Dual Citizenship: Gospel and Culture

This course will examine the fundamental tension in which Christians have always lived and served: through precept, metaphor, and example the Church has been told to be "salt and light" in the world and yet be "unspotted" by it; we are to be ''in" yet not "of" the world; on one hand we are to be "citizens of heaven" and yet the apostle Paul boldly used his Roman citizenship to advantage. The course will juxtapose the Biblical vision of the Church with western society as currently constituted. Dominant cultural values will be studied along with the diverse ways in which they are embodied and shaped in particular micro-cultures. Finally, the course will apply Biblical principles of mission to the task of engagement with the wider society in all its many forms and explore possible trajectories of praxis to guide Christian leaders in encounter with the "world."