Culture

“…Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

In the last fifty years there has been a resurgence of interest in education among Christians. This is clearly a good thing; but we must be careful to remember that there is more to the life of the mind than merely what is received during one’s youth. And there is more than merely being a “lifelong learner.”

What I am referring to is culture, especially what is called “high culture.” I will not attempt a full definition of culture in this article (which would be a substantial task), but rather discuss it’s role in corporate and individual human life.

A cultured person is one who has a mind that has been “cultivated”– over many years– by what is good, and true and beautiful. A cultured individual moves easily in the realms of knowledge and art, and has a “taste” that has been developed through extended moral effort (i.e. “Learning to appreciate” things). The culture of a society consists of the mode of intellectual cultivation held in common by a substantial group of people.

Culture is “high” when the length of time required to participate in it is great, and when higher moral capacities must be invoked in order to receive it. Thus Baroque music is higher than the popular music of the 1940’s America, though both are examples of good culture.

There have been several high cultures in history– most great civilizations have had one (and indeed, culture is inseparable from civilization). The Babylonians, the Persians, the Hebrews, the Indians, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Greeks and Romans, are the best early examples of this. The last two millennia in the Western world has seen various forms of Christian culture, culminating (unfortunately) in the materialist culture of the early 20^th century. In a limited way other civilizations could be included in the mix– perhaps the ancient Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, as well as some of the Barbarian tribes of Northern Europe early in the Christian Era. These had some limited arts, astronomy, and perhaps some mathematics.

Next to the rare, ecstatic enjoyment of God, culture and the aesthetic instances of it are the sources of the deepest and highest pleasures available to human beings. They are deepest because they touch on our very hearts and souls, and highest because they lift our minds to a level of greatness that they do not otherwise reach.

Culture is not a “nice” but unnecessary part of human life. It is an important part of human happiness, individually and corporately which is based upon the spiritual and intellectual nature of a human being. It is a training ground for the moral capacities needed for national life, and one of the essential rewards of being a good person. It is also the public arena of good and evil.

The greatest ancient cultures were the Hebrew and classical Greek and Roman cultures. The Greeks and Romans attained an unprecedented level of civilization, with some of the deepest insights into goodness, truth, and beauty that exist. Under strictly human and angelic capacities, they did the best. The Hebrews in fact had a less extensive culture, but the principles upon which their culture was based were matters of supernatural revelation, and thus exercised more power over human life.

But it is the Christian culture which succeeded the classical world which was highest overall. Armed with the moral and spiritual insights of the Old and New Testaments, “classical” civilization was reinterpreted and expanded for many centuries. The great philosophy of the Middle Ages, the art of the Renaissance, and the political advancements of the 18^th century are some of the greatest instances of this high culture.

Because culture is so important for our lives, it is one of the main things that God is interested in on the earth. It is also something that Jesus draws us into as we follow him. In itself it is intrinsically valuable, and part of what makes human beings so precious.

There are various ways of participating in culture. They are all good, but have different degrees of pleasure and effort associated with them. The first is simple exposure to culture: reading a dialog of Plato or going to a museum or musical performance for example. Next is reception and study of culture: learning to play a classical piece on the piano, studying art history, or learning physics or chemistry. This second step requires discipline and begins to work a substantial change on our minds and hearts. The third and greatest involvement is contribution: sculpting a man or woman under Renaissance principles, writing a piece for the piano, or (as interests me) developing new theorems and theories in mathematics.

We are now in a situation under which we can appreciate the role of the university in Modern society. It is the center of high culture. Those who train there and “research” there make their contribution to human culture itself, or perhaps to a more adequate understanding of it. Theology, philosophy, history, literature, art, science, mathematics– these are the disciplines under which goodness, truth, and beauty have come to the Western world. And perhaps there is no more effective way.

Because of what we have said about the order of cultural value, we can see that teaching in a cultural area is not as important or enjoyable as deeply penetrating a single discipline, and making a unique contribution to it. To recover a “Christian culture” young Christians with high ideals must go into the core fields, and learn from Jesus there how to take their stand for goodness, truth, and beauty.

But as has been said, this is not merely a service to the world, it is a source of great happiness, and an important means of preparing or own souls for eternity. Much of what is in our spirits is a matter of what we love and what we do not love. If Christians seriously pursue this they will, as in other ages, find the help of God and renew our actual Western culture, which deeply needs the life of God.