Every square inch : an introduction to cultural engagement for Christians by Bruce Riley Ashford
Lexham Press, 2015 160 pages £12 ISBN 978 1 577 996 200
What an excellent little book ! The author, professor of theology and culture at an American theological college, writes about how Christians can and should engage with their culture. Engagement of this kind can easily be seen throughout the Biblical record – think of the Hebrews in Egypt or Babylon or the difficulties of the early church in a culture which was not always sympathetic, often downright hostile.
The title of this book – Every square inch – is taken from Abraham Kuyper’s claim – “… there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, “Mine !”
After an informative introduction, the author outlines differing Christian attitudes to culture. Firstly, those in the church who ignore culture, believing that it isn’t worth bothering about – church is all that matters; then, those who accommodate themselves to the prevailing culture and, finally, those Christians who, like Kuyper, live their lives in the midst of and for the good of their cultural context, being both obedient to their calling and witnessing to their faith.
Aspects of culture are examined in a little more detail – the arts, science, politics, economics and education, finishing with suggestions as to how we endeavour to redirect our culture to Christ as part of our Christian witness.
There are some very attractive features in this small volume.
The author is without doubt a first class communicator which makes the book an easy and satisfying read. The way in which the chapters are structured is helpful in that they follow the same general pattern. The Biblical storyline comes first followed by why and how Christians need to be involved. Action Points suggest questions about engagement and a short, annotated list of books for further reading end the chapter.
The author relies heavily on three people who have, in their own way, contributed significantly to a Christian understanding of culture – Abraham Kuyper, Francis Schaeffer and CS Lewis.
We are shown how our Christian faith is relevant to every dimension of culture while adamantly refusing to maintain the artificial distinction between ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’.
Highly recommended for being succinct, persuasive, well-informed and well presented.