Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview

Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to worldview thinking
Review: The subtitle of this book is "Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview," and as the book develops, the author clearly aligns himself with the Dutch Reformed school of thought. This school of thought is best represented by Abraham Kuyper and there is a real sense in which this book can be viewed as an introduction to Kuyperian thinking.

Wolters begins the book by defining what a worldview is. He distinguishes "worldview" from the academic disciplines of theology and philosophy. He says that one may need specialized education to engage in theology and philosophy, but a worldview is something that everyone has, regardless of education. He defines a worldview as "the comprehensive framework of one's basic beliefs about things."

He goes on to say that a Biblical worldview is to understand the world through the biblical lenses of creation, fall, and redemption. Chuck Colson's book "How Now Shall We Live," takes the same approach.

What is unique about Wolters book, and this is a theme that runs throughout, is his distinction between structure and direction. Structure refers to the way something was created. In other words, everything has a structure - the family, government, labor, etc., all have a structure given to them. Direction refers to their movement toward or away from God.

He shows that many Christians tend to reject the structure of a thing, when they should be dealing with direction. For instance, he speaks of human sexuality. Many Christians view sex in a negative light. However, sexuality has a biblical structure, i.e. it was created by God for a purpose and is to be pursued according to that purpose. To reject sexuality out of hand is to reject God's created order, or structure. It is the direction of human sexuality that we are to engage, not the structure. We are to seek to redeem it, pointing it in a godward direction.

Wolters goes on to develop these themes through looking at how the fall affected the created order (structure) and how redemption affects it. Redemption is concerned with reversing the effects of the fall. Because the scope of redemption is as wide as the scope of the fall, there is nothing in all of creation that is irredeemable.

All of this leads up to an explanation of the Kuyperian notion of sphere sovereignty - which states that no societal institution is subordinate to any other. In other words, the church is not subordinate to the state, nor vice versa. This applies to all institutions - family, education, etc.. If I read him right each institution has a created structure and though they are not subordinate to one another, they are subordinate to God's laws. Hence, all can and must be redeemed - i.e. put in a godward direction.

I enjoyed the book - there is a lot of meat in a few pages. It has motivated me to study Kuyper and his disciples more closely. I am not sure that I am completed persuaded on the sphere sovereignty notion yet, but regardless, this book is provocative and well worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to worldview thinking
Review: The subtitle of this book is "Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview," and as the book develops, the author clearly aligns himself with the Dutch Reformed school of thought. This school of thought is best represented by Abraham Kuyper and there is a real sense in which this book can be viewed as an introduction to Kuyperian thinking.

Wolters begins the book by defining what a worldview is. He distinguishes "worldview" from the academic disciplines of theology and philosophy. He says that one may need specialized education to engage in theology and philosophy, but a worldview is something that everyone has, regardless of education. He defines a worldview as "the comprehensive framework of one's basic beliefs about things."

He goes on to say that a Biblical worldview is to understand the world through the biblical lenses of creation, fall, and redemption. Chuck Colson's book "How Now Shall We Live," takes the same approach.

What is unique about Wolters book, and this is a theme that runs throughout, is his distinction between structure and direction. Structure refers to the way something was created. In other words, everything has a structure - the family, government, labor, etc., all have a structure given to them. Direction refers to their movement toward or away from God.

He shows that many Christians tend to reject the structure of a thing, when they should be dealing with direction. For instance, he speaks of human sexuality. Many Christians view sex in a negative light. However, sexuality has a biblical structure, i.e. it was created by God for a purpose and is to be pursued according to that purpose. To reject sexuality out of hand is to reject God's created order, or structure. It is the direction of human sexuality that we are to engage, not the structure. We are to seek to redeem it, pointing it in a godward direction.

Wolters goes on to develop these themes through looking at how the fall affected the created order (structure) and how redemption affects it. Redemption is concerned with reversing the effects of the fall. Because the scope of redemption is as wide as the scope of the fall, there is nothing in all of creation that is irredeemable.

