[HSList] Fortresses and bridges (was "Definitions of
Dan Holsopple
Beth,
Thankyou for the thoughtfull reply. It will take some thought in
return...
I take a more bottom-up approach and let someone else do the analysis as
to
what camp I fall into. When you take this approach, you cross many camp
boundaries but don't quite fit into any.
Beth Bilynskyj wrote:
>
> At 08:27 AM 4/22/98 -0400, Dan wrote:
> > Christians should just let the general culture go it's way and go about
> >the minitries God has given us.
>
> I think what we are discussing here is actually the question, "What sort of
> relationship should Christians have to the larger culture?" (or "Just how
> are Christians to live in their culture on a daily basis?") It is a
> question that has been debated through the centuries, and it is one that
> (in my humble opinion) will continue to be debated until there is a new
> Heaven and a new Earth. Homeschooling vs. public schooling is but one
> round in this much larger debate.
[ Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:15 "I do not as that You take
them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not
of the
world even as I am not of the world."
Jesus also sent us into the world John 17:18 on a mission of
reconcilliation. Reconcilliation between God and man, not the church and
the world. We
are given a message and a mission, it is not ours to modify as we see
fit.
The goal is to fulfill the personal stewardships that are the highest
priority(God's).
I believe Deut 6:1 and Eph 6:1-4 describe a stewardship of child
training which is of
highest importance. How tragic...and it happens...where a "pastor" or
other church worker
is out there doing ministry to others while his own kids are not
attended to at the necessary
level. Jesus said that if you cause one of these little ones to stumble
(either by neglect or
missleading), God will not be pleased. So, when I portion out my time,
at this stage in the
of my children, they need focused nurture....other things have to wait.
If someone wants to
say I live in a fortress....so be it.
]
>
> Dan, correct me if I am wrong, but you seem to be in the camp of Tertullian
> when you write, " Christians should just let the general culture go it's
> way and go about the ministries God has given us." This is certainly a
> venerable position that many Christians have taken, from Roman times on.
> R. Dean Peterson, in his "Concise History of Christianity," calls this the
> "Christ Against Culture" position:
[Christ has always been against the "natural culture" as it is based in
a boastfull, and lustfull approach to life. He is especially hard on the
proud
religious culture. He is surprizingly forgiving and merciful to the
folks who know they are
sinning and don't try to hide or justify themselves and were willing to
change.
Jesus often used the phrase "the first shall be last and the last shall
be first", indicating that God's view of things will be counter to
usual cultural
mind sets.
The promises of God are to His church....not to the "world". The church
should be a place where the problems of the world are solved by the
wisdom
of God, and these solutions are lived out in demo.
]
>
> "Some apologists claimed that pagan culture and ideas should be rejected
> outright. The attempt to appreciate Greco-Roman culture was a threat to
> the faith. One important theologian who took this position was Tertullian.
> He believed that many of the heresies of his day were caused by efforts to
> combine pagan philosophy with Christian doctrine. In his "Prescription
> Against Heretics," he raised the ... challenge, "What does Athens have to
> do with Jerusalem? What does the Academy have to do with the Church?" (p.
> 59). You can see that Tertullian's answer was, "nothing." This is the
> position that finds truth exclusively in special revelation, and never in
> general revelation.
[Paul said "I became all things to all people that I might by all means
save some". He even had Timothy circumcised because of the Jews who knew
his father was Greek. Timothy graciously consented...I assume...to help
further the minsitry. Bridge building. Hudson Taylor embraced the
Chineese
culture to a degree which disturbed many other missionaries, but the
line
was drawn at God's clear instuction, not man's comfort level.
Without compromise of God's instruction, we are to be ambassadors.
The problems come in where Christians are not willing to part with
cultural mindsets to follow Jesus or are too selfish to sacrifice
comfort
levels. Everything we "know and believe" needs to be examined closely.
Some folks put the US constitution right after the book of
Revelation....might
not say it that way...but! The new order will not be a democracy!
