- Wright, William J. Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010).
- VanDrunen, David. Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010).
- Graham, Preston D. A Kingdom Not of This World (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2002).
- Dole, Andrew C. Scheleiermacher on Religion and the Natural Order (Oxford: OUP, 2010).
- Heslam, Peter S. Creating a Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).
- Barth, Karl. Community, Church, and State (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1968).
- Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture (reprint, San Francisco: Harper, 2001).
- Moore, Russell D. The Kingdom of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective (Wheaton: Crossway, 2004).
- Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture (Oxford: OUP, 1980).
- Guder, Darrel L., ed. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).
At the risk of being reductionist, I see four basic theological reasons why the historical church in its various expressions has taken on an institutional social mandate:
- Apologetical: Social action can be an effective means used by the Church to attract and/or awaken the irreligious.
- Eschatological: Social action is a part of the life of the Kingdom in which the Church is presently participating.
- Historical: Social action was integral to the mission of Christ and/or OT Israel and by extension is integral to the mission of the Church.
- Exegetical: The Scriptures instruct the institutional Church to pursue a socio-political agenda.
There are other reasons that are less theological nature (pragmatism, peer pressure, external expectations, general neighborliness, etc.), but these four seem to stand out as the major theological impetus for all major models of ecclesiastical social action. Anyone care to interact on this thesis?
MAS
2 comments:
One thing I would add would be the argument that a social mandate is included in God's comprehensive redemptive plan in which we have been called to participate (e.g., Wright). In some ways it would overlap between the eschatological and historical, but I'm not sure it fits cleanly in either one.
FWIW, in the paper I just did, I placed more conservative arguments (that I think are ultimately inadequate) for holistic ministry under 3 headings: the mission of Christ; the mission of God; and the presence of the Kingdom.
Ben Edwards
Point taken. I've changed my last point to read "Scriptures" rather than "NT Scriptures." That will accommodate common appeals to the Dominion Mandate and texts like Micah 6:8.
I toyed with offering a third basis, viz., "Creational," but ended up omitting it for simplicity. In retrospect it might have been better to include that.
MAS
Post a Comment