Living in God's Two Kingdoms: A Biblical Vision for Christianity and Culture

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Living in God's Two Kingdoms: A Biblical Vision for Christianity and Culture

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 84 ratings · 20 reviews

Modern movements such as neo-Calvinism, the New Perspective on Paul, and the emerging church have popularized a view of Christianity and culture that calls for the redemption of earthly society and institutions. Many Christians have reflexively embraced this view, enticed by the socially active and engaged faith it produces.

Living in God's Two Kingdoms illustrates how a tw...more

Paperback, 208 pages

Published October 6th 2010 by Crossway Books

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May 02, 2012 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wish I could give the book 2.5 stars. Perhaps the problem is that I wanted to come to this book for more than introductory material. Since I came with certain expectations I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went with three stars.

Anyways, It is divided into three parts. The first part with the exception of a few paragraphs will be familiar to Reformed Christians who have had a good theological upbringing or are well read. So I am a bit torn, this part of the book was really slow reading fo...more I wish I could give the book 2.5 stars. Perhaps the problem is that I wanted to come to this book for more than introductory material. Since I came with certain expectations I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went with three stars.

Anyways, It is divided into three parts. The first part with the exception of a few paragraphs will be familiar to Reformed Christians who have had a good theological upbringing or are well read. So I am a bit torn, this part of the book was really slow reading for me. However, I am sure that for many people it would prove very beneficial. I think he intended to write this book for a wider Christian audience and it is necessary information to understand the latter part of his argument. He does a good job of restating the main part of his arguments in part 2 and 3 so you can skip part one if you are familiar with the covenant of grace and works, and Adam's and Christ's headship.

Part 2 it begins to get a bit more interesting. He begins to layout the Christian's relationship to culture using the covenant that God made with Noah and distinguishes that from the covenant made with Abraham. This is where he gives the case for two-kingdoms theology.

Part 3 is where he begins to put some meat on the skeleton of two-kingdom theology. He has constructed it by this point and now shows how it looks practically. This was by far the best part of the book and I would be very interested in seeing a more thorough treatment of this portion of the book.

Overall, I am still not a convinced two-kingdom guy. However, he eased some of my doubts by affirming the God-honoring nature of everyday culture. The book would have had a higher review if it were more polemic in nature. He does set his viewpoint against others and contends against them. At the onset of the book it looks like it will be very polemic by naming actual groups (neo-Calvinist and emergent church). However, he does not continue this trend that I feel would have added more "meat to the skeleton". I look forward to reading more from him on the subject as well as some more items written against it before I settle on either side of the debate.
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Jul 07, 2011 W. Bradford Littlejohn rated it 2 of 5 stars

A bizarre and schizophrenic book. Begins with theological principles that are extremely controversial and ends with practical applications that are almost indisputably commonsensical--but which do not seem to follow from the theological principles. The former comprise a radical disjunction between creation and redemption, and between the work of God and the work of man, so that redemption has nothing to do with the redemption or restoration of this present world, and thus is not something that w...more A bizarre and schizophrenic book. Begins with theological principles that are extremely controversial and ends with practical applications that are almost indisputably commonsensical--but which do not seem to follow from the theological principles. The former comprise a radical disjunction between creation and redemption, and between the work of God and the work of man, so that redemption has nothing to do with the redemption or restoration of this present world, and thus is not something that we are in any way called to participate in. Therefore, there is simply no calling for us to Christianize any aspects of our present worldly existence, or even to restore it to seek to restore it to its original created form with the aid of revelation. Consistently applied, it is hard for me to see how this paradigm would not simply make the notion of "Christian ethics" an oxymoron.

But thankfully, he doesn't consistently apply it. Instead, what he says is, essentially: by all means bring Scripture to bear on every area of life, and seek to pursue Christian morality and Christian presuppositions in politics, education, etc., but recognize that because the Bible does not offer detailed guidance on the particulars of these complex and ever-changing fields, we must rely largely on discretion, and may come to differing conclusions about how best to live out our faith in these areas of life, so we must avoid being judgmental toward other Christians on such subjects. Essentially, a Hookerian conclusion, but one drawn from principles that are radically opposed to Hooker's.

