With the rise of New Christianity, we must reckon with a question about the nature of the Christian religion. Certainly, Christianity and its values are foundational to Western thought. The number of authors and works detailing this fact are so numerous as to be overwhelming. However, can Christianity build a civilization when people have merely intellectual agreement with a number of Christian principles? In other words, can nations and empires be transformed by a religion which has not transformed the hearts of people? Can Christ’s full effects be seen in the life of someone whose heart is not yet under His Lordship? Can we have the fruit without the root?
The Apostle Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” Can this transformation take place if Christianity remains, ultimately, a good moral story? The answer is plainly not. Consider the words of Christ in the Gospel of John, chapter 3,
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ‘…Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’”
Being born again is a requirement for a transformed life. Paul, describing that transformation elsewhere in the New Testament, says that the “old self has passed away,” and that, “the new has come.” Genuine transformation at the level of the soul is only accomplished through faith in Jesus Christ. From that life, by God’s Spirit, comes fruits which change individuals and empires.
With that answer in mind, we turn to one final matter: how should Christians respond to New Christianity? Once again, this movement is a largely intellectual one of assenting to various Biblical ideals and themes, recognizing it as a seminal work in the foundation of Western society and even moral living, but not as the living Word of God.
The response should be two fold. In the first place, we should welcome this perspective over New Atheism, Islam, or any other number of ideologies which fundamentally subvert and attack the values of the West. It is not wrong to point out the immense cultural riches of the Christian faith, nor is it wrong to assert its rightful place in public life. In those matters, Christians should view New Christianity as an ally.
Secondly, with all patience and love, we ought to preach the Gospel. In all the discussion surrounding these issues Christians often lose sight of the glorious promises of our Lord’s incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. We must never forget that while Christianity is often a massive cultural, political, and societal force it is never less than testimony of the God who became man, who reaches out through myriad ways to rescue sinners from the clutches of sin and death.
May Christ be pleased to shine in our faces, and harness us as His witnesses, that countless more might be born again.
