Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture

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Christopher Watkin’s expert, timely compendium of Christian Scripture’s subversive engagement of dominating themes of our modern age brings welcome healing to our world.” Liberalism: Each individual finds justification in choosing his or her own version of the good life. And you’ve done a good job of explaining why we call it the Keller Center for Cultural apologetics and what We’re hoping to make normative is that association in the church with the will go authority with insightful and deep cultural critique, keeping those things with an evangelistic goal. Now, you do not follow Tim’s exact pattern of subversive fulfillment. Borrowing again from our friend Daniel strange. Could you explain how you differ? I note in here, I’ll just quote the way you describe in the book, I propose to reframe the schema in terms that remain closer to the flow of Paul’s thought, one diagnosis of cultural values to a presentation of the scandalous cross, three of the cross rejected as the antithesis of cultural values, and for the cross revealed as the fullness of cultural values. Why do you disagree with him here? Instead I view post-structuralism, critical theory, and critical race theory as tools of diagnosis. They can be extremely helpful in clarifying the issues of power, antagonism, cultural frameworks and subjectivity at work in various issues in race, sexuality, gender, inequality, economics, politics. At their best, these cultural theorists teach us how to ask good questions, make astute observations, locate voices. It can open space for the work of God in Christ to reconcile, heal, make bodies whole, put into place various attractions, reactions, and other formations. Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture [1] ( BCT) is a remarkable book that will bless the Church and the academy. Do not be intimidated by the length of the book. Watkin is a delightful writer who is always clear and often witty. Throughout 28 chapters, he expounds key moments and movements in redemptive history, moving from the biblical text to contemporary application in all facets of culture. Taking the book’s title as a guide, we will consider what is biblical, critical, and theoretical about BCT. This review will summarize some benefits of the project for the Church then move to consider some of its distinctive features.

from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father

Is liberalism the answer?

An important update of Augustine’s City of God, a proposal for making biblical sense of what is happening in contemporary culture.”

I hear you call in short answers and prepare, getting into lecture mode. And so what do I mean by diagonalization? Okay. It’s the idea that the modern world again and again, takes biblical truth and rips it apart. And sets one part of biblical truth against the other image of God will be one where either animals or we guard, it does it sometimes with justice and love. God is both just and loving. They’re in beautiful tension. They’re beautiful harmony, they’re not in tension with each other. But so often in modern political discourse, you’ve either got to be on the hard justice side, or the self compassion side, aspects of God’s character ripped apart, set against each other as if you got to choose one or the other. And diagonalizing you’re saying no, you don’t don’t have to choose one or the other. They’re part of a rich, complex biblical harmony. And we shouldn’t rip them apart to begin with. Was that shotgun? Oh, that’s Watkin’s goal in BCT is to bring the world of the Bible into conversation with our world. The process by which this happens is disruptive and subversive. There are no neutral encounters. Borrowing from Ricoeur, Watkin wants the Bible to “refigure” our worlds: Dr. Keller says that critical theory asserts that “reality is at bottom nothing but power. And if that is the case, then to see reality, power must be mapped through the means of “intersectionality”… Only powerlessness and oppression bring moral high ground and true knowledge. Therefore, those with more privilege must not enter into any debate—… they simply must give up their power.” And so, subjectivity, once we understand how it works, really opens up pathways for unwThis may seem cynical? But again, I don’t see the work of critical theory as providing me a foundation for what justice is. Rather uncovering the power at work in the frame enables one to see the hierarchies, the abuse and the resulting antagonisms at work in a construct. When applied to race (critical race theory), gender (some queer theory), sexuality, politics and economics, it gives one the skill to unwind the antagonism, relieve the anger, and allow Jesus to reconcile, heal the division within gender constructs. It makes space for God in Christ to work and make things whole. The bare fact that someone talks about ‘oppression’ or ‘social justice’ isn’t remotely sufficient to conclude that they’ve embraced critical theory. Again, this is a summary, and it’s even me selecting a summary from Keller’s summary. But I believe what Keller is referring to here is what critical theorists often refer to as “subjectivity.” And again, where Keller sees this aspect of critical theory as detracting from a theory of justice, I see it as a tool for helping us to see things we are blind to.