Cultural Exegesis: A Primer
Karl Barth allegedly quipped that Christians should “do theology with the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.”[1] His point is that the Christian, in thinking about the truth of God, should understand how God’s truth and today’s world intersect. Theology is fundamentally practical. Yet practical theology can also be a daunting task. While the Bible provides clarity on the things of God, we may struggle to apply these truths in our present world. More so, Christians man have an even harder time not just doing biblical things but seeing the world from a Biblical perspective. Living out Biblical commands is one thing; formulating a Biblical framework to understand the world around us is an even harder task.
As I try to gauge the cultural barometer among believers, my concern is twofold: Many Christians are seemingly illiterate in both of these aspects of Christian living. They don’t have the Biblical framework to understand the world around them; and to add to the problem, they consume culture exponentially with little to no understanding of what it is saying or how it is forming them.
Failure to understand the intersection of Christ and culture neglects the Biblical mandate to engage the culture around us. As Kevin Vanhoozer notes, “[A]ll Christians can and should achieve some degree of cultural literacy, that is, the ability to read or interpret the world we live in though the lens of the Bible and the Christian faith.”[2] For these reasons, I will provide a basic primer on both the need for and practice of cultural exegesis.
Defining Cultural Exegesis
Before we consider how to exegete (or interpret) culture, we must understand what cultural exegesis is. Unfortunately, as one author noted, it is “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.”[3] Many have tried their hand at this task. Andy Crouch says that culture is “what we make of the world.”[4] Ken Myers, less concise, defines culture as,
a dynamic pattern, an ever-changing matrix of objects, artifacts, sounds, institutions, philosophies, fashions, enthusiasms, myths, prejudices, relationships, attitudes, tastes, rituals, habits, colors and loves, all embodied in individual people, in groups and collectives and associations of people (many of whom do not know they are associated), in books, in buildings, in the use of time and space, in wars, in jokes, and in food.[5]
Perhaps John Frame offers the best summary of these definitions: “Creation is what God makes; culture is what we make.”[6]
Vanhoozer helps us connect culture to the task of interpreting the world around us. He notes, “A culture is the objectification, the expression in words and works, of the ‘spirit’ of a particular people who inhabit a particular time and place. . . . Culture refers to the expressive work of human freedom in and on nature.”[7] Vanhoozer’s perspective helps us understand how culture can be something we exegete. After all, culture is manifested in objects and expressed in things, which we then interpret.
Now that we have a working definition of culture, cultural exegesis is simply understanding and interpretation of culture: its thoughts, trends and artifacts. While this definition does not cover all areas of culture, it provides a starting point for the practice of cultural exegesis.
Practicing Cultural Exegesis
Remember that culture includes virtually anything around us. It is the songs we sing, the movies we watch, the food we eat, the furniture we sit on, and much more. For this reason, we always want to think critically as we understand our culture. To do this properly, we need to accomplish two basic principles: understand competing worldviews and develop a Biblical framework.
Competing Worldviews
Believers must have a basic understanding of the worldviews that compete for our attention. Many have authored books that seek to extrapolate the litany of worldviews existing in our world. Space doesn’t allow for an exhaustive list here. However, the Christian should have a basic understanding of popular worldviews vying for their loyalty. These may include, but are not limited to, postmodernism, modernism, hedonism, materialism, populism, naturalism, and atheism. Remember, every cultural product is made by someone who has a distinct worldview.
Virtually all worldviews begin with a basic presupposition and deduce a comprehensive worldview from that premise. For example, naturalism says the material world is all that there is and that we live in a “closed system.” While this premise sounds basic, its implications are far reaching. By being a closed system, it denies all supernatural and metaphysical possibilities. Thus, naturalism can answer only empirical questions (what, when, etc.), but it doesn’t have the faculties to answer epistemological and metaphysical questions (why, who, etc.).
The Christian should also note that worldviews are not neutral. All worldviews compete with one another to function as the prevailing narrative in understanding the world. As Vanhoozer notes “The gospel—the power of God unto salvation—can transform culture; culture, however, is only too happy to return the compliment.”[8]
However, cultural exegesis cannot proceed simply by understanding of worldview. As Andy Crouch notes, “[W]orldview thinking . . . always somehow stays on perception and vision, on thinking, on analysis.”[9] Therefore, we must move from the cognitive to what people actually make with their hands.
Biblical Framework
To understand culture and cultural products, we must develop a framework within which to situate them. Christians build this framework from God’s special revelation to us: the Scriptures. We better understand culture within the greater narrative of Scripture. Many have summarized the narrative of Scripture in four words: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. By positing this framework, they note the touchstones of the Biblical story.
The holy and perfect God created the world and everything in it, including mankind in Adam and Eve. Yet Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, thus bringing condemnation and curse upon all of creation. However, in His obedience Christ accomplished the work of redemption for us and ultimately for all of creation. In the end of days, we will see God’s complete restoration of creation. In relating this brief exposition to culture, Crouch states, “[C]ulture is God’s original plan for humanity—and it is God’s original gift to humanity, both duty and grace. Culture is the scene of humanity’s rebellion against their Creator, the scene of judgment—and it is also the setting of God’s mercy.”[10]
When we observe different cultural artifacts, we must place them within our Biblical grid. Whether we’re observing a painting or a profession, a building or a blog post, we should consider where it lands within the Biblical narrative. Is this item something that God ordained, such as marriage or work? Is it a product of the fall, with no redemptive qualities, such as pornography, narcotics, or racism? Is it something that man makes but that God can redeem, such as the visual arts, architecture, or food? Finally, how does the restoration of all things affect the way in which I view this item? Does it have transcendent qualities to it, or is it fleeting? By asking these questions, we begin to understand how God’s Word directs our understanding.
Conclusion
We must realize we cannot slack in seeking to understand our world. Our culture isn’t simply waiting for us but is constantly bombarding us. As Goheen and Bartholomew explain,
We cannot simply opt out of the surrounding culture: our lives are woven into its institutions, customs, language, relationships, and social patterns. Our embodying of the kingdom of God must take cultural shape in our own particular tie and place. So we find ourselves at the crossroads, where we live as part of two communities, in two stories . . . both of which claim to be true—and claim the whole of our lives.[11]
As you sit right now, reading this article, think of the cultural artifacts around you. Ask what kind of worldviews have led to their creation and development. Ask how they fit into your Biblical framework for the world. Begin to see the world through gospel-colored glasses. But don’t stop there. As you begin to gain a better understanding of the world, let the Scriptures continue to direct and shape what you do in that world, for the glory of God.
____________________
[1] As with all good quotations, Barth probably didn’t say this. However, he did often stress this theme. See here: http://barth.ptsem.edu/about-cbs/faq.
[2] Kevin Vanhoozer, Charles A. Anderson, and Michael J. Sleasman, eds., Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 11.
[3] Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), 87; quotation in Vanhoozer, Anderson, and Sleasman, eds., 23.
[4] Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 23.
[5] Kenneth A. Myers, All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes with a New Introduction (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 34.
[6] John M. Frame, “Christianity and Culture,” Lectures given at the Pensacola Theological Institute (July 2001), 2.
[7] Kevin Vanhoozer, “The World Well Staged? Theology, Culture, and Hermeneutics,” in God & Culture: Essays in Honor of Carl F.H. Henry, ed. D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 6.
[8] Vanhoozer, Anderson, and Sleasman, eds., 7.
[9] Crouch, 62.
[10] Ibid., 175.
[11] Michael W. Goheen and Craig B. Bartholomew, Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 8.
March 13, 2018
Just learned about “Cultural Exegesis” while visiting TEDS.