Making the Best of It Following Christ in the Real World

by Stackhouse, John G.

• ISBN13: 9780195173581
• ISBN10: 0195173589
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

What should be the Christian's attitude toward society? When so much of our contemporary culture is at odds with Christian beliefs and mores, it may seem that serious Christians now have only two choices: transform society completely according to Christian values or retreat into the cloister of sectarian fellowship. In Making the Best of It, John Stackhouse explores the history of the Christian encounter with society, the biblical record, and various theological models of cultural engagement to offer a more balanced and fruitful alternative to these extremes. He argues that, rather than trying to root up the weeds in the cultural field, or trying to shun them, Christians should practice persistence in gardening God's world and building toward the New Jerusalem. Examining the lives and works of C. S. Lewis, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer for example and direction, Stackhouse suggests that our mission is to make the most of life in the world in cooperation with God's own mission of redeeming the world he loves.This model takes seriously the pattern of God's activity in the Bible, and in subsequent history, of working through earthly means--through individuals, communities, and institutions that are deeply flawed but nonetheless capable of accomplishing God's purposes. Christians must find a way to live in this world and at the same time do work that honors God and God's plan for us. In an era of increasing religious and cultural tensions, both internationally and domestically, the model that Stackhouse develops discourages the "all or nothing" attitudes that afflict so much much of contemporary Christianity. Instead, he offers a fresh, and refreshingly nuanced, take on the question of what it means to be a Christian in the world today.

Author Biography

John G. Stackhouse, Jr. is Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology, Regent College. He is the author of Can God Be Trusted? Faith and the Challenge of Evil (OUP 1998), Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today (OUP 2002), Church: An Insider's Look at How We Do It, and Finally Feminist: A Pragmatic Christian Understanding of Gender. He lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Who Are We, for Jesus Christ, Today?	p. 3
The Classic Typology
Reappropriating H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture	p. 13
Definitions
Reappropriating the Typology of Christ and Culture
Some Resources for the Recovery of Christian Realism
C. S. Lewis: The Christian Individual	p. 45
The Christian Story
The Elements and Shape of the Story
Themes in a Theology of Culture
Conclusion: C. S. Lewis's "Parables"
Reinhold Niebuhr: Prophet of Christian Realism	p. 81
Is Christianity Realistic?
What Is Christian Realism?
Implications of Christian Realism
Conclusion: Niebuhr's Legacy
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Christian and the Church in and for the World	p. 115
The Heart of Bonhoeffer's Theology
Themes in a Theology of Culture
Conclusion: Stations on the Way to Freedom
Making the Best of it
Method in Ethics: A Sketch	p. 165
Attending to Jesus
A (Protestant) Christian Tetralectic
The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Receptivity
The Story and the Mission	p. 181
The Christian Story-and Us Within It
Mission: The Four Commandments
Vocation	p. 221
Human
Christian
Time
Conclusion: Mission and Vocation
Principles of a New Realism	p. 261
A Mixed Field, Mixed Motives, and Mixed Results
The Normal ... and Beyond
Faith and Faithfulness
Liberty and Cooperation
Conclusion: Making the Best of It	p. 309
The Shape of Our Lives
Behaving in Public
Governing Motifs
Index	p. 357
Index of Scriptural References	p. 369
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