Volume 49 Number 4 Article 2

June 2021

"Building the Temple": An Alternative Metaphor to the Use of "Kingdom" in the Christian University Context

Donald Roth Dordt University, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Roth, Donald (2021) ""Building the Temple": An Alternative Metaphor to the Use of "Kingdom" in the Christian University Context," Pro Rege: Vol. 49: No. 4, 10 - 23. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol49/iss4/2

This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Building the temple”: An alternative metaphor to the use of “kingdom” in the Christian university context

values “are consistent with the metaphorical sys- tem” of that culture, but what if we are deeply en- trenched in more than one culture? 2 What if we struggle to cultivate a culture genuinely rooted in Christian values while simultaneously inhabiting and being deeply shaped by a culture that subverts or rejects these values? Put in terms of Reformed theology, what if the line of the antithesis runs not only between groups, as explained by Kuyper and Augustine, but through the very hearts of human beings,3 as explained by Bavinck? If we find ourselves in the midst of the Pauline4 struggle to put off our old selves while putting on by Donald Roth the righteousness and holiness of our new selves, then metaphors that cohere with both our worldly Introduction and godly culture will play an ambiguous role in our efforts to more coherently embrace our identity “The most fundamental values in a culture will in Christ. On the one hand, these metaphors will be coherent with the metaphorical structure serve as a bridge, connecting our lived experience of the most fundamental concepts in the cul- with our aspirational values. On the other, a bridge ture.”1 allows for travel in both directions, and these same From a Christian perspective, this quotation connections may help smuggle in values that, were from Lakoff and Johnson’s influential work pres- we to confront them directly, we might reject. As a ents us with the double-edged sword of the met- result, some of the most prominent metaphors that aphors that we use to orient our sense of calling. we use to make sense of our Christian calling may The authors argue that deeply entrenched cultural also serve to falsely sanctify sensibilities that do not find their origin in the City of God. Donald Roth is Associate Professor of Business My purpose in writing this paper is to assert Administration and Criminal Justice at Dordt that our use of the “kingdom” metaphor is marked University. by just such an ambiguity. It has a deep and impor-

10 Pro Rege—June 2021 tant biblical anchor that makes it an essential part meaning.11 To make this abstract description itself of the vocabulary we use to articulate our calling; more concrete, “our perception provides a wealth however, it also has connections that, especially in of Lego bricks that our conscious mind can then an age of biblical illiteracy, link it to more world- play with to construct abstract thought and invest ly impulses as well. I believe that this ambiguity it with significance.”12 counsels us to greater care in how and how much So where does our mind find its Lego bricks we emphasize this particular concept. In what fol- when seeking to make sense of “kingdom”? lows, I will unpack what I mean by “kingdom” as Americans must analogize from our experience of a metaphor and what shortcomings it can have. I life in a contemporary democratic republic, from will then offer the metaphor of “temple” as an al- media representations, and from other aspects of ternative, explain its fitness as an alternative, and the fabric of our social imaginary. This means that apply it to the Christian university context—in an our raw materials differ in significant ways from effort to prove that it is, in our times, a more fitting those available to a Jew living under the domin- way to articulate calling in the context of Christian ion of the Roman Empire in the first century. Even scholarship. those living in a contemporary Middle Eastern monarchy like Jordan would be inevitably im- Metaphor uses “felt inference” to pacted by a history of the concept of “nation” and make the abstract concrete. “kingdom” filtered through developments of con- “Building the kingdom” is a foundational con- stitutional and parliamentary governance that cre- cept for many Reformed institutions, including ate substantial distance from the biblical context. Dordt University.5 Yet, from the outset, it is worth Of course, even in the biblical context, the distance addressing what I mean by calling “kingdom” a between the Jewish conception of “kingdom” and metaphor when it comes to orienting Christian vo- Christ’s actual kingdom was a substantial contrib- cation. This clarification is necessary because the uting factor to His crucifixion. Jesus demonstrates primary definition of the term draws an analogical the ambiguities inherent in this distance in His connection between a word and a concept to which conversation with Pontius Pilate, mentioned above, it is not literally applicable.6 However, Scripture when He suggests that a kingdom in line with the maintains that the kingdom of heaven is real, and Jewish conception would have led to earthly, not Christian citizenship in that kingdom is not only lit- just spiritual, warfare.13 erally applicable to but also constitutive of our call- ing. As theologian Patrick Schreiner maintains in The “felt inferences” of “kingdom” The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross, “[t]he can be problematic. kingdom is the King’s power over the King’s people So what does “kingdom” draw upon in the con- in the King’s place.”7 He applies this point, saying temporary Western context, and what problems can that “kingship cannot be exercised in the abstract.”8 this create? For the sake of brevity, I will highlight Yet, while it is not abstract, the kingdom only a few features, but, in summary, our culture’s of Christ is not visible. As Jesus maintained to disordered emphasis on the values of agency and Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”9 prosperity means that we are inclined to view “king- Therefore, “kingdom” functions in a manner par- dom” in a light that makes it about what we do, what allel to metaphor’s normal function—making the we value, and what we want, irrespective of God. abstract concrete in that it helps to make the intan- From its early days, American culture has been gible more tangible. However, the cognitive mecha- noted by observers such as Alexis de Tocqueville nism behind this process requires drawing on other for its individualism, its confidence that material existing connections to generate a “felt inference” wealth is easily compatible with moral uprightness, that makes up the intuitive power of a metaphor.10 and the ways that it deeply enmeshes these ideas That is, human thought about the abstract/intan- with its spiritual pursuits.14 gible draws on webs of meaning rooted in analogies Mixed with an aspiration to meritocracy, this to concrete or experienced realities in order to form means that American culture is confident in our

