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

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.

Review Quotes

"Anything from the pen of Bill Edgar is profitable to read, but this subject is in Bill's wheelhouse. An important book on a topic that, for Western Christians, has never been so crucial."

"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."

"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

"Christians are often confused or even fearful about cultural trends. The help they need is clearly and accessibly offered in Bill Edgar's book. It is biblical, gently Reformed, and written with wisdom and grace."

"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."

"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."

"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)

"Edgar undertakes the important task of evaluating the concept of culture through a rich biblical-theological lens that diagnoses, affirms, and challenges the contemporary view of cultural dynamics. This work is not only valuable for understanding what Scripture has to say about culture, but also helpful for seeing how Scripture interacts with the constantly evolving concerns of culture in our modern world."

"I have been waiting for this book since I first met Dr. Edgar. I can count on one hand the people who are qualified to write such a work, and Bill Edgar is at the top of the list. He is a Christian theologian who is also an expert in cultural studies. This should be the first volume one reads when questions of Christianity and culture are broached."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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.