Cultural Christian

Cultural Christian

A cultural Christian is a secular or irreligious individual who still significantly identifies with Christian culture. The term is used, for example, by atheist[1] Richard Dawkins in reference to himself.[2] Likewise, non-believing sex advice columnist Dan Savage has described himself as a "Catholic — in a cultural sense, not an eat-the-wafer, say-the-rosary, burn-down-the-women's-health-center sense."[3] Deists of the 18th and early 19th centuries, such as Napoleon and various Founding Fathers of the United States, similarly considered themselves part of Christian culture, despite their doubts about the divinity of Jesus.[4][5][6][7][8]

In Evangelical Christianity

Those belonging to charismatic movements use the term to describe individuals whose spiritual understanding or practice they see as underdeveloped, superficial, or lacking obvious fervor.

The term "cultural Christian" (also "nominal Christian") is a term used in Christian fundamentalism and the Christian Charismatic Movement, for Christians who are not "born again" (i.e. who have not experienced a personal religious conversion). The term was coined in the 1970s, and popularized in the 1980s and 1990s.[9] Contrasting terms are "biblical Christian",[10] "committed Christian",[11] "converted Christian" or "believing Christian".[12]

A related concept is that of a "nominal" Christian, whom the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization defines as "a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord." The LCWE notes that such a one "may be a practising or non-practising church member. He may give intellectual assent to basic Christian doctrines and claim to be a Christian. He may be faithful in attending liturgical rites and worship services, and be an active member involved in church affairs."[13] The LCWE also suggests that nominal Christianity "is to be found wherever the church is more than one generation old."[14]

Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk suggest that "nominalism" is a major issue. They assert that "many traditionally Christian populations know nothing of a personal faith, true repentance and a trust in the finished work of Christ for their salvation," and estimate that 1.2 billion people are "nominal and non-practising 'Christians'."[15]

American Reformed theologian Douglas Wilson disagrees with the category of "nominal Christian" and argues that all who are baptized enter into a covenant with God, and are obliged to serve him. There is, therefore, "no such thing as a merely nominal Christian any more than we can find a man who is a nominal husband."[16] There are, however, "wicked and faithless Christians."[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ (Audio), AU: ABC, 2010-03-03, http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2010/03/03/2835634.htm 
  2. ^ "Dawkins: I'm a cultural Christian", News (BBC), 10 December 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm 
  3. ^ Dan Savage (2005-04-14), "Savage Love", The Stranger (Seattle), http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=21060, retrieved 2010-04-05 
  4. ^ Jayne, Allen (2000), Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy and Theology  traces TJ's sources and emphasizes his incorporation of Deist theology into the Declaration.
  5. ^ Franklin, Benjamin (1958) [1771]. Autobiography and other writings. Cambridge: Riverside. p. 52. 
  6. ^ Olson, Roger (19 October 2009). The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity. InterVarsity Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=rGMKbaNIjIoC&pg=PA61&dq=benjamin+franklin+christian+or+deist#v=onepage&q&f=false. "Other Deists and natural religionists who considered themselves Christians in some sense of the word included Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin." 
  7. ^ Boller, Paul F (1996), Not so!: popular myths about America from Columbus to Clinton, p. 31 
  8. ^ Boller, Paul F (1963), George Washington & religion, p. 16, http://books.google.com/books?ct=result&id=C_d2AAAAMAAJ&dq=george+washington+deist+%22paul+f.+boller%22&q=deist#search_anchor, retrieved March 5, 2011, "...the father of his country... died as he had lived, in dignity and peace; but he left behind him not one word to warrant the belief that he was other than a sincere deist" 
  9. ^ James D. Mallory, Stanley C. Baldwin, The kink and I: a psychiatrist's guide to untwisted living, 1973, p. 64
  10. ^ Patrick Morley, The Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face (1997), Biblical Christian or Cultural Christian?
  11. ^ Richard W. Rousseau, Christianity and Judaism: the deepening dialogue (1983), p. 112
  12. ^ Postmodern theology: Christian faith in a pluralist world, Harper & Row, 1989 [1]. Joseph C. Aldrich, Life-style evangelism: crossing traditional boundaries to reach the unbelieving world , 1983 [2]
  13. ^ Christian Witness to Nominal Christians Among Roman Catholics, Lausanne Occasional Paper 10.
  14. ^ Witness to Nominal Christians Among Protestants, Lausanne Occasional Paper 23.
  15. ^ Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World: 21st Century Edition (Paternoster, 2001), 13-14.
  16. ^ Douglas Wilson, Reformed is Not Enough: Recovering the Objectivity of the Covenant (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2000), 96.
  17. ^ Douglas Wilson, Reformed is Not Enough, 97.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cultural Mormon — is a term used for Mormons who no longer believe some (or many) of the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, but who self identify as Mormon. Usually this is a result of having been raised in the LDS faith, or as having… …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural Muslim — Cultural Muslims are religiously unobservant, agnostic or atheist individuals who still identify with the Muslim culture due to family background, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up. The term is a… …   Wikipedia

  • Christian — This article is about Christian people. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). Part of a series on Christianity …   Wikipedia

  • cultural Christians — The phenomenon of cultural Christians (wenhua jidutu) developed in the PRC in the 1980s. The term is often used in a wider context to describe the increasing number of researchers in the PRC doing varied studies about Christianity. They can be… …   Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture

  • Cultural Catholic — A cultural Catholic is an individual who belongs to the Roman Catholic Church but observes the religion s practices as a cultural tradition rather than a spiritual exercise. Cultural Catholics may not fully understand the theology that informs… …   Wikipedia

  • Christian atheism — Part of a series on Atheism …   Wikipedia

  • Cultural catholic — A cultural catholic is a person who identifies with catholic traditions but does not actively practice the religion.[1] See also Cultural Christian Cultural Judaism Cultural Mormon Cultural Muslim Lapsed Catholic Recovering Catholic References …   Wikipedia

  • Christian privilege — is the overarching system of advantages bestowed on Christians. It is the institutionalization of a Christian norm or standard that establishes and perpetuates the notion that all people are or should be Christian. The privileging of Christians… …   Wikipedia

  • Christian pop culture — (or Christian popular culture), is the vernacular Christian culture that prevails in any given society. The content of popular culture is determined by the daily interactions, needs and desires, and cultural movements that make up everyday lives… …   Wikipedia

  • Christian Cultural Center (Brooklyn, New York) — Christian Cultural Center The west side of the Christian Cultural Center. Location 12020 Flatlands Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11207 Country United St …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”