently flawed and inconsistent with orthodox Christianity.

Chapter 3 will be familiar to those who follow Carson’s work, but frustrating to those who do not. As in many of his other lectures and writings, he spends considerable time interacting with his critics. This chapter could easily be skipped by the curious layman, because it is mostly technical discussion of the definitions for culture and postmodernism. However, it is a good chapter for those who want to understand the technical issues caught up with this type of critique, and have strong background in the debates surrounding these terms.

Chapter 4 discusses four major forces that impact and at times bend or challenge our understanding of Christ’s role in culture. These four forces are the lure of secularization, the mystique of democracy, the worship of freedom, and the lust for power. The chapter seems primarily designed to be thoughtful about the many problems at work in designing a universally helpful understanding of Christ and Culture.

Chapter 5 tries to deal with one of the largest issues in the Christ and Culture issue; that of church and state. Once again, it seems to be a whirlwind tour of the major concepts that are tossed around when Christians try to plunge into this issue.

The first section deals with the disclarity regarding the terms, “religion,” “church,” and, “state.” The second section then describes some biblical priorities for relationships between Church and State. It discusses Opposition and Persecution, Restricted Confrontation, Differing Fundamental Allegiances, Different Styles of Government and Reign, Transformation of Life and Therefore Social and Governmental Institutions, and In the End Jesus Wins.

Chapter 6 closes the discussion with three steps. First, he summarizes the argument of the book as a whole. Second, he discusses some of the disappointed agendas and frustrated utopias of various Christian groups. This includes The Fundamentalist Option, Luther and His Heirs, Abraham Kuyper, Minimalist Expectations, Post-Christendom Perspectives, and Persecution. The third and final step is the Conclusion.

The Conclusion, though short, ties all the themes and discussions together with his central thesis, alluded to throughout the book. To correctly discern the relationship between Christ and Culture, Christians must, “…pursue with a passion the robust and nourishing wholeness of biblical theology as the controlling matrix for our reflection on the relations between Christ and culture…” (p. 227) Carson’s desire for fidelity to Scripture and willingness to reform to that end is very apparent.

Key Ideas
There are three helpful concepts that can be drawn from this book.

First, Niebuhr’s five views of Christ and Culture cast too wide a net. They allow for disproportional and even heretical views of Christianity. A truly biblical view of the relationship between Christ and Culture cannot allow paradigms that are unfaithful to the Biblical witness.

Second, a view of Christ and Culture must be flexible enough to fit and interact with a massive variety of contextual problems and situations. In other words, if the Gospel is true, then a right view of Christ and Culture must give right guidance both to the rich American and the poor African, the persecuted Chinese and the free South Korean.

Third, right understanding of the Christ and Culture interaction in a local context is promoted by a commitment to biblical theology. In other words, Christians rightly handle the Christ and Culture problem when their actions in local context flow directly from a healthy and proportional acceptance of the key claims of Scripture.

Notes
This book is terrific, and its conclusions are enormously helpful. That said, it is fast and furious- Carson does not go out of his way to explain the wide-ranging theological, philosophical, and political topics he interacts with. He gives plenty of books to consider for those interested, but this is not a detailed analysis so much as a call to a more Scriptural framework for analyzing Christ and Culture in local context. I would recommend the book primarily for pastors, educators, and those with interest in political philosophy. A background in history, theology, law, or political science would be especially helpful.

Conclusion
Ultimately, Carson’s book calls for Biblical faithfulness when we make choices. Should we be more or less involved in culture? Can a Christian go into politics? Should we try to transform culture with Christian art or withdraw by homeschooling our kids? What are the duties of the local church in regards to poverty? To government?

Carson leaves these choices to those in individual context, but challenges them to make sure their choices align correctly with a proportional, faithful exposition of the implications of Scripture’s Truth. It is a worthwhile challenge.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work is a number of rungs higher than my present ability to comprehend. Carson is sophisticated and elaborate. Many parts required rigorous attention and a great deal of information fell through the cracks or went right over my head. Nonetheless, Carson's work is intriguing on many different levels. The Christian and cultural interaction remains inevitable, and every attempt to discuss the topic presupposes a certain type of approach. Carson's main message: Don't be reductionistic. The controlling matrix for our reflection is the whole of biblical theology, which helps us remain far more flexible than the inflexible grids put forth and often made to stand in place of Scripture (227). This is Carson's prescriptive, contra Niebuhr's rigid methodology.

