Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture

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Dr. Christopher Watkin gives a special talk at RTS Washington on his book, Biblical Critical Theory. At the same time, some critics of critical theory are able to agree with some of its tenants. This isn’t surprising, since “all truth is God’s truth.” Neil Shenvi, an evangelical critic of the movement, is one who finds some truth in critical theory. For example, he notes, “Critical race theorists affirm that race—as it has been defined historically and legally—is a social construct and not a concept legitimately rooted in human nature or human biology.” 11 The Bible recognizes only one race—the human race. While we might distinguish between ethnicities, it is a misnomer to distinguish between races. 12 If critical theory’s view of humanity stopped there, it would be easier to find more with which we could agree. Wed to postmodernism, however, it takes on additional meanings: “One of the most important characteristics of postmodern thought has been its emphasis on the contingent, indeterminate, and socially constructed nature of the categories with which we perceive and converse about the world.” 13 Deconstructing and reconstructing these categories becomes a chief end for critical race theory in its struggle against racism. 14 This has birthed new terms such as “whiteness,” “white privilege,” and “white fragility” and has ultimately led to an entirely secular reconstruction of the way in which conversations about racism are now being framed. 15 For Instructors and School Administrators Enhance your school’s traditional and online education programs by easily integrating online courses developed from the scholars and textbooks you trust. Bible– The struggle is not primarily between different groups in society, nor is it to amass the trappings of self-realisation; it is against evil forces. [43] Salvation is not the victory of one group over another, nor is it akin to individual self-realisation indexed by exterior success; it is a gift received by grace. Grace cuts across both CRT’s racial groupings and liberalism’s idea of the autonomous individual. It leaves no room for looking down on the unsaved and culpable, or for thinking oneself superior for being saved. [44] Through the death and resurrection of Christ, grace also offers the Christian a new identity grounded neither in autonomous liberal selfhood nor in the group identities of critical theories. [45] Forgiveness is offered without distinction and without reservation to all who repent, [46] regardless of their offence. The Christian identity marker of being ‘in Christ’ cuts across and relativises the sort of identity markers fundamental to CRT, [47] while also undermining liberalism’s atomised self-sufficiency and colourblind ideology. [48] Consummation What is a figure? The first sense of figure has to do with figures of speech, e.g., metaphor, simile, alliteration, etc. “Each figure is a repeatable structure or pattern of language that can be filled with almost any content whatsoever.” [15] The key is that the structure or pattern is found repeatedly in the Bible.

Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture [1] ( BCT) is a remarkable book that will bless the Church and the academy. Do not be intimidated by the length of the book. Watkin is a delightful writer who is always clear and often witty. Throughout 28 chapters, he expounds key moments and movements in redemptive history, moving from the biblical text to contemporary application in all facets of culture. Taking the book’s title as a guide, we will consider what is biblical, critical, and theoretical about BCT. This review will summarize some benefits of the project for the Church then move to consider some of its distinctive features. A book that I have been eagerly anticipating for years. ... My prayers are that this book will bear much intellectual and spiritual fruit in many lives over the decades ahead.” The first posture works (in a manner of speaking) in Christendom where Christians can presume we are in charge. The second posture is that of a minority people capable of mission in post-Christendom sharing the gospel and the justice of God in Christ with the world (who doesn’t believe) in a noncoercive way. I was querying in the previous post whether Dr. Keller is A.) or B.). I’m not entirely sure. For me however I am firmly in the second camp. Ricard Delgado and Jean Stefanic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (New York: New York University Press, 2019), 3. See also Kimberle Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, Kendall Thomas, eds., Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement (New York: The New Press, 1996). ↩ Both CRT and liberalism capture something of the complex biblical picture of justice, but both fall shortof its rich complexityIn discussing Watkin’s critical concerns, we already noted the figure-ground distinction. The Biblical figures that arise from Scripture have the effect of shaping the way we perceive our experience. Figures provide us with our world of meaning. “A world is not only that which is perceived by human consciousness. It also includes networks of machines or ecosystems that rhythm and pattern reality just as effectively or extensively as any human actor.” [18] Crucially, given the concrete nature of Watkin’s critical concerns, world is a more concrete and comprehensive concept than worldview. It includes rational and physical elements.

How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day? The first sentence in English reads, ‘Most glorious is and will be the City of God, both in this fleeting age of ours, wherein she lives by faith, a stranger among infidels, and in the days when she shall be established in her eternal home.’; and in Latin, ‘ Gloriosissimam civitatem Dei sive in hoc temporum cursu, cum inter impios peregrinatur ex fide vivens, sive in illa stabilitate sedis aeternae quam nunc expectat per patientiam.’ See https://www.loebclassics.com/view/augustine-city_god_pagans/1957/pb_LCL411.11.xml An ambitious, comprehensive, and thrilling work of Christian apologetics . . . The most significant work of its kind to appear in a decade.” Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer, “The Incompatibility of Critical Theory and Christianity,” The Gospel Coalition, May 15, 2019, accessed August 10, 2021, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/incompatibility-critical-theory-christianity/. ↩

First, there is prefiguration—what we bring to the encounter with another world. Second, there is configuration—what happens when the new figures we encounter affirm, challenge, or subvert the figures constituting our world. Finally, there is reconfiguration—what happens when we emerge from the encounter with a new world constituted by new figures. These processes are happening continually across all six figures domains in three contiguous movements. [20] Second, Watkin moves from sound biblical exegesis to sound cultural exegesis (we will discuss his method later), drawing upon a stunning array of sources. His formal training is in French Studies (Cambridge University, M.Phil., Ph.D.). He has published widely in French studies, philosophy, and theology. (He has several volumes in the P&R Great Thinkers series on French Philosophers.) He is a Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Monash University in Australia, a renown global research institution. All this breadth is displayed in BCT, but never arrogantly or excessively. Watkin’s biblical and accessible response to various cultural issues would also warrant the book’s price. Over the last few years, new terms like “cisgender,”“intersectionality,”“heteronormativity,”“centering,” and “white fragility” have suddenly entered our cultural lexicon—seemingly out of nowhere. In reality, these words and concepts have been working their way through academia for decades, perpetuated by disciplines such as Post-Colonial Studies, Queer Theory, Critical Pedagogy, Whiteness Studies, and Critical Race Theory, among others. These fields can be placed within the larger discipline of “ critical theory,” an ideology more popularly known as “cultural Marxism.” CRT– Racism will remain endemic. Society cannot be reformed without tearing it down first. There is no prospect of racial justice short of this radical unmaking of society.