How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture
In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the Bible and its unfolding story help us make sense of modern life and culture. This approach provides a bold vision for Christians who want to engage the world in a way that is biblically faithful and culturally sensitive. 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.
Understanding Critical Theory through Scripture
Critical theories exist to critique what we think we know about reality and the social, political, and cultural structures in which we live. In doing so, they make visible the values and beliefs of a culture in order to scrutinize and change them. 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. This involves asking urgent questions such as:
- How does the Bible's storyline help us understand our society, our culture, and ourselves?
- How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day?
- How can we analyze and critique culture and its alternative critical theories through Scripture?
Practical Tools for Cultural Engagement
Informed by the biblical-theological structure of Saint Augustine's magisterial work The City of God (and with extensive diagrams and practical tools), Biblical Critical Theory shows how the patterns of the Bible's storyline can provide incisive, fresh, and nuanced ways of intervening in today's debates on everything from science, the arts, and politics to dignity, multiculturalism, and equality. If Christians want to speak with a fresh, engaging, and dynamic voice in the marketplace of ideas today, we need to mine the unique treasures of the distinctive biblical storyline. You'll learn the moves to make and the tools to use in analyzing and engaging with all sorts of cultural artifacts and events in a way that is both biblically faithful and culturally relevant.
Thematic Structure of the Biblical Storyline
The following table outlines the biblical-theological structure used to analyze and critique modern culture based on the themes of Scripture:
| Section | Key Themes and Concepts |
|---|---|
| Foundations | Trinity, Creation, Humanity |
| The Fall | Sin and Society, Sin and Autonomy, Babel |
| Covenant | Abraham and Promise, Abraham and Covenant, Moses, the Exodus, and the Torah |
| Critique | Prophecy and Power, Prophecy and Cultural Critique, Wisdom Literature |
| Christology | Incarnation, The Ministry of Jesus, The Cross, The Resurrection |
| The Last Days | Church and Society, Modernity, Eschatology and Culture |
About the Author
Christopher Watkin (PhD, University of Cambridge) is senior lecturer in French studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a scholar with an international reputation in the area of modern and contemporary European thought, atheism, and the relationship between the Bible and philosophy. His published work runs the spectrum from academic monographs on contemporary philosophy to books written for general readers, both Christian and secular, and include Difficult Atheism, From Plato to Postmodernism, and Great Thinkers: Jacques Derrida.