Pro Rege—June 2021 11 ability to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps” ereign individuals.20 Thus, when many Americans and inclined to see success (defined often by wealth hear the words of something like the Gettysburg or influence) as evidence of the righteousness of our Address, which characterizes American govern- underlying motives. Further, philosopher Charles ment as “of the people, by the people, for the peo- Taylor argues that our very sense of self is filtered ple,”21 they hear this in the context of a group of through modernity to emphasize our independence individuals agreeing to a set of restraints aimed at and pull us toward an inward focus and an empha- providing maximal freedom for individuals to do sis on feeling and sentiment.15 As social commenta- whatever they want. Absent a sense of the absolute tor Ross Douthat notes, Americans have a tendency or the Divine, this belief naturally entails pursuit of to seek signs of the workings of God in our ma- a moral order where everyone “does what is right in terial well-being and our perception of emotional their own eyes.”22 connection to the divine.16 In sum, our current age Of course, this tendency to view the political is marked by spirits pushing us toward narcissism in the light of personal advantage is hardly new. and consumerism, and the disordered valuations of Halbertal and Holmes ably demonstrate this agency and prosperity at work in these spirits can in their analysis of 1 Samuel in The Beginning of be all-too-coherent with a concept of “kingdom” Politics, where they argue that the biblical author filtered through American society and politics. shows the “double reversal of ends and means” that Against this backdrop of divergent values, comes with human political power. Specifically, Christians seeking to understand “kingdom” will the acquisition of power for a good purpose ends reach to our current political system for guidance up corrupting those who acquire it and then per- in fleshing out the significance of this concept. sonalize their power in pursuit of their own ends. This tendency creates difficulties because of how Along the way, genuine ends are converted and our contemporary system conceives of agency and instrumentalized into means for maintaining pow- prosperity with respect to life in a political commu- er.23 The authors demonstrate this tendency in the nity. As a democracy, the American conception of story of David and Bathsheba, where not only does participation in the life of society will naturally en- David abuse his power, but Joab and other semi- tail a sense of ownership and self-determinacy that autonomous go-betweens twist the commands of would be unknown to the ancients. Aristotle con- the king to serve their own goals, even undermin- sidered society to be essential to the natural order ing the king.24 Thus, even in ancient times, being such that humans could rightly be called “political builders and shapers of a kingdom often meant animals.”17 However, the scope of what the “politi- subverting the purposes of that kingdom for per- cal” might mean has evolved from the ancient sense sonal profit. The challenge today is that the entire of ordering a naturally social people to the contem- category of “political” is often viewed in terms of porary emphasis on empowering individual choice “power,” meaning that Christians drawing more against social pressures. heavily on culture than Scripture will be especially Today, Americans typically believe in popular vulnerable to viewing the kingdom of God through sovereignty, especially as that concept comes from that lens. They will then view themselves as inter- Rousseau’s Social Contract. This book argues that, mediaries of that power, with a strong tendency to because natural humanity is fundamentally asocial personalize and distort it.25 (existing as individuals), the state derives its power “from the consent of the governed”: That is, society We see these problems at is an imposition born for the sake of personal ben- the edges of Reformational thought. efit.18 Hobbes builds on this asocial assumption in Even if this is a potential for those drawing on his Leviathan to assert that, by nature, “every man worldly sources, do we see cause for this concern has a Right to every thing.”19 Friedrich Nietzsche brought out in Christian thought? To consider this then carries these ideas full circle, distilling politics possibility, I will assess ways that this problematic down to the collective “will to power” and locating potential creeps into even more disciplined theo- the good in the transcendence and freedom of sov- logical reflection within the tradition that my in-

12 Pro Rege—June 2021 stitution, Dordt University, stands. Although much continuity of the current age into the Age to Come. Reformed scholarship uses the “kingdom” metaphor Although not a Reformed theologian, N.T. Wright in a Scriptural sense, it still wrestles with the poten- has been influential in the tradition, particularly tial for overemphasizing human agency, particularly through his book Surprised by Hope. While he also in an emphasis on continuity that is dependent on rejects the idea that we are building God’s king- the correctness of our current valuations of good- dom through our own efforts, Wright maintains ness. This is an especially marked issue with the that the value of our current work is tied up in its “Reformational” strand of Reformed thought. endurance into the Age to Come, saying, “You are The explicit adjective “Reformational” was most not planting roses in a garden that’s about to be dug clearly defined by Al Wolters to describe a strand of up for a building site. You are—strange though it Neo-Calvinist theological thought that emphasizes may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrec- Christian calling as a matter tion itself—accomplishing of sanctification via progres- The explicit adjective something that will become sive renewal.26 Wolters em- in due course part of God’s phasizes that sanctification “Reformational” was new world.”29 This same idea means “to make free from sin, most clearly defined by is echoed by Hoekema, who to cleanse from moral cor- maintains that “the best ruption, to purify,” a process Al Wolters to describe a contributions of each nation which he sees as begun on strand of Neo-Calvinist will enrich life on the new earth with regard to all aspects theological thought that earth, and that whatever of Creation, then completed potentialities and gifts have in the Second Coming.27 emphasizes Christian been of value in this present Although Wolters takes calling as a matter life will somehow, in some pains not to therefore make way, be retained and en- human effort the factor that of sanctification via riched in the life to come.”30 ushers in the Age to Come, progressive renewal.26 This assertion of conti- the danger of this interpre- nuity carries merit if we are tation can be seen even in primarily referring to the his metaphoric phrasing of the calling of mankind, dispositions and habits of being that make up our which he places in the context of D-Day, saying, unique expressions of identity; after all, the concept “The rightful king has established a beachhead of Christ as firstborn of the New Creation suggests in his territory and calls on his subjects to press that we will be recognizable both in our person and his claims ever farther in creation.”28 Although it personality in the Age to Come. This appears to be is likely unfair to assume that the nuance of the the primary sense for Wright, who maintains that historical comparison was fully intentional, the “what you do in the present…will last into God’s fact remains that “establishing a beachhead” is far future.”31 from achieving victory, and this places quite a bit of However, there are many in the Reformational the task of reconciling all things to Christ into our tradition who see this continuity in more concrete hands on political terms, namely “pressing claims.” terms. That is, not only how we do what we do As the previous discussion suggests, this approach but the things we do themselves will endure. This easily raises the danger that we come to interpret leads Mouw to assert that “[t]he biblical glimpses this task in a way that ends up elevating and sacral- of this City give us reason to think that its con- izing our personal preferences, possibly even elevat- tents will not be completely unfamiliar to people ing our own judgments about our well-being in a like us. In fact, the content of the City will be more reversal of ends and means. akin to our present cultural patterns than is usu- But is this danger real? I believe so. One of the ally acknowledged in discussions of the afterlife.”32 ways that this concept filters into Reformational He follows this up with speculation that cultural thought is with its expressed certainty as to the artifacts, good and bad, will be part of the New

