Christianity – Term Paper

Religion essay introduction

Powers and Participation

The community awareness and neighbor love mean a lot as far as the quest for establishing a balance between the culture of the people and the other creation. Apart from the struggle to reconcile the religious and secular divides, it is equally significant for Christians to reconcile with their will to recreation and protection of God’s creation. According to Wendell Berry, the modern Christian is viewed to have done very little in the bid to solve extreme beliefs and cultural crises. This is a far-reaching issue that was once touched by Richard Niebuhr and later got a response from other critical articles like Yeager’s and Stassen’s evaluation of his literary piece. Whereas Yeager’s stance on this topic is more unclear, yet supportive of the view expressed by Niebuhr, Stassen advances a more resistant and combative account against it. According to Yeager, the Christian is entitled to a higher calling than the practical activities and tasks. Her argument however still inclines toward the fact that the Christian responsibility in the world is all about God’s will and planning. Stassen on the other hand, recommends the use of Niebuhr’s account by the Christian to develop and transform the world and make it a better place. The Christian, in principle, should use the sovereignty of God endowed upon them to help promote and positively implicate the significance of culture and the environment.

Essay on religion and society

The Christian Calling and Creation

Like Wendell Berry’s account, the modern Christian is expected to do much to ensure the survival and harmonious coexistence of the cultural set-up. In the matter of Christianity and survival of creation, it is first important to note that the notion that the Christian has a unique role in the preservation and survival of culture is rather unfounded and out of point. The Christian like any other secular being on earth is entitled to the conservation of culture and environmental improvement. What needs to be understood however is the fact that the higher calling of a Christian surpasses some of the world cultural standards and limits. The Christian has a higher calling (Philippians 3: 14, NIV)[ NIV Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2007).] and has a differently orchestrated approach to the matters of cultural survival and preservation. According to Christianity, we, however, live in an imperfect world and the concept of compromise may arise. At some instances, we have to damage a minor part of the environment to solve pertinent issues of a mortal world. Such examples include construction and building of critical structures, and extraction of important aesthetic compounds used in combating diseases that if unattended to may wipe out millions of human beings. After all, human life including the Christian’s, is the ultimate epitome of all of God’s creation and the human welfare means is of greater significance.

Christianity and culture

The improvement of a culture constitutes weeding out the negative aspects and nurturing the positive and better aspects. Much has been blamed on the Christian’s non-engagement or isolation about the culture survival issues. However, it is also vital to understand that the causative agents of such cultural erosions are diverse. Some agents directly counteract the Christian belief, and as a result, cannot be easily combated by earthly approaches. To attain proper credit where it is due, the Christian should be profoundly and effectively involved in the improvement of culture in both aspects. Going back into history tells it all. There are several instances where the Christianity belief was crucial in ending different lifestyles and practices in the society. Consider the counteraction of schism for example in the early years of the 1900’s. The Christian fundamentalism was quite important to this operation; especially in counteracting the negativism aimed at the minority.[ Michael Greer, "Religion And The Survival Of Culture”, Thearchdruidreport.Blogspot.Co.Ke, last modified 2008, accessed October 30, 2016, http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.ke/2008/06/religion-and-survival-of-culture.html.] The Christian believe they have a Godly endowed sovereignty over creation, something imperative in this discussion. It is, therefore, their role to protect rather than erode the natural systems, cultures, and creations. This would be least of their intention. Notably, several Christian organizations should be set up in addition to the existing ones to help in conservation of creation and culture. These organizations should operate within the bounds of the higher calling, that is, they should strive to remain in the quest to be the light of the world (John8:12)[ [ NIV Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2007).]s well as stay relevant to the increasingly changing ideologies in the world. This is coupled with the longstanding biblical fact that upholds that all things that God made are good and perfect (Genesis 1: 31).[ [ Ibid3] The current organizations that have been in the forefront on this issue include the National Religious Partnership for the Environment; Let all Creation Praise and the Forum on Religion and Ecology. Their existence should further prove the Christian’s efforts and exemplary move in diversity to ensure unity for creation protection.

