Created and Creating - by William Edgar (Paperback)

About the Book

Culture plays an undeniable role in the Christian's vocational calling in the world. How might we engage our culture with discernment and faithfulness? Exploring Scripture and gleaning insights from a variety of theologians, William Edgar offers a biblical defense of the cultural mandate, arguing that we are most faithful to our calling when we participate in creating culture.

Book Synopsis

The gospel of Jesus Christ is always situated within a particular cultural context. But how should Christians approach the complex relationship between our faith and our surrounding culture?Should we simply retreat from culture? Should we embrace our cultural practices and mindset? How important is it for us to be engaged in our culture? And how might we do that with discernment and faithfulness? William Edgar offers a rich biblical theology in light of our contemporary culture that contends that Christians should--indeed, must--be engaged in the surrounding culture. By exploring what Scripture has to say about the role of culture and by gleaning insights from a variety of theologians of culture--including Abraham Kuyper, T. S. Eliot, H. Richard Niebuhr, and C. S. Lewis--Edgar contends that cultural engagement is a fundamental aspect of human existence. He does not shy away from those passages that emphasize the distinction between Christians and the world. Yet he finds, shining through the biblical witness, evidence that supports a robust defense of the cultural mandate to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28). With clarity and wisdom, Edgar argues that we are most faithful to our calling as God's creatures when we participate in creating culture.IVP Instructor Resources forthcoming

Review Quotes

"Bill Edgar's Created and Creating is the most thorough and the most solidly biblical contribution to the current discussion of Christ and culture. Edgar's analysis of the historical discussion is wonderfully erudite and nuanced. His treatment of biblical texts and principles is deep and cogent. His conclusion is that God's cultural mandate to Adam is still in effect and that the Great Commission of Jesus applies that mandate to a world lost in sin. I hope and pray that many will read this book and take its message to heart."

--John Frame, professor of systematic theology and philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary

"Cultural engagement has become a contested project in our times. Culture has been the turf on which too many battles have been fought and lost. With conviction and civility, Bill Edgar's Created and Creating helps us avoid those culture wars on one side while also keeping clear of the deep suspicion of all cultural activities on the other. He does this by mining the breadth of Scripture for the Creator's own thoughts about the cultural mandate, a mandate which turns out to be both a privilege and a danger. It is a privilege because the created order continues to beckon all of us to find significance in the reflection of the Creator in our earthly endeavors. It is a danger because the dysfunctions of the human heart too easily cause us to forget the call to reflect the Creator in those endeavors. Edgar's book is a biblical call to think more wisely, to engage more graciously, and to live with greater faith in the world God has created and in which he has purposively placed us."

--Richard Lints, Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Theology, vice president for academic affairs, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

"Edgar masterfully accomplishes his intended desire and has given the church a biblically profound and theologically rich case for "the cultural mandate...as the central calling for humanity."

--Moses Y. Lee, Journal of Reformed Theology 11 (2017)

"This book's greatest strength lies in its comprehensive treatment of culture from a biblical perspective. . . . For this and many other reasons, many will benefit from this profitable read."

--Linden D. McLaughlin, Bibliotheca Sacra

"Throughout Created and Creating, Edgar excellently presents what the academic meanings of culture are and what the legitimacy of the cultural mandate is. . . . It is recommendable to those who want to grasp a comprehensive concept of culture and one of the major Christian responses to the culture."

--Jun Ho Jeon, The Artistic Theologian, Vol. 6, 2018

"William Edgar has written a thoughtful introductory work on a biblical theology of culture. This would function as a good supplementary text to an Introduction to Mission or Biblical Theology of Mission course at the seminary level, especially if it is read alongside other works from diverse global theologians."

--Edward L. Smither, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Fall 2017

About the Author

William Edgar is professor of apologetics, holder of the John Boyer Chair of Evangelism and Culture, and coordinator of the apologetics department at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the author of several books, including A Transforming Vision: The Lord's Prayer as a Lens for Life, Francis Schaeffer on the Christian Life, Christian Apologetics Past and Present, and Truth in All Its Glory: Commending the Reformed Faith.