Pro Rege—June 2021 13 Jerusalem, including even things like racist post- ue of a “Christian perspective” frequently incoher- ers and ballistic missiles.33 Crouch follows a simi- ent. If the artifacts of human culture, saved or not, lar vein, calling culture “the furniture of heaven” will endure in the Age to Come, then why would and phrasing the Christian calling in the question it be important to engage in shaping them in a dis- “Are we creating and cultivating things that have a tinctively Christian manner? The Reformed tradi- chance of furnishing the New Jerusalem?”34 tion tends to criticize an over-emphasis on personal The risk here is that we have moved well beyond salvation in ignorance of redemption’s cosmic sig- what can be maintained with any certainty from nificance.37 However, this emphasis on continuity Scripture. Even if these theologians are correct, means that personal salvation is the only real added once “building the kingdom” shifts to sacralizing advantage that could be paired with an otherwise the things we happen to place cultural value on to- general injunction to do cultural work well. Van day, there is a merger of cultures taking place on Drunen calls this shortcoming out in the context terms that are easily set by the world, not Scripture. of the “Christian plumber” problem, saying “What The Reformational tradition seeks to avoid this constitutes excellence for the Christian plumber? problem by its emphasis on the distinction between Whether the pipes he fixes stop leaking…. [W]ould structure and direction.35 However, the real value we hold a non-Christian … plumber to the same of this distinction still struggles to fully account for standards?”38 He concludes, “Absolutely. Activities the dangers of conceiving of the “not yet” of the such as … repairing broken pipes are general hu- kingdom in terms set largely by the “already.” We man activities, not uniquely Christian ones.”39 can see this struggle in the difficulty that this merg- In sum, then, the “kingdom” metaphor pres- er creates in terms of devaluing corporate worship ents a frame which can draw Christians into over- and professing a distinctiveness in the Christian emphasizing the relative importance of what we perspective that we often struggle to articulate. do. It can drift into contextualizing what is good The danger of devaluing corporate worship be- in light of a worldly cultural definition, rather than gins when we emphasize the permanence of things one drawn from Scripture, and these tendencies and activities over people (and what makes us “us”). open the door for us to valorize what is actually If we envision the Age to Come in terms of ques- drawn from our wants and desires as if they were tions like “what does it mean to be a botanist in God’s. Of course, this talk of “can” and “tenden- heaven?” then there is a natural pressure to see what cies” should not be taken as a fundamental error we do as relatively more important than where we of the “kingdom” metaphor. It also should not be go on a Sunday. Indeed, Crouch exemplifies this taken as a blanket charge of error or heresy for the danger when he argues, theologians mentioned in this section. The poten- tial of a slippery slope is not, in and of itself, proof of the end of humanity as depicted in Revelation is error. Instead, it should be read in the context of the more than a temple—an everlasting worship ser- general biblical illiteracy of American Christians. vice. In fact, as we’ve seen, a temple is the one In their annual “State of the Bible” report, Barna notable thing the new Jerusalem does not have reports that only 24% of Christians would con- (Rev. 21:22). The new Jerusalem needs no temple sider themselves engaged with or centered on the because every aspect of life in that city is perme- Bible, with only 5% saying that the Bible “shapes ated with the light and love of God. In that sense their choices.”40 Hearing anecdotally from col- worship as we know it—a sacred time set apart to leagues who teach theology at my institution, the realign our hearts with ethe knowledge and love of literacy rate among students attending an explicitly God—will be obsolete.36 Christian university like Dordt is not much higher. If what we make at our day jobs is what will endure, This information provides what I consider the com- while Sunday services are passing away, which one pelling context here: If “kingdom” presents pitfalls should a Christian be prioritizing? unless considered in a thoroughly biblical context, The other difficulty created by this tendency is is it the wisest metaphor to lean upon when ad- that it makes articulating the distinctiveness or val- dressing an audience that largely lacks this Biblical

