Comparing Christianity to other religions, Darryl Hart points out how the pilgrim theology of Christianity disallows any illusions of an earthly kingdom. As pilgrims and aliens (much like the Patriarchs in the Old Testament) we do not combine cult and culture in hopes of creating some sort of theocracy, but are simultaneously citizens in two kingdoms: we abide by the rules of the city of man, recognizing its establishment as a common grace order, but we recognize that God does not build his Kingdom through it. It is Christ’s Church against which the gates of hell will not prevail, not the city of man.
So while the economies rise and fall, while nations are built up and destroyed, Christians do not despair, for our heavenly kingdom is not identified with any earthly kingdom. We do not declare jihad in order to Christianize the world, nor do we seek to bring Christ’s kingdom down through political means. The strong man is not bound by brute force, nor by “christianizing” a nation; it is only through the preaching of the gospel and the administering of the sacraments that the strong man is bound.
For Christians, the pattern of Israel and theocracy were no longer valid after the coming of Christ. Christians need not try to replicate Israel’s legitimate attempt to integrate cult and culture but were permitted to live hyphenated-lives, as Greek-Christians, Jewish-Christians, Roman-Christians, and more. In other words, Christian teachings gave no instruction on the establishment of a distinctly Christian culture because Christianity was a religion without a specific land, city, or place. Its teachings transcended the cult-culture relationship as a faith for people from any ethnic background.
- Darryl G. Hart, A Secular Faith (Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2006), 251.
Filed under: Eschatology, Quotes, Reformed Theology, Two Kingdoms , A Secular Faith, Common Grace, Darryl G. Hart, Pilgrim Theology, Two Kingdoms
