Sample Chapter

About

The subject of Christ and culture has occupied the church since its inception. Some emphasize the reality of redemption and the imperative of cultural transformation; others criticize this approach because of the transient nature of this current life and the specific function of “kingdom” activity. 

This project focuses on the two competing positions rooted in the Reformed tradition: neo-Calvinism, a nineteenth-century school of thought associated with the Calvinist polymath Abraham Kuyper, and the Two Kingdoms perspective. 

How you think on this issue will affect how you interact with the culture around you. It’s an important debate because we want to speak God’s words fairly into that culture.

Endorsements

“This is not only an academic debate. The outcome of the debate will have broad implications for Christian schools, colleges, seminaries, and churches and for Christians in the academy, politics, business, the arts, and other realms of cultural activity.”

—Gideon Strauss, Senior Fellow, Center for Public Justice, Washington, DC

“I have prayed for wise and courageous scholars to step up—and step into—this fraternal debate within the Reformed Christian community concerning Two Kingdoms. I am praising God, therefore, for . . . Kingdoms Apart.”

—Michael A. Milton, Chancellor/CEO, James M. Baird, Jr. Professor of Pastoral Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary

“A very fine collection of essays . . . a valuable and constructive advance in the often heated debates surrounding the themes it treats.”

—Al Wolters, Professor of Religion and Theology/Classical Languages, Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario

“This book engages this conversation, and deserves a careful hearing by all who believe God has made Jesus of Nazareth the rightful and ultimate king of everything.”

—Russell D. Moore, Dean, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Ryan C. McIlhenny (Ph.D., University of California, Irvine) is Professor of History and Humanities at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California.