14 Pro Rege—June 2021 context? In what I have presented so far, I believe He traces a movement from the Garden of Eden as the answer must be “no.” a temple within Creation to the new heavens and earth, where the entire Creation is a temple.42 By “Temple” is an alternative metaphor highlighting features of Beale’s argument, I will for “kingdom.” demonstrate that “temple” speaks to Christian If using “kingdom” as an organizing metaphor identity, calling, and the cosmic telos with a largely has the vulnerabilities that I mention, is there a synonymous semantic import to “kingdom,” a fact viable alternative? I believe so. I first encountered that then recommends it as an alternative meta- this alternative when reading through Abraham phor. Kuyper’s Wisdom and Wonder with my honors stu- Understanding Beale’s argument requires dents. In that book, Kuyper describes science (by first establishing that both Eden and the New which he means all knowledge) as a temple to God Jerusalem are rightly viewed as temples. With re- emerging from the uncoor- gard to Eden, Beale notes dinated works of scholars that the creation of a divine from all fields.41 In their re- In sum, then, the temple cared for by priest- flections on the book, many “kingdom” metaphor kings was a common theme of the students returned to presents a frame which in both Mesopotamian and this metaphor, and it be- Egyptian culture.43 Further, came clear to me that it car- can draw Christians Adam’s charge in Eden is ried fertile possibilities. into overemphasizing to “cultivate and keep” it, a In what follows, I will phrase connected linguis- demonstrate the idea that the relative importance tically to the charge given “temple” provides an alter- of what we do. to the Levites in protecting native metaphor for “king- the Tabernacle.44 The entire dom” and carries very simi- Creation account, then, is a lar biblical significance, both in terms of promi- settling of the cosmic order, something which was nence and semantic range, while avoiding many of followed up in Ancient Near Eastern myths by the cultural complications that plague “kingdom.” the creation of an earthly temple meant to bring While I emphatically support the biblical and prac- to pass on earth what had been accomplished in tical warrant for using “kingdom,” I believe that the heavens.45 Indeed, Beale argues that not only “temple” offers a metaphor that can be adopted did the temple practices of pagan societies provide by students in a sense more closely connected to a context for Israel’s interpretation of Genesis, but its biblical intention, especially given their relative they also demonstrate “a refracted and marred un- biblical illiteracy. As a result, “building the temple” derstanding of the true conception of the temple provides a superior way of phrasing our aspiration that was present from the very beginning of human to Christian scholarship. history.”46 This familiarity with temple practices means “Temple” has biblical significance that the original audience of Moses’ book would similar to that of “kingdom.” likely have read the Creation account in Genesis As a metaphor, “kingdom” functions to both in terms of “temple.” This possibility is made even describe the current reality of Christ’s Lordship and clearer in the ways in which the religious rites of the the coming reconciliation of all things under Christ Israelites pointed back to Eden. The first call that in the Age to Come. Thus, it speaks to Christian God issues to His people at Mount Sinai identifies identity, calling, and the cosmic telos. However, them as a nation of priests.47 The Tabernacle, for this is not the only biblical motif that speaks to which God dictates the design, is structured and or- these elements. In The Temple and the Church’s namented to remind the people of Eden. The outer Mission, biblical theologian G.K. Beale argues for court speaks to where the people dwelt; the inside the centrality of the “temple” motif in Scripture. of the temple was explicitly linked to the earth by

Pro Rege—June 2021 15 a bronze sea and an altar of uncut stone. The in- the gods would overcome opposition and then cre- ner court represented the cosmos and their lights, ate a divine temple as an establishment of their rest. with a lampstand representing the sun, moon, and In a Divine commentary on these myths, Yahweh five other visible planets and cosmic imagery woven conquered the idolatrous dominion of Egypt and into the curtains. The holy of holies stood for the Canaan, then established a temple of His rest when invisible realm, the dwelling place of God, and it the Davidic dynasty was established with the suc- was guarded by cherubim, as was the entrance to cession of Solomon.55 Of course, Israel was no better Eden, making the high priest’s annual trek beyond than Adam, and the Old Testament at the time of the curtain on the day of atonement into a fearful Christ ended with 2 Chronicles 36:23 and Cyrus’ visitation past the gates of Eden.48 This interpreta- decree that God had given him authority to build tion of Eden as temple in the Israelite cultus can be God’s house once more in Jerusalem, calling “who- further confirmed by affirmations of this interpre- ever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his tation by Philo, Josephus, and the book of Jubilees.49 God be with him. Let him go up.” On the other end of the spectrum, the vision Christ, who was executed for charges includ- of the New Jerusalem should also be thought of ing claims of His ability to rebuild the temple in in terms of “temple.” Beale’s primary thesis is that three days,56 answers that call by becoming the the new creation pictured in Revelation 21-22 is chief cornerstone of a new temple and claiming for not a zooming in from new earth to new city but Himself “all authority on heaven and earth” before a multi-perspectival account of a cosmos so thor- sending His disciples out through the whole world, oughly suffused by the presence of God that the in Matthew 28. Ephesians 2:19-22 clarifies this whole of it is a temple. This image can be seen in “temple” imagery in a way that merges it with the the description of the New Jerusalem, its stones like concept of kingdom citizenship, saying, those of Solomon’s temple and its square dimen- [Y]ou are no longer strangers and aliens, but you sions reminiscent of the holy of holies.50 Further, are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the “new heavens and new earth” itself is a phrase the household of God, built on the foundation of drawn from Isaiah 65:17-18, which functions as the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself be- a metonym for Jerusalem.51 That is, much as we ing the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, might say “Washington” when referring to the being joined together, grows into a holy temple in government of the United States, the description the Lord. In him you also are being built together in Revelation 21 should be read as a parallel, not into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. progressing, perspective. In light of this interpretation, then, “temple” There is much more that could be said, but this speaks to Christian identity, calling, and the cos- groundwork gives us enough to see that “temple,” mic telos in a way that mirrors the “kingdom” mo- with its emphasis on God’s presence and His glory, tif. With regard to “temple,” Adam was situated as mirrors the “kingdom” motif in its most significant a priest-king of Eden, charged with cultivating the senses. This evidence provides us with a sufficient Garden and guarding (“keeping”) it from unclean basis to compare the two metaphors and explore things.52 In the Fall, Adam instead became un- ways in which “temple” avoids some of the pitfalls clean himself, leading to his expulsion from God’s of “kingdom.” presence and the “keeping” function falling to the cherubim. Instead of bringing the image of God to “Temple” avoids many of the the ends of the earth, Ezekiel 31 uses the example problematic associations of “kingdom.” of Assyria to show how mankind instead spread an The metaphor of “temple” avoids the problems idolatrous dominion.53 Out of this fallen world, God identified earlier primarily by the fact that it places called a priestly people to Himself, and He con- clearer emphasis on the centrality of the Divine and firmed their expansionist goal by leading them into integrates the already/not yet tension in a way that Canaan in a tabernacle modeled on an Egyptian war more clearly articulates the scope and distinctive- tent.54 In the Ancient Near Eastern creation myths, ness of Christian calling.