Another vexing thing is that VanDrunen does not really argue for his eccentric theological paradigm. To be sure, he develops it over several chapters with the aid of dozens of Scriptural proof-texts, but this isn't the same thing. For every one of the Scriptures he appeals to can, of course, be interpreted quite differently, and have been by opponents. VanDrunen makes no effort to justify his readings of the key Scriptural texts over against an interlocutor--say, N.T. Wright, whose Surprised by Hope is essentially the photo negative of this book--who has argued for a different interpretation. He merely plugs them in as proof-texts at the key points in his exposition, which essentially depends upon one little fallacious syllogism, repeated ad nauseam several times per chapter: Christ is the new Adam, therefore we are in no sense to be new Adams. Christ has fulfilled Adam's God-given task, therefore, we are not called to do it as well.

More extensive reviews to come on my blog.(less)

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Jan 17, 2011 Benjamin rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good book on how not to over-Christianize our normal affairs. Argues that this world is passing away, and we are to do our work here, not in an effort to redeem this world for the world to come, or to do Adam's work (accomplished in Christ), but simply because we are humans & we are called to do certain things. (This is a gross over-simplification of the book's arguments). Basically - the author tries to achieve a good balance between two issues he views Christians as having: either viewin...more A good book on how not to over-Christianize our normal affairs. Argues that this world is passing away, and we are to do our work here, not in an effort to redeem this world for the world to come, or to do Adam's work (accomplished in Christ), but simply because we are humans & we are called to do certain things. (This is a gross over-simplification of the book's arguments). Basically - the author tries to achieve a good balance between two issues he views Christians as having: either viewing this present world as completely useless & therefore ignoring or disdaining our vocation, cultural endeavors, politics, etc on the one hand, or on the other hand thinking that the good (redeemed, Christian) culture, politics, etc that we do here & now will last into the new heavens & new earth. He points out that believers are to engage in all these activities hand-in-hand with unbelievers, and that often, unbelievers will be better at them then believers are. He draws from the imagery of the patriarchs and Israel in Babylon, viewing our path in this world as he shows that the New Testament does - as sojourners, citizens of another world, who are nevertheless to strive for the good of this world, while we inhabit it.

One of the strongest parts of this book I think is how he is very clear on the role of the church & its centrality to the believer's life. He carefully defines the role of the church, its extent, and tries to draw boundaries where there is scriptural reason to do so. He does this for the family and the government as well, but to a lesser extent.

This book was well & carefully thought-out and is written in a way that respectfully disagrees with those whose arguments he is opposing, he acknowledges where they are right, but tries to draw the church back to a biblical level of engagement where he sees from scripture that they have taken things too far. There are many references to both supporting and opposing books & papers in this book, so it is a good resource for beginning to look at the issue of the church & culture from a variety of viewpoints.(less)

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Jun 08, 2012 Bob Ladwig rated it 2 of 5 stars

A presentation of natural law Christianity at the pop level. I am not a fan at all of the position that VanDrunen espouses here as a presuppositionalist. It is as Frame put it, "Amillennialism on steroids", Vandrunen focuses in on the sojourner texts as well as the idea that the "Kingdom is not of this world" and seems to say the kingdom of God is not in this world, and thus he fails to escape the charge of escapism. I also though his understanding of the progression of the covenants to be rathe...more

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May 20, 2011 Jonathan B rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics

Even though I've rated this book low, I agree with many of DVD's points. But there are many more that I disagree with and I found his applications to either be confusing or just plain ridiculous.

To take just one example out of many, DVD says "...how much liberty do Christians really have when these topics [abortion, homosexuality, etc] become political controversies? To what extent are there 'Christian' positions on political questions such as abortion, such that the church might promote them a...more Even though I've rated this book low, I agree with many of DVD's points. But there are many more that I disagree with and I found his applications to either be confusing or just plain ridiculous.

