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

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How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day? from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father In the previous post, I explored Tim Keller’s understanding of a “foundation” for justice in his recent article ( here) on justice? I asked, do we understand ‘Biblical Justice’ as a foundation in terms of A.) an objective truth to be argued for over against the other versions of justice? or B.) a tradition of justice to be worked out in the lives of Christians as a church under Jesus’ Lordship, lived before the world (alongside other justices) as a witness? The bare fact that someone talks about ‘oppression’ or ‘social justice’ isn’t remotely sufficient to conclude that they’ve embraced critical theory. This issue is important to me because I believe it shapes the posture by which Christians live justice in the world. The first approach A.) can lead to a coercive posture in which Christians presume a superior position on justice in the world, while the second approach B.) asks us to live justice as a people working out what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ among us first. Living this justice as a people then makes it possible to share this justice with the world.

An argument against the liberal notion of “color-blindness” is made by Jayne Chong-Soon Lee, “Navigating the Topology of Race,” 441–49. ↩

Paul on Greek ‘wisdom’ and Jewish ‘signs’

Well, we mentioned that what we’re looking at here is also a lot of the influences that you share with Tim Keller ones that I’ve covered in Timothy Keller, his spiritual intellectual formation. Chief among them appears to be Charles Taylor, a lot of what I just said in that last statement. Of course, as you know, Chris comes from Taylor. Let’s just talk about a basic issue there explained Charles Taylor’s notion of a social imaginary. And I want to know specifically though, how it differs from the concept of worldview. Errors rarely deny the truth completely—they instead tend to isolate part of it, making it into the whole truth. Christopher Watkin, Thinking through Creation: Genesis 1 and 2 as Tools of Cultural Critique (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2017). This short book has an extended treatment on the need to study Scripture and culture with a posture of attentiveness. This is truly the book I have long wanted to read, and I believe it deserves to become a standard text for all Christian leaders, teachers, evangelists, and any serious-minded believer.” I don’t know quite how to read this in terms of what I am saying about power. In my (not so humble) opinion, Reformed, Neo-Calvinists and/or Neo-Reformed thinkers have often argued that the idea of power itself cannot be avoided (a very Niebuhrian thing to say). They argue often that rule and authority is not a bad thing, it’s the wrong use of such power that is a bad thing. I don’t know if Tim Keller is arguing this way, but I nonetheless want to point to what I said above about the difference between the worldly power “over,” and the way God’s power works “with” and “among” (Mark 10:42-45) As such, dissecting and unwinding the effects of worldly power is a good thing and makes space for God’s power to work through the church in the world.

This analysis doesn’t leave us with a blueprint for a third “Christian” political party, nor a wishy-washy “third-way” compromise between existing political ideologies. But it does show us how the Bible presents a complex view of reality and how modern political ideologies dismember parts of this complex reality, isolate them, and treat them as the whole. And it helps Christians to engage with liberalism, CRT, and other political ideologies in a way that doesn’t invest them with ultimate, messianic hope or allow them to become the uncontested and sovereign ideology of our souls. Bible: Salvation is not the victory of one group over another, nor is it found in choosing one’s own vision of the good. It’s a gift received by grace—which cuts across both CRT’s racial identities and liberalism’s idea of the autonomous individual. CRT: Identity markers like race are basic to human existence. The fundamental unit of social life is the group united by a particular identity marker. A wonderful book bringing the Scriptures—every part of them—into a deep and illuminating conversation with the concerns of culture.”It is not enough for Christians to explain the Bible to the culture or cultures in which we live. We must also explain the culture in which we live within the framework and categories of the Bible, revealing how the whole of the Bible sheds light on the whole of life. Indeed, another remarkable feature of this work is that Watkin advances a novel thesis that scholars will have to consider while at the same time writing an accessible book for the Church. BCT crosses all the traditional boundaries—academic, pastoral, professional, and popular—and does so beautifully. Watkin models for other scholars how to cross these boundaries responsibly. The Church could use more literature like this from scholars that are accessible, designed for study, and sourced with scholarly precision for the academy. Given the target audience, Watkin’s arguments and assertions may leave scholars wanting more. They will not be left, however, feeling that he has been sloppy or careless. Though the assumptions and commitments informing this view of a systemically racist society go by multiple names, here I’ll use “Critical Race Theory” (CRT) as a general term to capture the set of concerns. (To be clear, lamenting the presence of systemic racism does not necessarily make one a CRT proponent.) Salvation isn’t the victory of one group over another, nor is it found in choosing one’s own vision of the good. It’s a gift received by grace.