16 Pro Rege—June 2021 While the cultural context may allow for a con- tural artifacts, then the “temple” metaphor high- ception of “kingdom” that still ultimately revolves lights that the Christian calling isn’t so much about around us, the same is not true for “temple.” By assembling the “furniture of heaven” (although we its very nature, “temple” will always raise the ques- may be doing that, too) as it is about making sure tion “to whom?” This means that thesoli deo gloria that that furniture faces toward the throne of glory. orientation of the Christian’s calling and identity This integration of calling is where the “temple” will be woven into the very nature of the metaphor metaphor offers a more coherent response to the used. Because the concept of “temple” calls to mind “Christian plumber” problem. I will speak more to both worship and Divine presence, this metaphor this issue, using “building the temple” to frame the will call to mind the priesthood of all believers in task of Christian scholarship, but for now, the idea a way that naturally flows into what the Reformed that a Christian plumber is a priest, even a priest- tradition has typically iden- king of the living God, sug- tified as the human telos: “to gests something of what is glorify God, and fully to en- The metaphor of different about “Christian joy him forever.”57 “temple” avoids the plumbing.” A focus on the “Temple” also proposes cultural artifact asks what a different integration of the problems identified is unique about the method already/not yet aspects of the earlier primarily by of the Christian plumber, kingdom because it does not and, clearly, there often naturally require answering the fact that it places will be nothing. However, speculative questions about clearer emphasis on “Christian plumbing” is a the continuity of the two the centrality of the calling, and it entails more ages. Instead of seeing con- than method; it entails op- tinuity in terms of cultural Divine and integrates erating in the vocation of artifacts, the natural sense the already/not yet plumbing in such a way of “temple” sees continuity that the plumber points to in terms of worship. tension in a way the glory of God, includ- This “temple” metaphor that more clearly ing being able to articulate also captures the proper mo- this orientation if asked. It tion of eschaton. As N.T. articulates the scope rejects a division of the iden- Wright notes, the thrust of and distinctiveness of tity of “Christian” from the an inaugurated eschatology Christian calling. service rendered in Christ’s is that there is a kingdom of name. VanDrunen rightly heaven, “which according to highlights that there is merit Jesus was and is breaking in to the present world, in even temporary service, but he considers the ad- to earth.”58 An emphasis on continuity of cultural jective “Christian” unhelpful for three reasons: (1) artifacts reverses this motion in certain ways, creat- because the norms of Christian attitude and motiva- ing a process of progressive change whereby things tion are common across professions, (2) because they of this age break out into the next. “Temple” clari- obscure Christian liberty and discernment in apply- fies that one of the key features that will be more ing Scripture to their own lives, and (3) because con- fully realized is the presence of God. Creation al- crete normative commands in Scripture are typically ready testifies to the glory of God, but the kingdom common to believer and unbeliever alike.60 breaks in through the ways that we come to real- By shifting the focus from structure to direc- ize and testify to this glory.59 That is, the kingdom tion, the “temple” metaphor suggests that the doesn’t break in when we build a smart phone so uniqueness of the calling to be a Christian plumber well that it testifies to the glory of God; instead, it is the ability to articulate how everything about the breaks in when we testify to the fact that technolo- task of plumbing points to the glory of God and to gy always has. If the Age to Come will include cul- find joy in that service. Understanding the mechan-