All of this leads up to an explanation of the Kuyperian notion of sphere sovereignty - which states that no societal institution is subordinate to any other. In other words, the church is not subordinate to the state, nor vice versa. This applies to all institutions - family, education, etc.. If I read him right each institution has a created structure and though they are not subordinate to one another, they are subordinate to God's laws. Hence, all can and must be redeemed - i.e. put in a godward direction.

I enjoyed the book - there is a lot of meat in a few pages. It has motivated me to study Kuyper and his disciples more closely. I am not sure that I am completed persuaded on the sphere sovereignty notion yet, but regardless, this book is provocative and well worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: Concise book on culture and the Bible
Review: This book is quite short, but is packed with excellent material. Avoiding the pratfall of discussing politics as if that were the only realm of culture, Wolters has some very insightful comments on how the biblical themes of Creation, Fall, and Redemption interweave with culture. My only real critique is that I wish it were longer. To those who share my critique, I can recommend David Hegeman's "Plowing in Hope" which picks up where Wolters leaves off.

Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Provacative Explanation of Christians in the world
Review: Wolters has done a terrific job of explaining how Christians are to relate to all of the created world in this brief treatise. In a time in which Christians in America lack a clear vision of their place in and with society, many have succumbed to the belief that that some areas are less important and less holy than others. Having forced life into a dichotomy of "secular" and "sacred" activities, Christendom has lost its sense of the inherent value and goodness of life outside the walls of their Sunday School classroom. With more and more Christians abandoning their posts and ceasing to believe in the inherent goodness of culture and society, it is no wonder that the machinery of soceity has come to a grinding and nauseating halt. The air is ripe for believers to rediscover the truth about God's love and plans for the redemption of all of life and to realize that the myth of the sacred/secular dichotomy is nothing more than the ancient, but everpresent, heresy of Gnosticism which has always plaugud the church (and no doubt always will til Christ comes back).

Creation is intrinsically a good thing. Sin entered the world and like a parasite attached itself to all things. But God, in His everlasting and everreaching mercy, has brought about a plan of redemption, not only to individual persons, but also to the world as a whole, through the death and resurrection of His Son. This short, yet masterfully written book (98 pages), will impart to Christians an intoxicating vision and direction about the world at large that is much needed in the Church today. _Creation Regained_ offers a comforting and encouraging word, reassuring the troubled Christian with the implications of redemption and how they must drive our interaction with culture. God desires the restoration of all of life, and Christians are his salt and light to accomplish that purpose. A must read for all who seriously struggle to understand their place in the world.

Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Provacative Explanation of Christians in the world
Review: Wolters has done a terrific job of explaining how Christians are to relate to all of the created world in this brief treatise. In a time in which Christians in America lack a clear vision of their place in and with society, many have succumbed to the belief that that some areas are less important and less holy than others. Having forced life into a dichotomy of "secular" and "sacred" activities, Christendom has lost its sense of the inherent value and goodness of life outside the walls of their Sunday School classroom. With more and more Christians abandoning their posts and ceasing to believe in the inherent goodness of culture and society, it is no wonder that the machinery of soceity has come to a grinding and nauseating halt. The air is ripe for believers to rediscover the truth about God's love and plans for the redemption of all of life and to realize that the myth of the sacred/secular dichotomy is nothing more than the ancient, but everpresent, heresy of Gnosticism which has always plaugud the church (and no doubt always will til Christ comes back).

Creation is intrinsically a good thing. Sin entered the world and like a parasite attached itself to all things. But God, in His everlasting and everreaching mercy, has brought about a plan of redemption, not only to individual persons, but also to the world as a whole, through the death and resurrection of His Son. This short, yet masterfully written book (98 pages), will impart to Christians an intoxicating vision and direction about the world at large that is much needed in the Church today. _Creation Regained_ offers a comforting and encouraging word, reassuring the troubled Christian with the implications of redemption and how they must drive our interaction with culture. God desires the restoration of all of life, and Christians are his salt and light to accomplish that purpose. A must read for all who seriously struggle to understand their place in the world.