In an increasingly secular world, Christians are often pulled in two directions. Some urge us to retreat and build insular communities. Others call upon us to wage a culture war, harnessing the government to shore up Christian cultural power. Is there a better way? Stephen Presley, senior fellow for religion and public life at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy and associate professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, argues that there is.

Today, Carl and Todd talk to Stephen about his new book, Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the Word like the Early Church, in which he points to the first few centuries AD to show us how the first Christians approached cultural engagement. Amid a pagan culture that regarded their faith with suspicion, early Christians founded a religious movement that transformed the ancient world. Though many of the challenges they faced were unique to that time, close comparisons can be drawn between the early church and modern culture.

Some of the similarities have to do with the church in its relationship to the broader cultural world. I mean, you can’t get out of the first three centuries of the church without recognizing that the church is embedded in a culture that is often set against them. – Stephen Presley

Listen as they discuss the parallels between the early church and today's cultural challenges, and consider how ancient Christian teachings can inform how we engage with the wider culture.

Thanks to the generosity of Eerdman’s Publishing Company, we are pleased to send three copies of Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church to our listeners. Congratulations to Cristian B. from Washington, D.C., Tim T. from Lititz, PA, and Bryan K. from Normal, IL!

Show Notes:

Stephen recommends five ancient texts for listeners interested in learning more about how the early church engaged the culture:

1. On the Apostolic Preaching by Iraneaus
2. Tertullian’s Apologeticus
3. On the True Doctrine by Celsus
4. The Epistle to Diognetus (author unknown)
5. The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Louis Wilken

*Image: Saint Augustine Disputing with the Heretics, by Vergós Group, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Public domain

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