Pro Rege—June 2021 17 ics of fixing a leaking pipe is common to all plumb- However, the “temple” metaphor orients us to- ers; being a just and righteous person is common to ward the presence of God and the ways that we point all Christians. But Christian plumbers know—not toward His glory. In line with the biblical theology just theoretically but in an embodied, experienced outlined above, a Christian who thinks of calling way—what God meant by using the uncleanness in terms of “temple” would see that the breaking in of human waste to help explain the uncleanness of of the Age to Come means more clearly pointing to sin, or how a small sin, left unaddressed, can grow Christ and God’s glory while experiencing His pres- into a catastrophic failure. The Christian plumber ence in such an all-encompassing way that the whole has been habituated into a certain kind of service. earth is His temple. This makes corporate worship a Some of it is about being Christian; some of it is central focus of the week, a time where God’s pres- about being a plumber; but the nexus of the two has ence is promised64 and where the God that we are uniquely equipped that person to serve as a priest- to point to is revealed to us in clearer form. The king in the New Jerusalem, whatever may be said Christian is thus renewed in his or her calling to live about the pipes he or she has repaired. To ask about the rest of the week as a “living sacrifice” to God, one Christian plumbing is to ask how these vocations that orients all of the work that we do toward our find a coherent unity of expression in the Christian King in a way that is integrated with, not segregated plumber; either dividing them in a way that sug- from, our corporate worship. gests limited inter-relation or merging them as if there were a unique method to “Christian plumb- “Building the Temple” is a superior metaphor ing” would obscure this holistic truth. for the task of Christian scholarship. “Temple” also provides an integrative resolution If I have succeeded in my efforts to present a that better avoids the potential for “kingdom” to persuasive case for adopting the “temple” meta- either draw emphasis away from corporate worship phor, I should not neglect to apply this metaphor or segregate worship from ordinary life. Viewed in the arena where most of my ordinary work takes rightly, corporate worship should be the nexus of place. In fact, this is both the context where I first the Christian life. Smith sees this nexus in terms encountered this metaphor and where I think it of the formative impact of the liturgy of worship, particularly helpful in framing our Christian call- which he argues should shape Christian desires in ing. In this concluding section, therefore, I will ar- a way that emphasizes God’s agency, rather than gue that we adopt the metaphor of “building the ours.61 Horton makes a similar argument, seeing temple” as an important part of the way that we the church as the primary venue for accomplishing talk about the task of Christian scholarship, par- the Great Commission.62 However, although both ticularly in the context of a Christian university. are arguing for an emphasis on church, Horton cri- For Abraham Kuyper, the entire task of the tiques the “church as beachhead” concept by sepa- Christian university could be considered “building rating Sunday further from ordinary life, saying, a temple of science,” with true science consisting of “Loving and serving our neighbors in our common unearthing the ways that the entire cosmos points callings is not ‘kingdom work.’”63 Thus, work done to its Author. To do this, Kuyper first isolates sci- by kingdom citizens to the honor and glory of God ence as the emergent human understanding of the is segregated from the kingdom of heaven. Horton work of the Divine Logos: continues by saying, “When we fix a roof or mop Science is not the personally acquired possession a floor or argue a case before the Supreme Court, of each person, but gradually increased in signifi- we are not ushering in the kingdom of God but cance and stability only as the fruit of the work of are fulfilling our divine calling in the world as fel- many people among many nations, in the course low citizens.” From this argument, someone with- of centuries.... Working separately from one an- out another organizing metaphor might conclude other, without any mutual agreement and without that a Christian’s “kingdom service” occurs only on the least bit of direction from other people, with Sunday and exists virtually wholly detached from everybody milling about, everyone going their the majority of our lives. own way, each person constructs science as he

18 Pro Rege—June 2021 and special revelation. Both are revelations of not thinks right. Through that endless confusion...a just something but someone, with general revelation temple emerges.... At this point it will not do to providing a basis of common perception, which is suggest that this most beautiful result emerged clarified and directed toward its proper object via by accident, without plan, all by itself. Rather we special revelation.71 must confess that God himself developed his own Of course, human perception of truth is dis- divine plan for this construction.... Seen this way, torted, and not all humans recognize or wish to however, science is then also an invention of God, point to their Creator. Further, Kuyper attributes which he called into being, causing it to travel its “science” to the organic whole of humanity, as a paths of development in the manner he himself full grasp of the truth is beyond individual capac- had ordained for it. What does this mean except to ity.72 This is where, for Kuyper, a collective effort say and to confess with gratitude that God himself to point towards God is called Science into being as required, and the calling his creature, and accord- For Abraham Kuyper, of the Christian university ingly that Science occupies emerges: its own independent place in the entire task of the our human life.65 Christian university God’s honor requires the human spirit to probe the Kuyper begins from could be considered entire complexity of what the foundational assump- “building a temple has been created, in order tion that the entire created to discover God’s majesty order proceeds from God’s of science,” with true and wisdom and to express thoughts.66 These thoughts science consisting of those in human thought are thus embedded into with human language. Since Creation like veins of pre- unearthing the ways the unbelieving world can cious metal shot through the that the entire cosmos do nothing but obscure earth. In creating mankind points to its Author. God’s majesty and wisdom, with the capacity for under- Christian thinkers are called standing, Kuyper therefore to put their shoulders to that sees a calling for human knowledge (science) to grand task that they alone can perform even if it pursue knowledge of the Creator by unearthing were to bear no benefit for their own lives.73 these thoughts.67 In fact, Kuyper sees this flourish- ing of knowledge to be part of the priestly charge This mandate for the Christian university is that Adam possessed in the Garden, something profound. It provides us with a clear orientation that fits quite naturally with the sense of “temple” toward what the integration of faith and learning developed up to this point.68 looks like, and it provides a basis for what common This sense of science is closely connected to the engagement with the broader world might look second sense in which Kuyper emphasized the doc- like. In the remainder of this essay, I will demon- trine of common grace. That is, common grace is strate how thinking about the text quoted above in not just about how God, in a show of unmerited light of “temple” shows each of these things. favor, sends “rain on the just and on the unjust” First, the “temple” metaphor provides a solid alike.69 It is, more deeply, about how God restrains basis for the integration of faith and learning. My human evil and works through His creation such institution is based on a foundational vision of “an that He continues to reveal Himself through it. education that is Christian not merely in the sense This is the preparatory function of common grace, that devotional exercises are appended to the ordi- something available to all, but only revealed to nary work of the college, but in the larger and deep- those who perceive the truth by virtue of special er sense that all the class work, all of the students’ grace.70 We see something of this same concept in intellectual, emotional, and imaginative activities the way Bavinck describes the doctrines of general shall be permeated with the spirit and teaching of

