Van Til, Henry R. The Calvinistic Concept of Culture. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1959. Forward by Richard J. Mouw, 2001. [245 pages]
Reviewed by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
I have wanted to read this particular book for a very long time, but never made it a priority to do so. Having now carefully read it through, I can see that this is a very deep volume that represents Henry R. Van Til’s entire life work. It certainly bears reading a second time, and perhaps even a third time, to fully comprehend its message. The concepts that are presented on cultural transformation from Augustine (The City of God), Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion), and Kuyper (Lectures on Calvinism) follow in a straight line; with each man’s thoughts neatly building upon the others. However, when Van Til includes the blistering critique of Klaas Schilder (Wat is de Hemel) against the central theme of God’s common grace (i.e. Kuyper); it is a strategy that leaves me thoroughly puzzled. I believe that this juxtaposition of views on common grace weakens the overall progress of the book and its conclusion. In my opinion, Schilder’s critique should have been left out entirely, or positioned in some other manner.
Nevertheless, despite this flaw (and I do not believe it is a fatal flaw), The Calvinistic Concept of Culture retains its place as one of the seminal books of the twentieth century to set forth a theology of culture. It should surely be read alongside other similar books, some of which do not share Van Til’s conservative biblical theology, such as: Jacque Ellul’s Meaning of the City, H. Richard Neibuhr’s Christ and Culture, and Paul Tillich’s Theology of Culture. There are, of course, several contemporary evangelical authors who embrace Van Til’s conservative biblical theology that could also be read with profit on this subject, such as: D. A. Carson’s Christ and Culture Revisited; Charles Kraft’s Christianity in Culture; Francis Schaeffer’s How should We Then Live?; and David F. Well’s penetrating four volume analysis and critique of the modern church: (1) No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? [1993], (2) God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams [1994], (3) Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision [1998], and (4) Above All Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World [2005]). Beyond this, William A. Dyrness has written a very helpful introductory article on “Christianity and Culture” in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001). This fine article helped me to get my bearings on this complex subject.
It should be stated first off, that the author of The Calvinistic Concept of Culture was Calvin College Professor, Henry R. Van Til (Th.M. degree from Westminster), the nephew of the better-known Dr. Cornelius Van Til (Professor of Apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary). Professor Henry R. Van Til died suddenly in 1961 at the age of 55 (1906-1961). This was his first and only book, which was distilled from his extensive class notes, and written while on sabbatical. Throughout, Van Til gives a large number of illustrations showing the positive historical impact of Calvinism. He also illuminates the underlying presuppositions that motivate the Calvinist to influence this fallen world with the gospel: (1) our need to obey the creation mandate (Genesis 1:27), (2) our need to fulfill the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28; Matthew 28:18-20), and (3) our need to claim all things for our reigning King, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 1:15-20, 3:17).
Dr. Richard J. Mouw, formerly President of Fuller Theological Seminary, writes an insightful Forward which reveals, in summary, the major points of Van Til’s thesis. Mouw introduces the subject of cultural transformation in this way,
In a world distorted by sin, redeemed people must seek to bring all areas of human life into conformity with the Lord of creation. The mandate is all-inclusive. As Abraham Kuyper—whose influences looms large in this book—once declared, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry ‘Mine!’” And the Lord who claims all culture as part of his kingdom also calls his redeemed people to show forth his divine rule in the patterns in their cultural involvement. Here the standard Calvinistic discussion of divine cultural election is extended to emphasize the point of that election: believers who have been elected by sovereign grace are thereby called to participate in the life of a redeemed community of believers who together must find ways of bearing witness to the sovereign rule of God over all things.
Richard Mouw, Forward, x
Van Til’s book is laid out as follows,
The theological meta-narrative of The Calvinistic Concept of Culture is about subsequent Christian thinkers who have, in Van Til’s telling of the tale, best described the profound implications of this biblical plot for the understanding culture: Augustine, Calvin, and Dutch Reformed “neo-Calvinists” of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries…Van Til chooses to focus on two prominent Dutch thinkers—Abraham Kuyper and Klaas Schilder—devoting a chapter to each of them.
