Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church

by Stephen O. Presley

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2024

Overview

How to keep faith in a culture hostile to Christianity

In an increasingly secular world, Christians are often pulled in two directions. Some urge us to retreat and build insular communities. Others call upon us to wage a culture war, harnessing the government to shore up Christian cultural power.

But there is another way—and it’s as old as the church itself. Stephen O. Presley takes us back to the first few centuries AD to show us how the first Christians approached cultural engagement. Amid a pagan culture that regarded their faith with suspicion, early Christians founded a religious movement that transformed the ancient world. Looking to great theologians like Augustine, Origen, and Tertullian, Presley shows how the early church approached politics, family, public life, and more. From these examples, he draws lessons for practicing authentic, pious discernment in how we engage with the wider culture.

The Christians who came before us endured persecution to share a vision of human flourishing that changed the world. Following in their footsteps, we can sanctify our society through social witness. Readers anxious about shifting cultural tides will be left with hope in the already-present kingdom of God and the promised resurrection.

Key Features

• Shows how the early church approached politics, family, public life, and more
• Focuses on the first few centuries AD to show us how the first Christians approached cultural engagement
• Explores the hope of the already-present kingdom of God and the promised resurrection

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Identity
• 3. Citizenship
• 4. Intellectual Life
• 5. Public Life
• 6. Hope
• 7. Conclusion

Product Details

• Title: Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church
• Author: Stephen O. Presley
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 220
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Church history › Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600; Secularism › History; Christianity › Influence; Church and state › History
• ISBNs: 9780802878540, 0802878547
• Resource ID: LLS:CLTRLSNCTFCHRCH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-07-03T18:01:24Z

About Stephen O. Presley

Stephen O. Presley (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is senior fellow for religion and public life at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy and associate professor of church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has also served in a variety of ministry positions. He is the author of several books, including Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church, and is the coeditor of Explorations in Interdisciplinary Reading.