Pro Rege—June 2021 19 Christianity.”74 However, where the emphasis is on that divided Christian scholars from the rest of the “kingdom,” particularly in the sense of cultural ar- academy. However, as mentioned at the beginning, tifacts, going beyond merely adding on devotional not all theologians viewed the antithesis primarily exercises can be quite difficult, especially in highly through the lens of creating two different types of technical disciplines like a topic I taught in my first people—as if we could always easily distinguish the few years, taxation. two. Instead, Bavinck provides the crucial corrective From the “temple” perspective, though, the task that the antithesis runs through the very heart of be- becomes clearer. To return to the example of taxa- lievers as well,77 and this corrective allows for a better tion, the “temple” metaphor suggests that the goal basis for both distinction and engagement. is not to focus on thinking about how someone can A starting point for seeing this basis is the first do “Christian taxes.” Instead, the goal is to show block quotation in this section. Kuyper describes how taxation itself might point to God’s ordering of science as something that emerges by God’s provi- Creation, where we find that our welfare is depen- dence, since humans are often at cross-purposes dent on more than our own efforts, and we might with one another. In this sense, then, there are not owe a debt to the people and structures that protect “two kinds of science”; instead, all that represents and provide for our common welfare. That is, taxa- an apprehension of real truth is science, whether tion can be rooted in and, ideally, reaffirming of first expounded by a believer or a nonbeliever. realities about who we are and how we stand before Thus, there is no reason why Christian scholars God, our ultimate sovereign. However, this point cannot learn from the work of nonbelievers or why goes beyond philosophical foundations: teaching they cannot engage in common scholarly activities taxation at a Christian university also offers oppor- with the broader academy, a view that differs from tunities to explore how incentives can be used to that of “kingdom,” where it is often incumbent on restrain evil and promote the common good. And, Christians to state Christ’s cultural claim in order on a more personal level, it provides an arena for for it to be effectuated. There, the agency in “tem- exploring how the formative practices and loves of ple” is secondary. It emerges often in spite of us, someone like a tax accountant might be equipping even though Christians might labor diligently to those people for their embodied service in the Age aid this process intentionally. to Come. For instance, a love of order and a desire Of course, the Christian university is unique for a full and proper accounting are not just per- in its dedication to rightly ordering the scholarly sonality traits of a good accountant; rather, they are enterprise toward the revelation of God’s glory. a particular way that humans resonate with God’s Through common grace, all true science builds Justice, and we see this resonance played out in the up understanding and, in many cases, points to eschaton itself.75 In this way, teaching taxation in- the existence of a creator, but only the Christian, cludes not just the common elements of tax policy guided by the insight of special revelation, realizes or just the general Christian principles of Scripture. that everything coheres in the Creator and feels a Teaching taxation helps students unpack and artic- desire to make that connection explicit. To draw ulate how Christ provides a lynchpin to their entire explicitly on the “temple” metaphor, Christians can identity and how even something as mundane as cheerfully engage with the scholarly process, confi- taxation can highlight the glory of God. dent that a temple is emerging. However, we must Second, the “temple” metaphor provides a basis remain aware that our own understanding is also for common engagement, although this might not affected by sin. This fact drives us to humbly real- be as immediately apparent. While Kuyper pro- ize that whatever enduring truth emerges does not vided a clear mandate for the Christian university, originate in our genius but results from God’s ac- he blunted the force of his own metaphor through tive work and cultivating call to all humans. his insistence that the antithesis, the fundamen- However, the Christian scholar is uniquely tal opposition of Christ and the world, resulted in capable of proving/revealing that this “temple of “two kinds of science.”76 Thus, his basis for creating science” is to be a temple to the living God. That Christian universities was an “us v. them” distinction is, that the presence of God is faithfully revealed

20 Pro Rege—June 2021 throughout the whole of His creation. Thus, on Endnotes the one hand, we seek to avoid confusing that call- 1. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We ing by elevating our own intention to a certainty Live By (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, that we’re getting it right: the temple emerges by 1980), 22. God’s providence alone. On the other hand, we 2. The authors use the example of “more is better” avoid unduly separating what is rooted in com- being coherent with an association between mon grace from what is shaped by special revela- “more” and “up” but not “more” and “down” tion: if a temple is emerging, then the people of because Western culture tends to utilize a God, a royal priesthood,78 bear the responsibility metaphorical structure where “up” and “down” of taking every thought captive to the Author of correspond to “good” and “bad,” respectively. knowledge.79 Lakoff and Johnson, 22-23. 3. For discussion of this distinction, see Jacob Conclusion Klapwijk, “Antithesis and Common Grace,” in We live in an era marked by pervasive biblical On Kuyper: A Collection of Readings on the Life, illiteracy and beset by pressures to align every aspect Work, & Legacy of Abraham Kuyper, ed. Steve of our lives with partisan political interests. Further, Bishop and John Kok (Sioux Center: Dordt American society is captivated by a sense of self that College Press, 2013), 295-96. elevates our agency and prosperity into a narcissistic 4. Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV). evaluation of the good through the lens of our pref- 5. See, e.g., Dordt University, The Educational erences. In this environment, “kingdom” is subject Framework of Dordt University (Sioux Center: to a particular likelihood for both misunderstanding Dordt University, 2020), 1. and misuse. It easily becomes a division between two 6. “metaphor, n.1”. OED Online. December 2020. “us and them” kingdoms, where justice is about rec- Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/ onciling our tribe’s list of grievances. Ultimately, the viewdictionaryentry/Entry/117328 (accessed January “already” ends up breaking into the “not yet,” rather 05, 2021). than the other way around. 7. Patrick Schreiner, The Kingdom of God and the “Temple” offers an alternative metaphoric orien- Glory of the Cross (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 18. tation that avoids some of these tendencies. Although 8. Schreiner, 19. (citing I. Howard Marshall, it has a biblical import that is largely synonymous “Church,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, with “kingdom,” it fixes our eyes more clearly on ed. J.B. Green and S. McKnight (Downers Grove: whom Creation is a temple to. It clarifies Christian Intervarsity Press, 1992), 123. calling in a way that integrates our whole lived expe- 9. John 18:36 (ESV). rience into the ways that we know and testify to the providence and glory of God—not just in intellect or 10. George Lakoff, “Mapping the brain’s metaphor method, but in lived, bone-deep knowledge. Finally, circuitry: metaphorical thought in everyday it provides a special calling to Christian universities reason,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8:958(2014) 1-14, 14. to aid the broader body of Christ in developing a grammar for articulating that knowledge. 11. Stephen Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: Language Of course, this does not make “kingdom” un- as a Window into Human Nature (New York: biblical, and I am not urging us to remove that word Penguin, 2007), 235-78. from our vocabulary. Rather, I am arguing that we 12. Donald Roth. “Narrative Metaphor: Integrating add “temple” to the way that we articulate our call- Insights in Cognitive Science into a Toolset for ing, and, further, that we give it a more central role. Intentionally Shaping Vocational Pursuits.” To place a particular emphasis on a descriptor used International Journal of Christianity & Education 23, no. 1 (March 2019): 69–80, 73. by Beale above, I argue that we think of ourselves as priest-kings, not king-priests. Perhaps this will help 13. John 18:36 (ESV). to equip and orient us toward a life lived pro rege 14. Alexis de Tocuqeville, Democracy in America, and soli deo gloria. trans. Arthur Goldhammer, ed. Olivier Zunz