Richard Mouw, Forward, xi
The two following questions are central to this book: (1) “What is the definition of the word culture?”, and (2) “What is the relationship of culture to religion?” Van Til defines “culture” with the following definition,
The term “culture” has meant many things to many people. In this book I use the term to designate that activity of man, the image-bearer of God, by which he fulfills the creation mandate to cultivate the earth, to have dominion over it and to subdue it. The term is also applied to the result of such activity, namely, the secondary environment which has been superimposed upon nature by man’s creative effort. Culture, then, is not a peripheral concern, but of the very essence of life. It is an expression of man’s essential being as created in the image of God, and since man is essentially a religious being, it is expressive of his relationship to God, that is, of his religion…My thesis, then, is that Calvinism furnishes us with the only theology of culture that is truly relevant for the world in which we live, because it is the true theology of the Word.
Henry Van Til, Preface, xvii
This very fine definition brings up some salient points: (1) it roots all human culture in the truth that we are creatures made by God, (2) as creatures, we must be in right a relationship with our Creator, and that is only accomplished through faith in Jesus Christ, the Father’s eternal Son, and finally, (3) all human culture is a reflection of our covenantal relationship with God (i.e. our religion) and the blessings of God’s common grace shown to all of his creatures. Van Til would describe religion with the following words,
Religion is the inescapable covenantal relationship between God as Lord and his image-bearer, man. This relation follows from that other basic one of Creator and creature, and rests upon the faithfulness of God to the covenant which he ordained as constituting the religious relationship. This relationship extends to the whole of life; it is all-permeating; it radiates from its center in the heart out to every area on the periphery of man’s existence.
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 37
The covenantal aspects of our relationship with God are inescapable. All human beings alike are held to the overarching “Covenant of Life” (i.e. required obedience to God’s Law under penalty of death), and Christians are called to live out their faith in this fallen world as representatives of God’s Gospel (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21). They are to be light in the midst of darkness (cf. Matthew 5:14-16). In this respect it would normative for members of Christ’s Church to live in such a way that darkness is driven from culture by the progress of the gospel. Van Til summarizes his central thesis with his oft-quoted phrase, “Culture…is religion externalized.” Just to be factual, though, it is necessary to quote the whole sentence,
But basically the antithesis is just as absolute in culture as it is in the sphere of religion, for culture is simply the service of God in our lives; it is religion externalized.
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 200
Van Til puts forward the life and ministry of Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430) as an example of one who set out to transform fallen culture with the gospel. He states,
In short, Augustine is not a cultural optimist, who believes in culture as such, to redeem man and society. Neither is he a cultural pessimist in the Tertullian sense of condemning every form of culture simply because of its pagan origin and association. Augustine believes that the achievements of cultural striving must be permeated and transformed by Christian principles so that we develop a truly God-fearing and God-glorifying culture instead of the corrupt, God-defying culture of the world (civitas terrena).
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 67-68
Just what are the areas of life that might be influenced by the gospel? Or, stated in other words, where should the Christian seek to exercise “sphere-sovereignty”? There are many areas, but let one example, in particular, serve as an application of Van Til’s thesis of cultural transformation; and that is the area of music. Music is a medium that seems to transcend all cultural differences and times. In this “sphere” the sovereignty of God must also be brought to bear. Van Til powerfully contends,
Music is the foremost of the arts in its adaptability to worship. The object of music is God and his creation. The glory of God and the elevation of man are its goal, and the inspiring Psalms are its means. Since it is the goodness of God emanating through the universe that makes men sing, God ought to be the center of man’s thoughts and feelings when he sings. Seriousness, harmony, and joy must characterize our songs to God. And, although Calvin does not reject the use of hymns, he prefers to use the Psalms of David in public worship. Song is the unlimited reservoir of power, since it moves our hearts to call upon the name of God more earnestly. By it we are strong in temptation and in the face of persecution (witness the Huguenots and many martyrs who went to the stake singing), and it renews the soul. By singing the church is builded (sic) and its members united in the holy bond of love. Calvin did not condemn secular music, namely, that which had the creation of God as its object, out of hand. But the secular may not be godless; it must serve to glorify God indirectly through our joy and elevation. Therefore, music that degrades, that corrupts good manners, that flatters the flesh, must be rejected. For music has a secret and incredible power to move the hearts. When evil words are accompanied by music, they penetrate more deeply and the poison enters as wine through a funnel into the vat.
