Relocating To Elfland

“Christians are to live fully in the world and this will require us to work and play side-by-side with unbelievers. This, however, does not discount the fact that there is a spiritual antithesis between Christian and non-Christian peoples, as expressed in the Bible. How do we bridge these two truths? Historically, rather than bridge these twin truths, people have adopted one extreme over the other. The common grace thinker lands too heavily in favor of his shared cooperation with non-believes [sic] in the culture, while others stress the antithesis to such a degree as to reject all engagement in culture. This polarity is created when we start with common grace as the foundation for Christian cultural commitment. What I wish to propose, therefore, is a different starting point for Christianity and culture, which is the cultural, or dominion, mandate of the Bible. With this new starting point, we affirm both the necessity of the Christian obligation to the world and the existence of an antithesis between the people of God and the world.” (John Barber, The Road from Eden: Studies in Christianity and Culture, pp. 454– 55)

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