Pro Rege—June 2021 21 (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994) 94-95. 2004), 585-94 and 617-28. 31. Wright, 193. 15. Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making 32. Richard Mouw, When Kings Come Marching In of the Modern Identity (Cambridge: Harvard (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 20. University Press, 1989) 112-3 and 302. 33. Mouw, 40-41. 16. Ross Douthat, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (New York: Free Press, 2012), 34. Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering our 182-241. Creative Calling (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 170. 17. Aristotle, Politics, trans. by Benjamin Jowett (Kitchener, ON: Batoche Books, 1999), 5. 35. Wolters, 95-100. 18. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, trans. 36. Crouch, 173. G.D.H. Cole (Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, 37. For a discussion of how to resolve the tension 1923), 14-17. between the personal and cosmic significance of 19. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Oxford: Clarendon the gospel, see Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, Press, 1909), 99. What is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission 20. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power: An (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 91-114. Attempted Transvaluation of All Values, trans. Anthony M. Ludovici, Book III (Edinburgh: 38. David VanDrunen, Living in God’s Two Kingdoms: T.N. Foulus, 1913) 215-17. A Biblical Vision for Christianity and Culture (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 169. 21. Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address,” Abraham Lincoln Online, http://showcase.netins. 39. Ibid. net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg. 40. “Bible engaged” is defined as “Interact with htm (accessed 7 January 2020). the Bible frequently. It is transforming in their 22. See Judges 21:25 (ESV). relationship with God and others” while “Bible Centered” adds “and shaping their choices” to this. 23. Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes, The “State of the Bible 2019: Trends in Engagement.” Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book Barna Group, April 18, 2019. https://www.barna. of Samuel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, com/research/state-of-the-bible-2019/. 2017), 167-68. 41. Abraham Kuyper, Wisdom and Wonder: 24. Halbertal and Holmes, 90-91. Common Grace in Science and Art, trans. Nelson 25. For works that follow a similar line of argument Kloosterman, ed. Jordan Ballor and Stephen with regard to Christianity in America, see Grabill (Grand Rapids: Christian’s Library Press, Stephen Nichols, Jesus Made in America: A Cultural 2011), 45. History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ 42. G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Academic, 2008) A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God and, from a different political perspective, Kristen (Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity, 2004), 23-29. Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a 43. Beale, 91-92. Nation (New York: Liveright, 2020). 44. Beale, 68-69. 26. Al Wolters, Creation Regained: Biblical Basics 45. Beale, 51. for a Reformational Worldview (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 89-95. 46. Beale, 29. 27. Wolters, 89. 47. Exodus 19 (ESV). 48. Beale, 32. 28. Wolters, 74. 29. N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (New York: 49. Beale, 49 and 77. HarperCollins, 2008), 207-208. 50. Beale 23. 30. Anthony Hoekema, Created in God’s Image, 51. Beale 24-25.

22 Pro Rege—June 2021 52. Beale, 68-69. 68. Kuyper, 58-59. 53. Beale, 81 and 126-7. 69. Matthew 5:45 (ESV). 54. Beale 62-65. 70. Tim McConnel, “Common Grace or the 55. Ibid. Antithesis? Towards a Consistent Understanding of Kuyper’s ‘Sphere Sovereignty’” in On Kuyper: A 56. Matthew 26:57-68. Collection of Readings on the Life, Work, & Legacy 57. The Westminster Larger Catechism(1648) , Q&A of Abraham Kuyper, ed. Steve Bishop and John 1. Available at https://ligonier.org/learn/articles/ Kok (Sioux Center: Dordt College Press, 2013), westminster-larger-catechism/ 314. 58. Emphasis added. Wright, 201. 71. Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God, trans. Henry Zylstra (Glenside: Westminster 59. Psalm 66 (ESV). Seminary Press, 2019), 16-56. 60. VanDrunen, 192-93. 72. Kuyper, 42-43. You Are What You Love: The 61. James K.A. Smith, 73. Kuyper, 93. Spiritual Power of Habit (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2016), 77. 74. Dordt University, Founders’ Vision Statement (1937). Dordt Foundational Document. 6 https:// The Gospel Commission: 62. Michael Horton, digitalcollections.dordt.edu/foundational_ Recovering God’s Strategy for Making Disciples documents/6. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011), 190. 75. See Matthew 25: 31-46 (ESV). 63. Horton, 241. 76. Kuyper, 101. 64. Matthew 18:20 (ESV). 77. Klapwijk, 295-96. 65. Kuyper, 45-46. 78. 1 Peter 2:9 (ESV). 66. Kuyper, 39. 79. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV). 67. Kuyper, 42.

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