Defining the Christ and Culture Categories

The New Dictionary of Theology‘s entry on “Niebuhr, H. Richard” (the author of the book, Christ and Culture, upon which this discussion is based) defines his five categories as follows:

Christ Against Culture (Opposition)

Rejects the world as evil. Believers must retreat to the elect community, shunning politics, art, the military, and worldly entertainment. Revelation is preferred to ‘the whole Reason.’ Christ has given the law of the kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount, and his disciples must live as sojourners in a foreign land.

Christ and Culture in Paradox (Polarity)

Proposes the world as a radically corrupt, yet not abandoned by God, who has set up social structures to stem the tide of chaos. We live in this world of necessary evils as sinners justified by grace, resulting in a predominately private, personal Christian morality

Christ Transforming Culture (Conversionist)

Sees the world as fallen, but capable of sanctification both socially and personally.

Christ Above Culture (Synthesist)

Cultural institutions are grounded in ‘natural law,’ which is yet limited in scope. Christ’s supernatural law is revealed to enable us to reach salvation. Nature is supplemented and fulfilled by grace, both coming from Christ.

Christ of Culture (Agreement)

Makes Christ the figurehead of one’s culture, embodying the culture’s values yet providing a basis for culture’s critique. Revelation is accommodated to reason, the line between God and the world is blurred, and Christ’s salvation is mere ‘moral influence.’