Every Square Inch

An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians

Bruce Riley Ashford

Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians

Copyright 2015 Bruce Riley Ashford

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (esv) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (net) are from the NET Bible ® copyright 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (nkjv) are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-57-799620-0

Lexham Editorial Team: David Bomar, Lynnea Fraser

Cover Design: Jim LePage

For my son, John Paul Kuyper Ashford.

“Children are a heritage from the Lord.”

(Psalm 127:3 esv)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Competing Views on Theology and Culture

Chapter 2: A Theology of Culture

Chapter 3: Culture and Calling

Chapter 4: Six Case Studies on Culture

Chapter 5: The Arts

Chapter 6: The Sciences

Chapter 7: Politics and the Public Square

Chapter 8: Economics and Wealth

Chapter 9: Scholarship and Education

Conclusion: The Christian Mission

Appendix: Recommended Reading Summary

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Brannon Ellis at Lexham Press and Amy Whitfield at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary for their commitment to this project. I further wish to thank Greg Forster and his team at the Kern Family Foundation, whose encouragement and support enabled this project to become a reality. I also express gratitude to my friends Devin Maddox and Dennis Greeson, who helped me take ideas that were conceived as a professor at a graduate school and express them in a way that I hope will be helpful for a broader audience.

I am grateful also for friends with whom I’ve had many discussions about Christianity and culture, including Craig Bartholomew, Dennis Darville, James K. Dew, J. D. Greear, Ken Keathley, Ben Quinn, Heath Thomas, and Keith Whitfield. In addition, I wish to thank Greg Forster, Ken Keathley, Jay W. Richards, and Taylor Worley for providing expert feedback on portions of the manuscript.

Finally, I express love and appreciation for my wife, Lauren, and our three children, Riley Noelle, Anna Katherine, and John Paul Kuyper. Lauren is a constant encouragement in my writing projects—including this one, as she marked off one ...

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About Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians

How does our faith impact our everyday lives? To what extent should we be involved with the culture? Christians have wrestled with these questions throughout history.

Drawing on such sources as Abraham Kuyper, Francis Schaeffer, and C. S. Lewis, Bruce Ashford argues that God wants our whole lives to be shaped by Jesus’ lordship. If Jesus truly is Lord over everything, then our faith is relevant to every dimension of culture.

We must remove the barrier between “sacred” and “secular,” and allow the gospel to inform everything we do. We are to live our lives firmly in the midst of our cultural contexts, proclaiming Jesus with our lips and promoting him with our lives.

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Table of Contents