The Culture Club
.
“The modernist sees the Bible not as a revelation from God to man but as a history of certain (arbitrary) thoughts of men about God, wrapped in environment-friendly disposable packaging. Theology becomes a process of wringing the text for these abstract truths. These ‘truths’ are refined out of the ‘flux’ of the Biblical history and defined by their inability to contradict our own thinking.
The Covenantal (historical and literary) context of these ‘useful’ texts means almost nothing. For the modern mind, cultural context is everything. ‘Culture’ is the means of removing ourselves from the authority of Scriptures whose worldview is foreign to us. ‘That was their culture. Ours is different.’
Anything that offends our sensibilities or condemns sins that are accepted by our own culture is somehow not meant for us. Now, this does not mean that all of the Old Testament can be imported into our lives without qualification. But the standard for such qualification is not culture, ancient or modern, but Covenant. And it is certainly not the fleeting opinions of modern men.”
July 3rd, 2011 at 2:34 am
that’s good – well said