Aspects of Christianity

Cultural Structures

The Christian should adopt a more skeptic way of approaching this matter of Christ against culture and nature survival. It is recommended that the Christian should take a mode of plurality and diversity by being aware of their strength and appreciating the cultures while also adopting a moderated and well-informed approach to opposing ideologies, the issue at hand and the biblical stance on the issue at hand.[ [ Andrew Kulikovsky, "Creation Preservation And Dominion Part 3 – Creation.Com”, Creation.Com, last modified 2016, accessed October 30, 2016, http://creation.com/creation-preservation-and-dominion-part-3.]he Christian believes in the infallibility of their word of God contained in the Scriptures hence would put just enough efforts to ensure the conservation of creation. 

As much as it may be viewed by many that Christianity has hindered the passage of various cultures from generation to generation; it should be made clear to all that Christianity is about ensuring that the right and relevant aspects of the culture are passed onto the next generation. This implies that the culture is based upon and substantially supports the will and desire of God for humans and the wellbeing of other creation. Various cultural organization and structures have been wrongly used in the control of people’s freedom and their oppression. 

Structures of culture including language have been applied in discriminating people based on the differences that exist in structures from one culture to another. There have been instances of racism, where people and their culture are viewed as inferior based on their skin color. Social inferiority has even moved beyond races and gone into tribal strife based on language differences. As if that is not enough, the social discrimination has gone further into the gender and sex differences that exist amongst people. In some places, these distinct cultural structures are firmly held among those who uphold them and are used as methods of oppressing others who are of a different social entity. Regarding this, Christianity trounces all beliefs in line with such and unites believers based on a Godly perception of equality that is upheld by the scriptures. (Galatians 3: 28)[ NI[ NIV Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2007).]istians are then expected to subdue the world of cultural oppression with the love of Christ that surpasses human understanding.  It is worth noting that this action of love should not be considered as a way of eroding cultures, but rather a show and demonstration of the right way of upholding a decent living worthy in the creator’s sight.

Conclusion

Another approach to studying on the topic of Christianity and creation survival is the biblical belief that God being the father of all creations can provide and protect all that he made. Nature and creation have survived some of the most devastating effects of disasters both in the Bible as well as in the modern times. These occurrences give a sense of replenishment and recreation of nature by itself and through human intervention. Notably, at one point in the Bible, the earth was completely covered in water for a very long period, but that did not deter the redevelopment of the earth and all its creations, which is what we have today.[ An[ Andrew Kulikovsky, "Creation Preservation And Dominion Part 3 – Creation.Com”, Creation.Com, last modified 2016, accessed October 30, 2016, http://creation.com/creation-preservation-and-dominion-part-3.] Christian, therefore, is concerned about the preservation of the other creations and the cultural beliefs related to them, but with a different approach. They believe that the survival and existence of other creations is a mutual happening to the existence of humans. More importantly to note is the subordinate role of other creation to the existence of humanity. Christians should, therefore, uphold the Eden status bestowed upon him by God; which is a protective and justified use of other creation rather than their destruction and mass plunder.

The role of the Christian in the preservation of creation and culture cannot be underestimated. Right from the beginning of the biblical times the Christian just like other humans was given a protective role for both creation and cultures associated with it. This responsibility has never changed even in the least despite the emergence of several destructive and corrosive forces. The Christian is therefore expected to bank upon the belief of love and harmony in developing approaches for combating the elements of culture erosion. The higher calling should not be used as an isolationist excuse but rather a better tool for achieving more efficient solutions for the matter at hand. With this approach, better cultures and creation values are passed onto the future generations. The Christian should ensure that love prevails in areas of hatred and freedom in times of oppression.

Bibliography

Greer, Michael. “Religion and The Survival Of Culture”. Thearchdruidreport.Blogspot.Co.Ke. Last modified 2008. Accessed October 30, 2016. http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.ke/2008/06/religion-and-survival-of-culture.html. 

Kulikovsky, Andrew. “Creation Preservation And Dominion Part 3 – Creation.Com”. Creation.Com. Last modified 2016. Accessed October 30, 2016. http://creation.com/creation-preservation-and-dominion-part-3.

NIV Bible. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2007.