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 110-111
Thus, John Calvin (1509-1564) endeavored to promote godly music in Geneva that would build-up the culture rather than tear it down. He encouraged the singing of Psalms from the Bible in the worship service and around the family table. These were to be sung without instrumentation to metered-tunes that were easily learned. An initial version of the Psalter was published in Strasbourg (1539), and this was followed by numerous editions and perfections to the Psalter published in Geneva. The Psalter was a powerful tool of cultural transformation and cultural domination. Later psalm-singing developed from only singing the melody into four-part harmony (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass). That perfection became the mainstay of the Dutch Reformed Christians, the Scottish Covenanters, and the English and American Puritans. Van Til explains,
Calvin has been called the father of the Psalter. Before him the French Reformed churches knew no congregational singing. In 1537 Calvin had already proposed the introduction of congregational singing in Geneva, in order to stir up the cold hearts to prayer and to move them to praise. However, the first edition of the Psalter appears in Strasbourg in 1539, where Calvin was in exile. It contained his own metrical version of the Psalms of Strasbourg. Later Calvin eliminated his own poetry and took Marot’s version of the Psalms, while the tunes were either composed or arranged by Bourgeois and published in 1562. This version of the Psalter enjoyed twenty-five editions the year of its publication and a total of 1,400 editions.
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 111
To further apply this thinking of “sphere-sovereignty” to cultural transformation, Van Til explains Kuypers’ determination to establish parallel institutions that would clearly show the antithesis to those secular institutions. Van Til states,
The regenerated man must live Pro Rege, for the King, in every cultural activity, in every societal relationship, and every communal organization. Marriage, the family, the educational institutions, the state, and society as a whole must be organized along Christian principles…This has been called the organizational antithesis. Kuyper was convinced that there was no other way for the Christian to work and witness successfully in society than through separate organizations. He goes so far as to call this the third instrument, next to church and school, by which Christ maintains his hegemony in society.
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 131
Today, some Christians would object to Kuyper’s aggressive strategy, and would assert their desire to remain neutral rather than to inflame the opposition by being overly aggressive. Van Til strongly argues that neutrality is impossible; for what do light and darkness have in common? He contends,
Scripture allows no neutrality with respect to the claims of God and of his Christ. For the affirmation of neutrality assumes that the subject is independent of God to the point that he can safely, with impunity, disregard the claims of the Lord. This the Bible will not allow. No man has the right to ignore God; in fact, God is the ever-present, inescapable Presence that no man can ignore. Therefore, the neutrality concept of the world is a form of denial; it says in effect, “God, stay away from my door; I can get along well enough on my own.” This is the philosophy of Esau, a profane person. Neutrality is profanity, it is godliness, it constitutes the secular mind, which tries to make of religion a thing apart from life. But this is blasphemy!
Henry Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, 201
The final analysis provided by Van Til is that cultural engagement and transformation is the duty of the Christian. Whereas, there may be subtle refinements to this theology of culture, as proposed by Schilder and others, it is nonetheless the responsibility of Christians everywhere to live as light in this dark world. We are called to retake the ground that has been too easily surrendered to the enemy. We are to do this by living a life of antithesis and cultural engagement.
Thus, it is a privilege to commend The Calvinistic Concept of Culture to a new generation of thoughtful reading Christians who wish to implement the imperatives of the gospel in this fallen world. There will certainly be opposition, both from without and within, but this does not diminish our call to be salt and light. And so, we are to live Pro Rege (for the King) and Coram Deo (before the face of God). May it be so.
— Dr. Marcus J. Serven