As critical theorists endeavor to make “certain things visible and certain things valuable,” Watkin seeks to do the same through a fresh reading of redemptive history. He registers his particular critical interest in four ways. God did make a way for us, first and foremost in the gospel. Jesus Christ is the “way” that God chose to make. He bridged the vertical chasm between God and man through His incarnation, perfect life, sacrificial death on the cross (the greatest injustice of history), and triumphant resurrection—which brought genuine reconciliation with God and the potential for true and lasting peace among men as only the gospel can accomplish. Jesus alone has perfectly done justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly with God. He humbled Himself to identify with the broken and bruised of this world. He gave His life for those who could never repay Him. He established peace between God and man and effected reconciliation and harmony between ethnicities, genders, and social barriers in His church. “Man’s estrangement from God splinters all other human relationships,” writes R.C. Sproul, so our only hope of achieving peace and justice among men is to first have our estrangement from God solved through faith in Christ. 26 Well, I mean, I teach I teach in cultural apologetics and so I’m working with my students. through preaching, how do you incorporate the elements of subversive fulfillment in preaching, because you may think that there’s no pattern. But when you’re introduced to the pattern, you can see that there’s a way to make these arguments. And your book does a good job. That’s why I wanted to talk about diagonalization want to talk about the N shape and the U shape, because there are these patterns that can be helpful at diagnosing. And then they can help give you a structure when you’re teaching when you’re working through these things. So anyway, so it can be helpful to know it’s not just, it is an instinct. It’s like what Tim car talks about preaching Christ from the Old Testament, it is an instinct. But it’s also a learned effort. exegetically cultural analysis, same thing becomes an instinct. But there’s also typically a method of doing it.No, I don’t I don’t, I don’t just play prophet for a second. Modern day Prophet, you’ve covered a lot. You covered a lot of historical ground in this book. But I wonder what’s next. And I’ll put it this way to you. I mentioned this. Let me give you an example. So did an interview with Ross Douthat, the amazing columnist for the New York Times he’s been a guest couple times here on gospel bound and, and with me, and I asked him, we were talking about all the dynamics in the church and culture and politics in 2016, in the United States, and it was quite a quite a moment. And I said, what’s keeping you up at night? And he said, none of that stuff. That stuff doesn’t bother me at all. I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about my girls and smartphones. And I think in a lot of ways, he was ahead of his time and understanding that, like, Yes, I’m not so much worried about what happens in the Vatican, I’m worried about happens with my girls and smartphones. So in light of that, you can take this positively, negatively, you can do both. What’s getting up in the morning, and what’s keeping you up late at night?

There is something new at work in BCT besides its presentation. In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin sets forward a comprehensive model for integrating Biblical theology and cultural apologetics. He has provided a new tool—figures—which does a different kind of work in the apologetic task—diagonalization. Critically, the work of Watkin and Serres on figures has significant implications for natural theology, epistemology, the relationship between nature and grace, and apologetics that lie beyond the scope of this review. While more familiar territory for Reformed scholars, some will likely also be inclined to review Watkins’ transposition of aspects of Ricoeur’s narrative theory to Reformed theology, ethics, and apologetics. 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. In discussing Watkin’s critical concerns, we already noted the figure-ground distinction. The Biblical figures that arise from Scripture have the effect of shaping the way we perceive our experience. Figures provide us with our world of meaning. “A world is not only that which is perceived by human consciousness. It also includes networks of machines or ecosystems that rhythm and pattern reality just as effectively or extensively as any human actor.” [18] Crucially, given the concrete nature of Watkin’s critical concerns, world is a more concrete and comprehensive concept than worldview. It includes rational and physical elements. A book that I have been eagerly anticipating for years. ... My prayers are that this book will bear much intellectual and spiritual fruit in many lives over the decades ahead.”Liberalism: Each individual finds justification in choosing his or her own version of the good life. Biblical Critical Theory exposes and evaluates the often-hidden assumptions and concepts that shape late-modern society, examining them through the lens of the biblical story running from Genesis to Revelation, and asking urgent questions like: How many types of figures are there? Watkin says that there are six categories of figures. The six figures are time/space; language/ideas/stories; objects; behavior; relationships; and structure of reality. Taken together, these six categories form the “figuration totale of a given cultural moment.” It is important not to place on figure in the controlling position over all the others. Examples of biblical figures include: