In Christ and Culture, Richard Nieburh addresses the issue of the proper role of Christ and culture in the life of the Christian and gives the five major views of the relationship between Christ and culture.

The first of these views is that of Christ against culture. In this view, the absolute authority of Christ is affirmed while any loyalty to the culture is totally rejected. Christians are to be separate from the world and even form their own culture. It is believed that whatever is not under the direct rule of Christ is of the world and is therefore evil. Virtue in the culture is not acknowledged whatsoever. Tertullian and Tolstoy even came very close to saying that it was society which was infected by sin, rather than the human heart. As a result, social activity (including politics, philosophy, theater, even church) is looked down upon.

The second view of the relationship between Christ and culture is that of the Christ of culture. Unlike the previous view, in this view there is no real tension between Christ and culture. Instead, culture is interpreted in terms of Christ, and Christ in terms of culture. The results of interpreting Christ in terms of culture is that the here-and-now becomes emphasized at the expense of what's to come, and "cracks in time" such as the fall, the incarnation, judgement, and resurrection are seen as "unnecessary." Consequently, as with the Christ-against-culture believers, the depravity of the human heart is taken lightly. In addition, Jesus is seen as the individual savior of man's soul, but not the absolute Lord of all life. Abelard saw Jesus as simply a teacher and an example whom "good people who want to do right" can follow. Thomas Jefferson saw Jesus as the great enlightener, who promoted "a peaceful, co-operative society achieved by moral training." Often people who are in favor of this view take only one aspect of Christ (such as love), leave behind the other aspects which the Bible presents, and reconstruct Jesus through the grid of culture. As a result, "loyalty to contemporary culture has so far qualified the loyalty to Christ that he has been abandoned in favor of an idol called by his name."

The third view of the relationship between Christ and culture is that of Christ above culture. Those with this view are called synthesists and are part of the "church of the center," along with dualists and conversionists. As with dualists and conversionists, the synthesists hold to the confession that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Father Almighty who created heaven and earth." So while their loyalty is to Christ, they express that loyalty in the world (culture) which God has made. In addition, all three "church of the center" groups acknowledge the radical nature of sin and the need for grace. They are not making an "either-or" decision as with the first two groups, but a "both-and" decision -- affirming both Christ and culture. Consequently, unlike the Christ-against-culture believer, the synthesist acknowledges that authorities in culture are from God and are to be obeyed. As a synthesist, Thomas Aquinas affirms that man cannot live in freedom without the laws of culture, but those laws must be "true laws." So Aquinas affirms the validity of society, including government, philosophy, politics and private property. As a result of the Christ-above-culture view, synthesists are willing to work along with unbelievers in the work of the world, while remaining distinct in life and practice.

The fourth view of the relationship between Christ and culture is that of Christ and Culture in Paradox. Those who hold to this view are called dualists and are also members of "the church of the center." One of the distinctives of the dualist view is the conviction that sin extends to all things. Dualists recognize that philosophy is tainted by sin, but they also confess what the synthesists are not so eager to accept, namely that theology and religious institutions are tainted with sin as well. Another distinctive of the dualist view is the conviction that there are no significant differences among various sins to God. In addition, the dualist says that even the noblest endeavors of man are ultimately motivated by the desire to be our own gods. Unlike the "Christ-against-culture" believers, the dualist recognizes that the anti-Christian spirit cannot be avoided by fleeing society, for in separating from society, a new society is formed. And in that new society, sin remains. Even though sin remains in society, society is necessary, says the dualist, to restrain sin. While dualists acknowledge society's negative role in restraining sin, however, they are not willing to go as far as the synthesists in saying that society has a positive role in promoting human achievement. Luther, though he does distinguish between life in Christ and life in culture, does not separate the two. Luther confesses that Christ is to be obeyed in culture. He affirms the "gospel of faith in Christ working by love in the world of culture." Thus, politics, music, education and the like are affirmed.

The fifth view of the relationship between Christ and culture is that of Christ the Transformer of Culture. Those who hold to this view are called conversionists and are "the great central tradition of the church." As they are very much like the dualists, the conversionists see sin as deeply rooted in the human heart and as extending to all human involvement. Conversionists, however, have a more positive attitude towards culture than do the dualists. While the dualist tends to exalt redemption at the expense of creation, the conversionist better sees the value in creation itself and more readily affirms the activity of man in the created world. In addition, while the dualist tends to identify the creation and the fall too closely (so as to make the creation bad), the conversionist clearly distinguishes the two (seeing the fallen world as a corruption of what was good). So instead of society needing to be replaced, it must be transformed. Because of this view, Calvin sought to permeate all of life with the gospel in order to transform it. Along with the synthesists, Calvin saw the state as that which was to promote welfare, not merely to restrain sin. Maurice was also in this camp and saw that Christ was Lord over the whole human race whether they acknowledged it or not. Maurice saw Christ as the head of all of culture, not as one who promoted the replacement of culture. Thus, culture must be converted.

In my consideration of which of these five views, if any, is the Biblical view of the relationship between Christ and culture, I must immediately discount the first two. I reject the "Christ-against-culture" position on the grounds that the Bible explicitly tells us not to leave the world. In writing his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world." I reject the "Christ-of-culture" position because it denies the gospel in virtually every possible way. Christ himself is no longer recognizable, once he has been redefined to fit culture by the "Christ-of-culture" believers. Now, out of the "church-of-the-center" positions, I must agree with the conversionist position. I appreciate the synthesists affirmation of both Christ and culture, but their assertion that Christian institutions are outside the reach of corruption does not take sin seriously. Likewise, I agree with the dualists that sin extends to every aspect of life, but their lack of emphasis on the glory of creation bothers me. I truly believe that the conversionists position not only does justice to both Christ and culture, but does justice to our calling to be salt and light in our culture as well. In Matthew 5:13-14, Jesus calls us to be the salt and the light of the world. The conversionist position acknowledges both that culture is worth being transformed (because of the glory of creation) and that all of culture is in need of being transformed (because of the universality of sin). As we act upon this conversionist position, as did Calvin, we will become the salt and light that will transform our culture and bring glory to Christ.

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