Restoration, Antithesis, and Education

Michael Goheen

Trinity Western University

God’s Response

While justly angry God did not turn his back on a world bent on destruction; he turned his face to it in love. With patience and tender care he set out on the long road of redemption to reclaim the lost as his people and the world as his kingdom (CT, 19).

Genesis 3:15: Mother Promise

Although Adam and Eve were Although Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden and their expelled from the garden and their work was burdened by sin’s effects, work was burdened by sin’s effects, God held on to them in love. He God held on to them in love. He promised to crush the evil forces they promised to crush the evil forces they unleashed. (CT, par. 20)unleashed. (CT, par. 20)

Genesis 3.15

Promise of battle Promise of a Champion Promise of victory

Observations on redemption

Redemption is progressive in its outworking Redemption is restorative in its nature Redemption is comprehensive in scope

Progressive in Outworking

Act One: God Establishes His Kingdom: CreationAct Two: Rebellion in the Kingdom: FallAct Three: The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated

Scene One: A People for the KingScene Two: A Land for the People Interlude: A Kingdom Story Waiting for an Ending:

The Intertestamental PeriodAct Four: The Coming of the King: Redemption AccomplishedAct Five: Spreading the News of the King: The Church’s Mission

Scene One: From Jerusalem to RomeScene Two: To the Ends of the Earth

Act Six: The Return of the King: Redemption Completed

Story of God’s Mission

“The Bible renders to us the story of God’s mission through God’s people in their engagement with God’s world for the sake of the whole of God’s creation.” (Chris Wright)

Story of mission

God’s mission: Long term purpose to restore the whole creation and all of human life

Israel’s mission: Embody God’s original creational purposes for the sake of the world

Jesus mission: Reveal and accomplish God’s final redemptive purpose for the creation

Church’s mission: Continue Jesus’ mission to make known the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth in life, word and deed

Mistaken Notion

Very often people have come to the New Testament with the presumption that ‘going to heaven when you die’ is the implicit point of it all. . . . They acquire that viewpoint from somewhere, but not from the New Testament. (N. T. Wright)

Restoration of this life

. . . it is precisely ordinary earthly existence that is redeemed (G.C. Berkouwer).

Redemption is restorative

The creation is very good, the way God intended it Human beings are created to live a bodily life in the context of

creation. Sin is the problem not materiality. Old Testament views future kingdom as restored life on new

creation. Jesus proclaims the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection is a preview. The biblical language of redemption, restoration, renewal all

point to the return of the good creation to what it was meant to be.

Destruction of the creation would mean a Satanic victory.

Restoration is comprehensive

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10).

As Far as the Curse is Found

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

Mission of Israel: Embody a Comprehensive Restoration

Israel called to embody a comprehensive salvation for the sake of the nations

OT Story: Formation of people and placed on land to be light to nations

Law: Orders whole life of Israel Wisdom: Orders whole life of Israel Prophets confront Israel for not embodying God’s

salvation in whole of their lives

Comprehensive restoration made known in Jesus

Everything he said and did was directly related to the coming of the kingdom. He reversed all the consequences of evil in the world: disease, possession by inhuman spirits, guilt, ritualistic and empty religion, a caste system of purity and impurity, scarcity of food, a hostile nature, commercial exploitation and death (Andrew Kirk).

Comprehensive restoration accomplished in crucifixion

Gustav Aulén: “The work of Christ is first and foremost a victory over the powers which hold mankind in bondage: sin, death, and the devil.”

John 12.31-33; Col. 2.15; Rev.12.7-12 Public battle and victory for the whole creation Lesslie Newbigin: We “privatize this mighty work

of grace and talk as if the whole cosmic drama of salvation culminates in the words ‘For me; for me.’”

Comprehensive restoration inaugurated in the resurrection

Resurrection in Jewish thought: Arrival of life of new creation

Jesus: Dawning of new creation Firstborn from the dead (Rev.1:5) Firstfruits (I Cor. 15:20)

Spirit MessiahSpirit Messiah

SinDeathEvil

Satan

Knowledgeof GodLoveJoy

Justice

AGE TO COME

Prophetic ExpectationProphetic Expectation

OLD AGE

Powers of sin death evil Satan

Power of Spirit’s renewingwork

AGE TO COMEOLD AGE

New Testament FulfillmentNew Testament Fulfillment

Mission as meaning of overlap

The meaning of this ‘overlap of the ages’ in which we live, the time between the coming of Christ and His coming again, is that it is the time given for the witness of the apostolic Church to the ends of the earth. The end of all things, which has been revealed in Christ, is—so to say—held back until the witness has been borne to the whole world concerning the judgment and salvation revealed in Christ. The implication of a true eschatological perspective will be missionary obedience, and the eschatology which does not issue in such obedience is a false eschatology

