1 Faith Faith and Culture 02: A Theology of Culture Introduction Main Idea: There are four epochs of Redemptive History that orient us in how to relate to culture. These four epochs help us understand where we have come from, what is corrupt and good in culture, how redemption began and how it will be completed. Where are We Going? Four epochs of Redemptive History: 1. Creation: God created everything good 2. Fall: creation lost its innocence and alienation resulted between it and God 3. Redemption: God begins to eliminate alienation 4. Restoration: God completely eliminates alienation Discussion Questions 1. What does alienation mean? Read Genesis 3 to begin conversation. 2. Think of and mention the various contexts where alienation is present in the world and in your own life. Where in your life do you feel most alienated? Lesson: A Theology of Culturei The epochs of Redemptive History tell us, in the most over-arching manner, the history of the world and its future. History, as we’ve come to study, is the recounting of narratives and those narratives’ significance for us in the present. Redemption History is God’s interaction with his creation and how it bears on our current situation. Let’s go over these epochs in Redemptive History. Creation. Read Genesis 1-2, how does God create? In what condition does he create? We see in the creation that God created everything and everything he created was good. The world is full of his order and his glory. The pinnacle of his creation was humanity, who was given special capacities. These capacities are endowed to it because it is an image bearer of God. The image bearing is evidenced in humanity’s ability to relate, know, and love God. Fall. Genesis 3 stands in stark contrast to the preceding two chapters. What was the result of the Fall? We see that creation becomes alienated from God, there is no longer an intimacy with creation as there once was. Alienation is on three levels: from God, others, and creation itself. This results in humanity worshipping creation as if it were the Creator (see Romans 1:18-32 and Colossians 3:5-11). Redemption. God reaches out to his fallen creation and begins to restore it. Note even the promise he gives to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 that hints at the gospel with the promise of the coming “serpent crusher.” In Christ Jesus, God alienates himself from his Son (Matthew 27:46) in order that his creation might be reconciled to him (2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:20). This reconciliation begins with humanity and extends through them to the world (John 3:16-21). Restoration. What begins with humanity will spread to the entire cosmos of all existence in a new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). All creation will be restored to proper relation to God and in their God given function (Romans 8:21; 2 Peter 3:13). 2 Faith Faith and Culture 02: A Theology of Culture Interaction With the epochs of Redemptive History in mind, think about the following questions: 1. If God created everything good and it is now fallen, what does that say about the goodness of creation? Has it been eliminated or is it still here somehow? 2. How does the coming age of restoration affect your view of the present evils and fallenness of this world? Will the world go to Hell in a handbasket? 3. How do you typically understand Christ’s redemption? That is, what do you think that he redeems? Has anything in our discussion today altered your view? 4. Notice how God does not destroy creation and then re-create, but renews the present creation. Does this suggest that God thinks the world is full of trash or treasure, something not worth saving? Conclusion The residual goodness of creation is still woven through the fabric of the cosmos and the Fall has not destroyed those vestiges of goodness but only distorted them. It is the call and mandate to the believer to acknowledge where God’s light still shines in the wonderful and fair things in culture, even when that culture is not self-consciously redeemed. However, when we take the Fall seriously, we realize that there is abundant corruption in culture as well. As Christ has begun to renew our corrupted nature so we should seek to redeem aspects of a corrupted culture and give the world foretastes of what is to come. We will discuss in more detail what this evaluation and redemption of culture looks like in various cultural spheres as we progress in our study. i Phrase and epoch demarcation taken from Bruce Riley Ashford, Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), chap. 2. .