In his book, Carson defines culture and proceeds to revisit Reinhold Niebuhr's fivefold outlook for thinking about culture. These included 1) Christ against culture, 2) Christ of culture, 3) Christ above culture, 4) Christ and culture in paradox, and 5) Christ the transformer of culture. Carson asserts that four of these positions are defensible from Scripture, but argues that a robust biblical theology might change Niebuhr's typology (31). "It is the commitment to think about all of them at the same time that preserves us from forging very different patterns of the relationships between Christ and culture, and commends one complex reality that can nevertheless be worked out in highly different contexts" (45). Major biblical theological turning points must control our thinking all the time (59). These major themes safeguard us from erroneous reductionism and propose a fruitful way for Christians to think about various aspects of a rapidly changing culture. Certainly, in a fallen and God-rebelling world, every Christian's ultimate allegiance is to Christ over the seduction of secularization, the mystique of democracy, the worship of freedom, and the lust for power (ch. 4). The Christian's worldview will be recognizably different, while striving to enhance the whole. The gospel is personal but never private. One is reminded of Daniel who sought the city's good and served faithfully in a government role without ever capitulating to local laws set up against God's decrees.

[Erisson Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro complexo, com análise e argumentação profunda a respeito do relacionamento entre Cristo e cultura. Criticando a obra de Richard Niebuhr (Cristo e cultura), que traça uma classificação quíntupla acerca de como os cristãos se relacionam com a cultura, Carson nos alerta para a importância de se analisar a questão sob um ponto de vista do texto bíblico, exegeticamente observado, e a luz dos grandes eventos da História da redenção. Tratando de temas como secularização, pós modernismo e o relacionamento entre Igreja e Estado, o autor demonstra os perigos de se adotar uma categorização reducionista quanto as tensões existentes em meio ao cristianismo. Em alguns pontos da obra é necessário que o leitor tenha um pré conhecimento a respeito dos assuntos tratados, visto que Carson dialoga com uma grande diversidade de obras e autores que podem estar distantes do contexto sóciopolítico dos leitores. Sem dúvida, uma excelente obra e uma grande contribuição para o tema.

"Cristãos que são assim modelados pelas Escrituras vislumbram uma igreja que não apenas se opõe a culturas alternativas, mas também procura, com sacrifício, trabalhar pelo bem dos outros - a cidade, a nação, a humanidade, em especial os pobres. O sal não confronta; acentua. Os crentes têm de ser os melhores cidadãos possíveis (cf. Jr 29.7; cf. também 1 Pe 1.1; Tg 1.1), e isso significa que cristãos que são firmes seguidores de um exemplo que vem de fora da cultura dominante (o que, dessa maneira, também influencia sua cosmovisão) não apenas modelam e formam uma cultura cristã que é reconhecidamente diferente daquela em que está incrustada, mas também se tornam profundamente comprometidos em melhorar o todo." P. 128-129

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reading Carson's book I found myself, again and again, nodding to myself. As I've read Niebuhr's Christ and Culture as well as Dreher's Benedict Option there were countless moments where I felt compelled to agree but something did not sit right in my spirit - there was something missing. Carson brilliantly problematizes the intersection of Christ and Culture, pointing out and exploring many different approaches and ultimately showing the points where they break down and fail. But he does explore their strengths. In the end the solution he points towards is not as simple or as straightforward as many might prefer, yet it advocates a greater faithfulness to the entirety of Scripture and the entire scope and narrative of the Gospel than many cultural postures do.

In that sense, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is working hard to think well about Christ and Culture, because Carson delves deeply, but he upholds the Scripture throughout. More than anything else, the book encourages believers to practice a very nuanced and balanced approach to engaging their surrounding culture.

What he advocates in the final pages of the book is not a mindless or dogmatic adherence to a single approach or posture but rather a Biblically balanced approach which keeps a strong grasp upon the scope of the Gospel revealed in the Word. It is in working out the balance needed as one navigates the tensions of living as a Christian in a fallen world that the believer learns to apply the revelation of Scripture in his or her own life.

[Ben K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a challenging but worthwhile read. Carson begins by reviewing and critiquing Niebuhr’s fivefold typology for the relationship between Christ and culture. These relations are 1) Christ against culture, 2) the Christ of culture, 3) Christ above culture, 4) Christ and culture in paradox, and 5) Christ the transformer of culture. Niebuhr presented these as competing options, implicitly endorsing the last through his withholding of any criticism. Carson’s critique is essentially that these should not be seen as discrete and competing realities. Instead, they are reflective of a larger picture, manifestations of an extremely complex web of relations. Carson shows how each perspective narrowly corresponds to particular points in the biblical theological storyline. It is only by paying attention to the bigger picture of biblical theology that the whole picture can be seen and appreciated. He applies his thesis with some very interesting discussions on secularism, democracy, freedom, power, and the relation between church and state. (That last topic consumed the most lengthy chapter in the book.)

This was not easy reading, but Carson shares some important ideas that are worthy of careful reflection. If you are a Christian seeking to learn better how to engage with the world we live in, this book is well worth your time.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pros: Carson handily dismantles Niebuhr's five tidy paradigms, which in hindsight needed to be done, and he insists that we take account of the whole counsel of God - the Bible's holistic theology - which is of course right and proper.

Cons: This book is just really hard to read. Whereas Niebuhr offers us a polished homiletical deliverance, Carson is more like a raw (but very, very detailed) exegetical outline. Also, while he critiques Niebuhr's classic for being a little too modern-Western, Carson stamps a short expiration date on his own book by referencing way too many contemporary events and obscure recent works that only certain people in the US, Canada, and France would understand. Finally, Carson doesn't leave us with much to go on. As with his Exegetical Fallacies, the message is essentially "you're doing it all wrong", without much "here's how to do it right".

[Rodney Harvill · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Dr. Carson critiques and updates the paradigmatic evaluation of the relationship between Christians/the church and the surrounding culture by H. Richard Niebuhr in his book Christ and Culture, published several decades ago. Niebuhr's paradigms were:

1. Christ against culture, a position representative of the Christian's sole loyalty to his God and often associated with the persecuted church
2. Christ of culture, a position also known as cultural Christianity, in which Christians syncretize with their surrounding culture, often abandoning Christian doctrines considered unpalatable by the culture. Some examples of this include the Jesus Seminar and Rudolf Bultmann's demythologizing efforts.
3. Christ above culture, a position which maintains a gap between the church and culture while insisting that Christ is as sovereign over the culture as over the church
4. Christ and culture in paradox, a variant of the Christ above culture position that contrasts the sinfulness of mankind and the grace of God and recognizes that all humans, both inside and outside the church, are sinners
5. Christ the transformer of culture, another variant of the Christ above culture that seeks the conversion of the culture itself because mankind is God's creation and subject to God's sovereign work.

To evaluate these paradigms, Dr. Carson listed a number of non-negotiable aspects of biblical theology:

1. Creation - This establishes God’s authority over His creation, which He made good. It also establishes that man is made in the image and likeness of God.
2. Fall – This is the rebellion of the creature, man, against the Creator, in which man first tried to usurp the Creator’s place
3. Israel and the Law - God graciously chose His own people independent of their own merits and gave them a law touching every aspect of existence. This law provided an appropriate structure for a guilty and soiled people to become acceptable before God, with mediators, sacrifices and symbol-laden forms and patterns.
4. Christ and the New Covenant – Jesus, the incarnation of the eternal Word, announced and inaugurated the kingdom of God. His death inaugurated the new covenant in His blood. Whatever civil obligations Jesus’ followers might have, they must be understood within the context of their responsibilities to God.
5. Heaven and Hell - The current relations between Christ and culture must be evaluated in the light of eternity. Furthermore, there will be no utopia prior to the return of Christ and the consummation of gospel blessings.

