Contours of Culture
Mission Conversion
by Ken Myers
About halfway into his book Foolishness to the Greeks, Lesslie Newbigin presents a claim that illumines the relationship between the book's title and its subtitle: The Gospel and Western Culture. What is it that makes the gospel foolish to our own (and not just the first century's) cultural moment? "From the point of view of our contemporary culture, the claim that God raised Jesus from the dead is irrational. It cannot be incorporated into the existing plausibility structure. . . . It must be regarded as the esoteric belief of a community that is living in a world of make-believe rather than the world of facts."
The gospel is foolish—belief in the Resurrection irrational—because it is unscientific. According to the dominant belief system in Western culture, science (understood in terms established by the Enlightenment) holds the keys to understanding all of reality. When the Apostle Paul preached the Resurrection, rationality was not equated with the inductive, analytical, reductionist methods of science; but today, the unscientific is by definition irrational.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Ken Myers is the host and producer of the Mars Hill Audio Journal. Formerly an arts editor with National Public Radio, he also serves as music director at All Saints Anglican Church in Ivy, Virginia. He is a contributing editor for Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on conversion from the online archives
more from the online archives
31.4—July/August 2018
Life & Love Are Real Despite Theatrical Illusions by Anthony Esolen
19.10—December 2006
Training Up a Child Requires a Well-Formed Imagination by David Mills
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
