The Road from Eden: Studies in Christianity and Culture (Paperback)
Read inside (PDFs): Sample Pages
Publisher: Academica Pr Llc
Author: Barber, John
ISBN-10: 1933146710 | ISBN-13: 9781933146713
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $34.95
Westminster Bookstore: $31.46
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Publisher's Description: History provides no one pure expression of biblical culture, or will it ever. Men that have drawn inspiration from Christianity to create great books, music, and art did so within their own historical context that had its own set of social, political, and theological pressures. Thus each cultural expression in history has revealed its own set of priorities. We are no different. We live within a world with its own set of pressures that will inevitably lead us to adopt our own set of distinct priorities. These priorities do not, in and of themselves, spell the impossibility of pure Christian culture. This task is reserved for the deceitfulness of the human heart that colors our priorities with selfishness.
In order to help clarify the successive stages of Christianity and culture, a further contribution I have attempted to make is to chronicle each stage according to individual categories. Handles such as "Christianity the definer of culture," "Christianity the reviver of culture," and "Christianity the transformer of culture," as they appear both in the table of contents, and in various chapters, take into account the "dialogue." In other words, they represent not only the net result of
the Christian influence on the world during given periods, but also take into account the, at times subtle, at other times obvious, sway of non-Christian ideas stemming from the broader culture upon the Christian community.
587 Pages
Published May 2009
About the Author: Dr. John Barber is pastor of Cornerstone PCA in Palm Beach Gardens, FL
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"With an encyclopedic knowledge and a sharply discerning eye, John Barber analyses here the whole history of western culture, including art, music, philosophy, theology, science, and politics. Further, these analyses are not superficial, as one might fear, but solid and substantive. I found the book a great learning experience, even when John's interests overlapped mine, as in philosophy and theology.
There is a great sweep to this discussion that we usually associate with mega-thinkers like Toynbee. There has never been anything like this in evangelical Christian circles. Francis Schaeffer tried to analyze Civilization and culture comprehensively in How Shall We Then Live? But Barber's work is far more detailed, far more knowledgeable, and far more
careful in its analysis. Vollenhoven, Dooyeweerd and others of the Dutch philosophy of the idea of law have also attempted comprehensive analyses of human thought and life. But their writings are burdened by a philosophical ideology that is at points unintelligible, at points at odds with Scripture. In Barber's work, it is the Bible that always stands at the forefront, and which provides the standards of evaluation. And his writing is always clear.
Barber has mastered and/or referenced a huge amount of literature, so his book is a great resource for continuing study. His arguments are careful and cogent. He has certainly persuaded me of his major thesis, that the cultural mandate of Gen. 1:28 (not essentially different from the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18-20) is the best and proper foundation for Christian activism in all areas of culture. I hope his argument has a great influence in the church. If read and understood, it could be a mighty force for reformation, revival, and cultural renewal in our day."
- John Frame, Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminar
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