In their purest forms, two of the paradigms, Christ of culture and Christ the transformer of culture, do not meet biblical standards. In its willingness to abandon aspects of biblical theology considered offensive by the culture, the Christ of culture paradigm becomes unbiblical. The Christ the transformer of culture paradigm tends to ignore the inability of fallen man to establish heaven on earth. In addition, no single paradigm is the whole picture; in the bible, God’s people interacted with the broader culture in different ways depending on the cultural context. In other words, different paradigms represent different tools in the cultural interaction toolbox, to be used as the situation requires.

Dr. Carson discussed various aspects of our own cultural context that impact how the church interacts with the broader culture:

1. Secularism - In popular parlance, secularism has to do with the squeezing of the religious to the periphery of life and in its more vehement forms becomes a de facto religion, advocating its own view of the ultimate good, articulating its own belief system and establishing its own code of ethics. Application of secularism in the culture pressures Christians to live their lives as practical Deists and presents a barrier to meaningful interaction between Christians committed to faithfulness to the Bible and people committed to secularism.
2. Democracy - Democracy provides many benefits that other systems of government do not, but man’s capacity to corrupt it is limitless. To summarize Winston Churchill, democracy is the worst system of government, except for all the others. This system places the majority and the minority in conflict, the tyranny of the majority referred to by our own founding fathers. As a result, tensions between democracy and religion are unavoidable.
3. Freedom - The conception of rights has changed since our nation’s founding. In the days of the founders, rights were considered bestowed by nature or God, obligating government to defend them. Today, rights are considered to be entitlements granted and paid for by big government, making positive law out of the democratic will. Under any circumstances, there is tension between majority rule and the obligation to preserve the freedom of the minority. Also, unless a democratic state is made up of citizens largely in agreement over what is “the good,” that state will tend to fly apart, forcing the government to become increasingly powerful and intrusive to hold things together. The result of diversity of views of freedom is a government that steps in to resolve the divergences and make people less free.

An important aspect of the interaction between Christians and the culture is the church-state relationship. While the New Testament provides some guidance about Christians’ relationship to government, this guidance was in the context of the Roman Empire. Application of this guidance to Christians in a western democracy may require consideration of differences between types of government. Regardless of the system of government to which Christians are subject, they have an overarching allegiance to their God that sets them apart from other citizens and sometimes brings them into conflict with government.

[Zachary Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful critique of Niebuhr's classic 5 categories of engagement between "Christ and Culture." In the opening chapters, Carson is at his analytical best, and his insights and criticism into the approach that Niebuhr popularized is enlightening and persuasive. Unfortunately, I felt the middle chapters wandered a bit, and the book seemed to lose focus for a few chapters, but gained its footing nicely in the concluding chapter, which helpfully summarized and provide an outline of a way forward for faithful Christian cultural engagement. This book really requires familarity with with work of H. Richard Niebuhr in his celebrated "Christ and Cutlure."

A very helpful piece of writing, but short of Carson at his best.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carson does a fine job explaining and evaluating Niebuhr’s typologies of Christ and Culture, but the book is too cursory to be very helpful. He has some good insights occasionally, but doesn’t follow up with a comprehensive agenda for how Christians should think about culture. In some sense this is intentional, as Carson emphasizes throughout that many ways of approaching culture may be open to Christians depending on their situational context. However, it ultimately detracts from the book. Finally, his evaluation of approaches to Christ and Culture is either too brief (his treatments of Two Kingdoms theology and Kuyperianism) or simply question begging (his assumptions about Pacifism when discussing Yoder, Hauerwas, et al.).

[Alaric Aumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carson’s book, although dense and difficult to plow through, is helpful for the Christian wanting to think about cultural engagement. To often it is easy for the church to fall prey to the trap of complete cultural transformation rather than living well for Jesus. I couldn’t say it better than Carson did in the very last sentence.


“We will live in the tension of claiming every square inch for King Jesus, even while we know full well that the consummation is not yet, that we walk by faith and not by sight, and that the weapons with which we fight are not the weapons of the world (2 Corinthians 10:4)”