]
>
> There are certainly good reasons for coming to this position, and you have
> yours, I am sure. But in all fairness, I think it is important to point
> out that it has not been the *only* position Christians have taken down
> through time. There is a second position, which Peterson calls "Christ in
> Dialogue with Culture," and it was first articulated by Justin Martyr.
> As you might expect, it is the position that attempts to find connections
> between Christian faith and the the prevailing cultural worldview. You
> might say these Christians ask the question, "What does Jerusalem have to
> do with Athens?" and answer it in varying degrees, " a little" or "a lot"
> depending on how many points of contact they are able to discover. This
> position finds certain truth in special revelation, and sometimes in
> general revelation, justifying their position by pointing to the concept of
> "logos" found in the gospel of John.
[Paul, on Mars hill referred to their "Unknown God" and quoted from
their
poets as a starting point to draw their attention from something they
knew
about to something they did not....Jesus, resurrection and judgement.]
>
> Logically, there is another possibility: the one that conflates Christ
> with culture, so that whatever the culture dictates, that is what the
> Church accepts. You probably know some folks like that...I do. This is the
> position that says, "What does Jerusalem have to do with Athens?"
> Everything!" They tend to disregard special revelation and focus
> exclusively on general revelation. At least up through the last century,
> Christian history has not recognized this positon as an orthodox one.
>
[Very complete. "Christian" country clubs abound. Will God be pleased
with
the building expenditures when people with needs in His church go
hurting?]
> Ultimately, every Christian must wrestle with the question of how his faith
> relates to the philosophies of his day and the culture around him. Peterson
> again:
>
> "One position on how to respond to their cultures is taken by 'fortress
> building' theologians. Like Tertullian, they believe their task is to
> proclaim the truth to the world outside the church and the world can accept
> or reject these truths as it chooses... Others are 'bridge-building'
> theologians, who respond to the problems raised by their cultures by
> 'entering into dialogue' with their cultures. Like Justin, these
> theologians speak to questions being raised by an entire culture, not just
> by the Christian community." (p. 60)
[One thing to introspect on here is: Are we depending on the Holy Spirit
to bring
about the change of heart or are we trying to sugar coat the Gospel to
make it
more palatable. When we live out God's solutions to the world's
problems, we
will find bridgebuilding natural, with a semi-permiable membrane.
Without the whole
Gospel, you will not have the PROPER DEFENCES to keep out the
game-players.]
>
> The question for Christian homeschoolers, then, is which
> philosophical/theological point of view undergirds your homeschool
> practice? Many of us are pure fortresses, some of us are pure bridges, and
> (again, my humble opinion) a majority of us fall somewhere between: more of
> one, less of the other. I guess all I want to say is that this spectrum
> really does exist, and that I think a lot of misunderstanding arises when
> it is not recognized. PS folk may see only fortresses; perhaps they could
> benefit from some bridge-building. Fortress folk may see the bridge
> builders as "selling out," and "experimenting" with their children. Bridge
> builders may not appreciate the strong commitment Fortress folk have to
> holiness and a life different from that of the world.
[The stage of life of children requires a fortress in the
beginning...transitioning
to a bridgebuilding practice later. If you send you little lambs out
amoung wolves...you
are at falult! If your young adults are not prepared to have a heart of
compassion and
the steadfastness to endure challange, you are at falult! A spectrum
should exist.]
>
> For anyone who is not a Christian who has read this far, thanks for your
> patience and interest. I want to be careful to recognize the fact that
> homeschooling today is not an exclusively Christian phenomenon. For you,
> what I have said above may have some interest insofar as Christians and
> non-Christians need to find ways to coexist peacefully together. For those
> who are Christians, what do you think of this analysis? If you disagree,
> please tell me where, and why, and point me toward a better analysis. For
> as Tim says, this is all "my humble opinion."
[Ditto]
>
> In Christ,
>
> Beth
[Thanks again for the thoughtfull note! Sorry it took so long to
respond. Busy...you know!]
In Christ,
Dan