Comprehensive salvation given by Spirit

Spirit is deposit of kingdom Real money now Promise of more in the future

Spirit is firstfruits of kingdom First part of crop now Points to the rest of the harvest in future

Foretaste and Preview

We have a foretaste of the Kingdom Actual taste now Complete meal in future

We are previews of the Kingdom Actual footage of movie/kingdom Designed to interest viewer in future

movie/kingdom so they will want to participate

Church’s mission to make known a comprehensive restoration

The Spirit thrusts God’s people into worldwide mission.He impels young and old, men and women, to go next door and far awayinto science and art, media and marketplacewith the good news of God’s grace. . . . Following the apostles, the church is sent— sent with the gospel of the kingdom . . .In a world estranged from God, where millions face confusing choices,this mission is central to our being . . . The rule of Jesus Christ covers the whole world.To follow this Lord is to serve him everywhere,without fitting in, as light in the darkness, as salt in a spoiling world.

Acts 1.1-8

Acts 1.6: Question about the kingdom Receive Spirit (firstfruits, deposit) ‘You will be my witnesses.’

Battle for creation

K in gd om of dar k n ess K in gd om of G od

one domain

Antithetical encounter

Israel’s battle with idolatry Church takes up Israel’s mission (Ex.19.3-6;

cf. 1 Pet. 2.9-10) Very different situation:

Part of another culture based on different faith commitments

Dilemma of the Believing Community

Part of western culture Creational mandate: responsible for cultural development Christ’s redemption is comprehensive

Whole of western culture distorted by sinful idolatry Incompatibility between Scriptural and western story

In the world but not of it

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

- John 17:14-18

Jesus’ Prayer for His Disciples

I didn’t realize until I took INT, and now this course how much I try to make Western culture and the Biblical worldview fit together. I realize more and more that they are actually opposite and against each other. Yet I must live in this culture because I am a part of it. Many times I struggle with how to do it.

- Redeemer Student

Conflict Between Stories

Dominant story in culture seeks to become exclusive story (e.g. European vs. Native)

Minority communities Faithfulness and conflict

OR Accommodation and peace

Yes Biblical story is translatable

Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing: Christ or Idols

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.

- Jesus, in Matthew 6:24

Unbearable Tension ofLiving at the Crossroads

Unbearable Tension

Members of western community

Shaped by cultural story Members of covenant community

Shaped by Biblical story

Christians are:

Two incompatible stories Unbearable tension

Do western Christians feel this unbearable tension?

“Why did I not hear about modernity and its affect on me before? I really never knew how much modernity shapes my life until I came to Redeemer. It was always called ‘worldly’ but I never knew what that meant. Modernity affects all of my life and I wish I had known.”

-Redeemer student

Tension BetweenGospel and Culture

The deeper the consciousness of the tension and the urge to take this yoke upon itself are felt, the healthier the Church is. The more oblivious of this tension the Church is, the more well established and at home in this world it feels, the more it is in deadly danger of being the salt that has lost its savour.

- Hendrik Kraemer

Tension: Healthy in Early Church

It is worthwhile to have a look at the struggle with adaptation by paying attention for a moment to the conflicts of Christians in their professions. The great question was, How far is a Christian allowed to enter into the professional jobs of those days with their mores and customs, without denying Christ and without becoming polluted by participation in idolatry?

- Hendrik Kraemer

Suffering as normal badge of discipleship

No human societies cohere except on the basis of some kind of common beliefs and customs. No society can permit these beliefs and practices to be threatened beyond a certain point without reacting in self-defense. The idea that we ought to be able to expect some kind of neutral secular political order, which presupposes no religious or ideological beliefs, and which holds the ring impartially for a plurality of religions to compete with one another, has no adequate foundation. The New Testament makes it plain that Christ's followers must expect suffering as the normal badge of their discipleship, and also as one of the characteristic forms of their witness (Lesslie Newbigin).

The Gospel speaks:

Word of grace… culture is good creation Word of judgement… culture is idolatrously

twisted and sinfully distorted

Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil (I Thess. 5:21f).

Biblical Position: Affirmative/AntitheticalApproach to Culture

Affirm Gospel/Yes At home Good creation May not withdraw

Reject

Gospel/No

At odds

Sinful distortion

May not accept status quo

Faithful Cultural Strategy

Faithfulness and relevance Avoids withdrawal, absorption, common

ground Affirms both responsibility for cultural

development and antithetical challenge to idolatrous development

Subversion: Affirmation and rejection

What do we do with non- Christian education?

What is creational insight/structure? How has that insight been twisted by

idolatrous direction?

What do we do with this idolatrous institution called the ‘school’?

