A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society [Paperback]

Rodney R. Clapp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 1997

Voted one of 1997 Books of the Year!

Christians feel increasingly useless, argues Rodney Clapp, not because we have nothing to offer a post-Christian society, but because we are trying to serve as "sponsoring chaplains" to a civilization that no longer sees Christianity as necessary to its existence. In our individualistic, technologically oriented, consumer-based culture, Christianity has become largely irrelevant.

The solution is not to sentimentally capitulate to the way things are. Nor is it to retrench in an effort to regain power and influence as the sponsor of Western civilization. What is needed is for Christians to reclaim our heritage as a peculiar people, as unapologetic followers of the Way. Within the larger pluralistic world, we need to become a sanctified, subversive culture that develops Christian community as a truly alternative way of life. Christians must learn to live the story and not just to restate it.

Writing inclusively with considerable verve, Clapp offers a keen analysis of the church and its ministry as we face a new millennium.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The church's role in Western culture currently is undergoing a profound redefinition. What does it mean to be the church or a Christian in the postmodern age? Clapp (Families at the Crossroads) describes the confusion American Christians, and particularly evangelical Christians, feel as accustomed religious roles and influences change. Clapp explores the impact of the "culture wars" on the church and, while critical of the methods of many of the evangelical "warriors," sees redeeming value in many of the assertions they make about a distinctive Christian way of life. Clapp redefines liturgy, social ethics and especially evangelism and missions for a postmodern church whose locus is not the individual but the faith community. Clapp offers a refreshing and reforming evangelical perspective to the church and culture debate. Clapp argues that evangelicanism has too often focused on the salvation of the individual to the exclusion of the development of community. He here contends that for the church to be a dynamic institution it must recognize its historical tensions and move beyond them to establish community.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Clapp writes beautifully and incisively about both culture and Christianity; readers interested in either subject (or both) can expect to find much of value here. He criticizes the Constantinian captivity of the church on both left and right, repeatedly crossing sharply drawn battle lines in a manner that is refreshingly disarming--and routinely provocative. Clapp draws on a wide variety of sources, from anthropology to literary criticism to theology, and includes clear documentation to facilitate further exploration. This is a wonderful addition to a growing body of literature that seeks to reclaim the radically subversive character of Christian community. Steve Schroeder

Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (December 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830819908
• ISBN-13: 978-0830819904
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will push you to think outside the box March 26, 2001

By Michael P. Clawson

Format:Paperback

Rodney Clapp's book totally transformed my view of the nature and purpose of the church. Instead of viewing the church as a collection of individuals with a particular philosophy, ideology, or political agenda; Clapp identifies the church as a community that composes a new culture. This culture, he says, should be in the business of transforming society and individuals through what he calls "sanctified subversion". That is, instead of withdrawing from the mainstream culture into our own Christian ghetto (the all too prevalent fortress mentality found among most politically and theologically conservative Christians), he says that the church must seek to interact with and redeem the things of secular society by modeling a new kind of community. However, this transformation should be about developing the church into a genuine culture and subtly reaching out to the culture around it rather than about the church dominating secular society through round after round of political power plays in the so-called "culture wars." The issue is not "taking back America" but taking back the church, allowing it to genuinely be the church as distinct, but not isolated from the broader culture.

Clapp presents an odd but appealing mixture of Reformed, Anabaptist, and postmodern perspectives. He crosses boundaries of liberal and conservative, traditional and postmodern, historic and contemporary. If you like closed, neatly defined categories of what is acceptable for the church you won't like this book. But if you want a book that presents and radical (but historic) vision of what the church should be then I highly recommend this book.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A less favorable review August 14, 2005

By Kenneth M. Shomo

Format:Paperback

This book is dated 1996. I ran across this book and read it this summer. Perhaps this book would have been more fresh had I read it nine years ago, but in any case, I offer this review for those who might happen to run across it today...

