But what is ‘culture’?

Richard L. van Houten
R.E.C. Mission Bulletin XV No.4
 

I think the Reformed tradition has something to offer in this discussion.... It comes from reflections on Creation, primarily from within Kuyperian circles, but from beyond as well. According to this tradition God has placed creational ordinances among us, laws that are not spelled out, but to which we are subject anyway. They cover the whole of life – legal, economic, social, aesthetic, and whatever other facets of human functioning we can name. These principles or laws are broad enough that people can have a wide variety of appropriate responses to them. Even those who do not know God are still subject to these laws, and so we can find valuable human responses even in pre-Christian cultures. As for the evil in these same cultures, we know that no culture is a perfect response to God’s law; all cultures are our collective human responses, and there is systemic distortion built into every one of them.

In considering the balance of good and evil in cultures, how can we say absolutely that no culture is better than any other? I think it must be possible to say that Culture A, maybe having been formed under a long Christian presence, is slightly better than Culture B. That would seem to follow from having any ability to judge what is good and what is bad about a culture. And we make such judgements all the time.
 

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