cultural analysis, historical eras, and the "stuff" that is us

Many factors play a role in the emergence of cultural mores, the habits of a given people. Geographical, political, economic, religious, philosophical, and other elements all converge in the formation and evolution of a society. At its core, however, any culture of human beings must be an expression of the people who make up that culture.

Individuals, grouped together by choice or by chance are the "stuff" of which culture is composed. Thus, understanding one’s social environment requires at least a rudimentary knowledge of humanity’s chief characteristics.

The Christian’s contention, of course, is that men and women, fashioned by God, are bearers of the divine image (Genesis ). In some grand yet mysterious way, men and women resemble their Maker. That is, they have the capacity, albeit limited, to mirror God in their behavior and relationships.

Of course not everything about humanity is good and noble. Indeed, the Christian Scriptures proclaim that the entire race is in a fallen condition. Human beings, made in the image of God, are marred, imperfect, and sometimes outright rebellious.

It is this balance of dignity and depravity that defines much of what we see in individual human beings, people-groups, and, ultimately, whole societies. To understand the motives and driving forces behind societal formation and change, these positive and negative components must be taken into account.

To put it another way, what a given group becomes is inextricably tied to what men and women already are. Thus, a society of individuals who possess a God-given dignity, would naturally bear the marks of its Creator. Likewise, as creatures who are flawed and at enmity with God, one would expect to observe in any society the less attractive facets of the human condition.

For Christians, therefore, the effort to decipher the habits and practices of a given era– be it pre-modern, modern, postmodern, or anything else–presupposes (on biblical grounds) that the best and worst features of mankind will make their mark. The fruit of the imago dei and the marring influence of human rebellion are inescapably present in every age.

During the modern era, for instance, human reason given great prominence. At times, this lead to increased learning and the production of marvelous modern inventions. At other times, however, it yielded pride and even an imperialistic tendency to force-feed people whatever one’s agenda happened to be. In the postmodern era, something similar is taking place. For instance postmoderns are much more likely to see the limitations of all human knowledge claims. Sometimes, this has led to a greater sense of humility and an openness to change–both of which are quite biblical. But sometimes, humility has degenerated into relativism and a denial of anything that is universally true–hardly consistent with Christian beliefs.

In each of these examples–and there are many more–it is clear that no society or era can escape its better and worst traits. What this means, then, is that a cognizance of dignity and depravity has a very practical application. In basic terms, the study of any era is incomplete if it does not take into account the best and worst features of the human condition.

When one reads certain postmoderns, the impression given is that nearly everything about the modern world was unhealthy and wrong, and that postmodernism is almost completely healthy and right. Yet, on a Christian worldview, this can never be the case. While either dignity or depravity may be more dominant during certain time-periods than others, neither will completely disappear when human beings are around.

This can be stated as follows:

● Cultures and era are composed of human beings.

● Human beings are simultaneously bearers of the divine image and marred by human rebellion.

● Cultures–composed of dignified and depraved individuals–will inevitably reflect these positive and negative features.

● The analysis of any time-period or people must include an expectation that all human societies will be colored by both dignity and depravity. Wisdom dictates that we seek to identify these.

● There is no "golden era," per se, but various time-frames in which God providentially orders history in a manner that is more or less conducive to his purposes and humanity’s good.

● Our task is to remain faithful to God as we seek to navigate his world. With our hearts tuned to his Word and our lives immersed in our surrounding culture, we hope to locate those features of any era that are consistent with the divine image and God’s purposes. As we journey into the postmodern world, may the Lord of history provide the discernment necessary for distinguishing helpful elements from harmful ones, and may we discover, with his help, that cultural awareness, frustrating as it can be, is ultimately a good and necessary practice.