Rodney Clapp's book began with great promise. Based on writings by Henri Nouwen, he articulated the angst many Christians feel concerning their place within the modern culture. We want to have an important role in the culture; instead, we find ourselves clamoring for recognition. Rather than being the athletes, we are the sponsors.

With an admission that he is not an expert in one particular field, Clapp promises to summon his strength as part-journalist, part-theologian to lead the church to higher ground. And indeed, higher ground comes into view as the reader marches through the pages: What if the church were truly counter-cultural? What if the church resisted American dreams and myths, and substituted them for a fresh biblical vision? The vision of this higher ground kept me turning the pages at first.

Yet instead of reaching higher ground, I found myself trudging over worn paths that only led in circles. The higher ground remained elusive, and I left this book with frustration.

I think the book suffers from what I call "pompous postmodernism." This seems to be a Christian literary genre in which the author seeks to demonstrate that all Christians until now have been misguided but, alas, now we see clearly through new postmodern lenses. Yet as a student of church history, I take issue with important aspects of Clapp's historical analysis.

In particular, his view of the Reformation is simplistic and, in my opinion, misguided. He worries that the Reformation dismantled the counter-cultural aspects of the church (hierarchy, heightened ethical demands for monks) while not addressing the biblical basis of the Reformers' concerns. Then Clapp posits that the Reformers' view of vocation (all work can be done in a Christian way) was wrongheaded, leading to a Christian sponsorship of the world's culture. However, I would argue instead that the Reformers rightly reminded the world that its culture is actually based upon, and dependent upon, the creation of God and the laws of God. (Clapp admits in a footnote that the Puritans were not so bad. One is left to wonder how these children of the Reformation got so much right when he claims the Reformers got so much wrong.)

Second, for all the talk about moving beyond a watered down "Constantinian" Christianity, which ailed the church from AD 400-1996, I fail to see what Clapp has to offer. When the dust settles, it seems the reader is left with basic principles concerning worship, liturgy, community, etc. While not bad applications necessarily, I am not sure what is new here other than the pride with which the insights are given.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Clapp is overly dependent on the writings of others. He has done some homework, offering hundreds of footnotes. But for lengthy stretches, Clapp basically recycles the work of others (Henri Nouwen, John Yoder, N.T. Wright). Clapp sometimes seems much more like an admiring fan than an original thinker. Which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the hefty claims about (finally!) getting Christianity right.

In summary, I recommend this book as a springboard for thought concerning the church's role in the world and, in particular, American culture. But you might want to read some others who have written on the topic of church and culture, such as Charles Colson or Edmund Clowney.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent June 23, 2004

By William Krischke VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Clapp begins by showing how the church, since the time of Constantine, has functioned as a subordinate, a "chaplain" to the dominant culture. This is not a new idea (see Luther) but if it is new to you, this book does a good job expositing it. What Clapp does add to the discussion is a sharp analysis of where the church stands today -- as modern society decides it doesn't have much use for a chaplain anymore, what is the church's response? He shows how conservatives who want to put "God back in government" and liberals who want to take the gospel out of church functions (weddings, funerals, etc.) are essentially twins separated at birth -- both are simply trying to reclaim the church's traditional place in society.

Defining the problem is the strong suit of this book; offering an answer is weaker. Clapp makes it clear that there is another road that the church ought to take, and spends a long time trying to lay it out, but in the end I have less than a clear picture of what it ought to be. In his defense, I don't think this is his fault. Ultimately I think that the role the church needs to and decides to play in a post-Christian society is as yet undetermined -- it is something we need to explore, experiment with, and figure out as we go. If Clapp had offered a clear, easy step-by-step guide to how to succeed in the 21st century, I probably would've been dissatisfied with it (my postmodern roots are showing, aren't they?) As it is, I respect him for his analysis of the past, for taking stabs at possible solutions or directions, and for saying a lot of things that need to be said. This is a valuable book and one I highly recommend to church leaders and those interested in the shaping of the church.