Subversive fulfillment! Creational structure Idolatrous twisting and misdirection

Another Biblical Example: Household

Fundamental social building block of Roman empire

Undifferentiated institution made up of marital, family, economic, political relationships

Oppressive and hierarchical distortion

OIKOS: extended family in Roman empirestructured hierarchically and oppressively

Response of the early church

Reject?

Affirm?

Subvert!

Subversive Fulfillment

Discerned creational relationships Subverted relationships creating new

institution recognizable as good news to culture

School?

How can we participate in broader tradition of humanistic education, be at home, offer relevant witness (much creational good)

Where has purpose, structure, curriculum, pedagogy, etc. been twisted by idolatry (rationalism, consumerism, etc)?

Aiming for Christian Education

Alternative kind of education to public school system

Rejects cultural idolatry that shapes these schools

Based on distinctive and comprehensive philosophy of education

Christian approach transforms the whole enterprise: goals, curriculum, pedagogy, evaluation, structure, etc.

Settling for Christians Educating

Christianity-enhanced public school education

Adds moral integrity, devotional piety, and biblical insight to select topics

Maintains status quo about education

Christian Perspectiveon Education

Efforts at worldview and Christian educational philosophy sharpened vision for Christian education

Language of Christian perspective: Christ-centred curriculum, inner reformation of the sciences, biblical perspective on all areas of learning, or Christian world-and-life-view

Kuyper’s vision of comprehensive scope of gospel challenges assumptions:

Reality is segregated into two realms, sacred and secular, and gospel belongs only to the sacred

Gospel transforms only individuals but not society Enlightenment notion that public life, including education is

religiously neutral

Does Christian perspective transform school?

Perception: Christian education will result from Christian perspective

Gap between rhetoric of Christian education and reality of Christian schools

Gap produces: Vague sense of task False sense of security

Connection between perspective and implementation: Persuasive: Biblical Elusive: “As far as I can tell, Christian schools do not provide an

alternative Christian education, if by that term we mean that our biblical perspective on life leads to a biblical model of education.”

Gap Challenge and Gap Problem

Gap challenge: Rhetoric proclaims ideal toward which reality is moving--not there yet! (positive)

Gap problem: Rhetoric and reality utterly inconsistent (negative)

Majority problem in Christian education is gap problem "When confronted by all this evidence, my own allegiance

to the ideal of Christian education sometimes wavers. The challenge of implementing a different, biblical model of schooling appears so far out of reach that I am tempted to think the whole idea might be wrong-headed. At times I wonder if there really is such a thing as a Christian model of education."

Educational Faithfulness

Christian education: difference Christian educating: enriching additions Third way: educational faithfulness

Difference may be consequence More emphasis on common task with different faith

Questions: What does faithful education look like? What obstacles hinder us from implementing faithful

education? What can we do to remove these obstacles?

Understanding the Reigning Educational Paradigm

Need to understand reigning secular paradigm in education

To enable Christian school to encounter this paradigm

Missionary Encounter in Education

Normal position of Christian school in cultural context if it is faithful

Clash of ultimate and comprehensive stories Spiritual battle Requires Christian school community that believes gospel

(true, story, comprehensive, power) Committed to living out of it and shaping whole life by it Requires a school that knows idolatrous story of culture School that wrestles with dominant education paradigm Encounter takes place in all areas of education Embraces insights; rejects idolatry

Faithful Christian Education?

Purpose of education: First battle? Then: What needs to be taught to equip

children for that purpose? (Curriculum) Then: How can this be achieved?

(Pedagogy, structures, evaluation)

Purpose:Why do we educate anyway?

Traditional African education: Teach traditional life values Goal of integration into tribal community

Muslim education: Teach universal shariah law Goal of integration in theocratic community

Teach certain things so that children will besocialized into a certain kind of community.Purpose governs educational activity.

Modernity and thePurpose of Education

Pass on a unified body of universal scientific knowledge

Equip a world of rational citizens Build a more rational world leading to

freedom, justice, truth, and material prosperity

Postmodern Challenge to Modern Education

If (in modernity) education was guided by the story of progress towards a better society by science and technology but we no longer believe that story...

If (in modernity) education was to pass along a unified body of universal knowledge but we no longer believe that exists...

Then what is the purpose of education?

Postmodernity andPurpose of Education

Postman’s trinity: economic utility, consumerism, technology

Vendor of useful information and marketable skills

Enables student to compete or survive in the jungle of the market

Biblical Story andPurpose of Education

“Serviceable insight”

Education for witness

Education as witness

Questions: Curriculum

What needs to be taught to equip students for witness?

How does this differ from state requirements?

Are there any specific omissions? How does modern and postmodern

worldview affect curriculum?

What now?

Size, complexity, and difficulty of task can lead to discouragement

Need to return to gospel for forgiveness and renewal

Need for ongoing study (individual, community) Continuing baby steps in joy

As individuals As community