Niebuhr's Principles of "Christ & Culture"

Culture's influence on the church has manifested itself in some unusual ways, such as the Popemobile that the pope has adopted.

Born in Missouri in 1894, Helmut Richard Niebuhr received a PhD in religion from Yale University in 1924. Following this he became one of the 20th century's foremost theologians, publishing several acclaimed works on Christian ethics. His 1951 work, "Christ and Culture," outlines five models for relationships between Christianity and culture in an attempt to understand the dynamics and oppositions that have been observed over the ages.

Opposition

The Amish embody Niebuhr's first model.

Niebuhr's first model was that of opposition between Christianity and culture. Within this model, Niebuhr posited that there will always be an antagonistic relationship between the two entities and that Christians will always view any culture external to that of the church with a great deal of suspicion. This is the model of the Amish who have forsaken all of the trappings of modern culture.

Agreement

Many contemporary churches embrace culture and all that it offers.

The second of Niebuhr's models described an embracing of culture by the Christian church. Within this model, the church represents "what the world values most dearly," including cultural movements and impacts. This model recognizes the importance of culture to the development of humanity and is used by liberal Protestants. These first two models are the binary opposites of each others, the three which follow are degrees in between.

Christ above Culture

The Christ above culture model sees the Christians judging culture, "including their own forms." While Christians who follow this model accept culture as an important entity, they consider themselves as transcendent of it and "condescend themselves" to take part in it. Philosopher Paul Tillich said, in his essay "The Church and Contemporary Culture," "the Kingdom of God includes both [the Church and culture] while transcending both.

Tension

This model views culture as being a product of man's fallen state. As Christianity has dual allegiance to this fallen state of man and the higher, spiritual state it is bound to accept culture as part of humanity. However, it does so with a degree of tension between the two. Proponents of this view see the Church as trying to impose order onto a chaotic society and that, to do this, Christianity can never fully align with culture.

Reformation

The fifth of Niebuhr's models casts Christ as a reforming figure who tries to regulate and change culture for the better. In the words theorist of A.E. McGrath, Christianity tries "to convert the values and goals of secular culture into the service of the Kingdom of Good". Exponents of this view include John Calvin, John Wesley and Niebuhr himself.

References

• The Wanderings of a Theological Vagabond; Christ and Culture: Niebuhr's 5 Interactions; Earl Barnett
• Calvin: Niebuhr's Christ and Culture
• Religion Online; The Church and Contemporary Culture; Paul Tillich
• Andover-Harvard Theological Library: Richard Niebuhr, Papers 1919-1962