Category: Journal Issues

What do individual and communal ethics, pro-life and pro-choice, pre-modern and post-modern, secular and sacred, Evangelical and Catholic, and Armstrongism and Trinitarianism have in common? They are all topics addressed in this issue of Cultural Encounters.

This is an issue of contrasts and of building bridges in search of resolution. African theologian and ethicist Samuel Kunhiyop shares with us the importance of reframing ethics to affirm the communal reality of the good life and ethical development. Pro-life ethicist Steven Tracy looks for common ground with prochoice advocates on how to reduce abortions, while challenging the pro-life camp to become expansively and consistently pro-life. Jon Robertson bridges the worlds of the pre-modern and post-modern as he weds Athanasius’ understanding of interpretation with Hans-Georg Gadamer’s model of the two horizons, calling on
contemporary readers of texts to see themselves as participants rather than as detached critics and observers. David Congdon and his respondents Ray Lubeck and Matt Jenson investigate the potential significance of Guillermo del Toro’s secular films for the sacred dimension of life, comparing the formerly Catholic del Toro’s work to Catholic theologian William Cavanaugh’s writings on theopolitics. Peter Casarella, Timothy George, and Mark Noll share their insights on what Catholics and Evangelicals can learn from one another, and how they can work together in our contemporary and (in many circles) increasingly secular culture. Lastly, Joseph Tkach of Grace Communion International (formerly the Worldwide Church of God) shares the powerful story of how this formerly non-Trinitarian and moralistic movement has evolved toward a robust Trinitarian faith and a relational, grace-filled view of the Christian life.

It is so easy in our contemporary context to label, write off, and box in this or that person or group in our frantic attempts to advance our own individual and subcultural causes, and in order to increase our market share. For all our talk of relationships and love, we do not think communally enough. Our actions often
betray the misguided belief that we are fitted for an isolated life; but whether we know it or not, we only exist in relation to others. Thus, it is best that we enter into dialogue with those who do not necessarily agree with our individual and subcultural causes, not compromising biblical convictions in doing so, but looking
to be expanded and transformed through our encounters with those from other cultures and continents (such as Africa); with those who take different stances on the human unborn in search of values that are truly life affirming; and with liberals, moderates, and those more conservative than ourselves; and with those
across the religious spectrum.

Not long ago, I was asked to serve on a panel addressing the environment, economics, and spirituality at a conference on the environment held at a secular university. I was there as the token Evangelical. We were asked to define the ‘good life’ from the standpoint of our professions and respective traditions. During my
time of reflection, I drew from Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan, who cared for his enemy when the man’s own people wouldn’t care for him. Based on the principle that Jesus sets forth in the story, I answered that the good life involves living in community with people from very different and even opposing viewpoints
to our own. Just as the Jewish religious leader to whom Jesus spoke was shocked that Jesus used a lowly Samaritan to epitomize for him what loving one’s neighbor was all about, so too we may be shocked when God uses people from very different backgrounds—including conservatives and liberals, secularists and pre-moderns, among others, to challenge us to think again and live anew. After I had finished speaking, I was struck in particular by one student’s response. He had never heard Jesus’ words recorded in Luke 10 about being stretched to love one’s neighbors who have alternative belief systems and lifestyles, and thought that story was the most profound news he had ever heard on the subject. Unfortunately, like the religious leader with whom Jesus spoke, I do not always respond so openly and positively to Jesus’ hard teachings.

You would think that Joseph Tkach and the people of Worldwide Church of God would never have been opened to being stretched and transformed, but they were and are now, as Grace Communion International. I have rarely come across a group so intentional about living into the Trinitarian mystery of God. It should
work both ways—we should be open to learning from those outside the fold. Steven Tracy, a conservative Christian ethicist, has learned a great deal from those on the other side of the aisle and has been challenged to be more consistent in his affirmation of life. He tells us at the outset of his essay on abortion, originally
delivered at a secular university, that an academic from the other side remarked of being ostracized while growing up in a conservative church for raising concerns over justice issues. The academic added that he/she would have never left the church if the community had modeled Tracy’s irenic and expansive presentation
on an ethic that is all-encompassing in its affirmation of life.

Samuel Kunhiyop’s African perspective and insights demonstrate that far from being the ‘Dark Continent’, African tradition has much to teach us about living well and loving our neighbor in the overly individualistic and supposedly enlightened West. David Congdon seeks after truth through “secular parables of the kingdom,” found in popular culture—and together with Matt Jenson and Ray Lubeck, he offers important reflections on how to assess the truth claims made in film. Congdon, Jenson, and Lubeck don’t always agree, but they all affirm that all truth is God’s truth, from whatever quarter of society. Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (“Love in Truth”) occasioned the two discussions involving Catholic and Evangelical theologians. I have much hope for the kind of ecumenical dialogue evidenced by Peter Casarella, Timothy George, and Mark Noll, dialogue that moves through rigorous concern for doctrinal truth in a spirit of love.

As you read this issue of Cultural Encounters, I would encourage you to reflect carefully in view of Jon Robertson’s piece: do not stand back as a neutral observer, disengaged and critical, but be open with your convictions and the presuppositions you bring to the table, drawing from your tradition while remaining open to transformation in view of the triune mystery of God disclosed in Scripture, which is at the center of our journal’s aim.

—Paul Louis Metzger, Editor