To take just one example out of many, DVD says "...how much liberty do Christians really have when these topics [abortion, homosexuality, etc] become political controversies? To what extent are there 'Christian' positions on political questions such as abortion, such that the church might promote them and one Christian expect another Christian to hold them? In my judgment, the general rule is that the church must teach--and Christians may hold one another accountable for believing--all that Scripture says about such topics as moral issues but should be silent about such topics as concrete political or public policy issues" (177; emphasis removed).

This strikes me as absurd. Excuse me while I use an extreme example to illustrate my point: Suppose for the sake of argument that me and VanDrunen go to the same church. I start going around town telling everyone that I think VanDrunen's kids should be murdered and his wife abused because he's such a dummy. Could VanDrunen not approach the church elders about disciplining me? Of course. I'm confident that I would be called to repent and excommunicated if I didn't. Now what if I start going around town and telling everyone that I think, as a matter of public policy, VanDrunen's kids should be murdered and his wife abused because he's such a dummy. I even write up a bill detailing how it should be done. Well, now it looks like DVD can't bring his complaint to the church because the church should be silent about such topics, what with it being a concrete public policy issue. Christian liberty, right?

Absurd. And if a bill was proposed to round up all Jews and send them off to concentration camps and murder them then, Christian or not, it seems obvious that all persons have a responsibility to vote against it and any Christian who didn't vote against it should be called to repentance by their church officers for being complicit in murder (or attempted murder assuming it didn't pass) and excommunicated if they were obstinate. Same with bills that advocate murdering children.

VanDrunen also criticizes labeling certain activities "Christian," but I find his criticisms here to be misguided, or else directed at a fringe group that is hardly representative of what most people mean when they talk about doing something in a "Christian way." When we consider what most "transformationalists" mean by this term they seem to mean the *same thing* that DVD says when he makes the following kind of statements:

"Christians should seek to live out the implications of their faith in their daily vocations" (12).

"I hope to provide encouragement to ordinary Christians--to ordinary Christians who work, study, vote, raise families, help the poor, run business, make music, watch movies, ride bikes, and engage in all sorts of other cultural activities, and who wish to live thoughtful and God-pleasing lives in doing so" (21).

Apparently, DVD thinks that we can ride our bikes in a "thoughtful and God-pleasing" way. But I don't see how this is less "Christian" than seeking to play football in a God-pleasing way (in his book "Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms" DVD criticizes neo-Calvinists who look for a "Christian" way of playing football. If DVD just doesn't want to slap the label "Christian" onto Christians riding bikes in a "thoughtful and God-pleasing" way then fine... he can call it whatever he wants, but it still looks the same to me. The fact is, atheists aren't riding their bikes in this way and therefore, despite the fact that we are doing the same activity, there is a sense in which we aren't doing it in the same way.

DVD basically admits this but offers specific defense of his position in chapter 7. I didn't find any of it convincing. He ends by saying that he finds calling certain cultural activities Christian to be confusing and unhelpful. Frankly, I think that's because he is caricaturing the way most "transformationalists" would understand the term and I found his own discussion here unhelpful. But laying out his argument and then laying out my response would make this a very long review, so I'll just leave it at that.
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Mar 18, 2013 Jeanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

How do Christians live in a culture that has a world view instead of a bibical view on topics of education, marriage, abortion, and work. Mr. VanDrunen starts a foundation in the covenants with God and his people. The covenant with Noah established a covenant with mankind that is practiced by all, a form of government, a form of education, a form of marriage. I appreciated the fact that how as Christians we must be careful not be dogmatic on issues that are not clear in the bible. Such as educat...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Christopher M. rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that I wish I had read years ago. VanDrunen's vision (which, I think, is really the Bible's vision) for Christianity's relationship with culture is formed out of some very simple, common-sense principles. Because of Adam's rebellion and through God's covenant with Noah, there is a common kingdom in which all people live, work, learn, coexist. And because of the covenant with Abraham, which was fulfilled in Christ, there is a redemptive kingdom which exists (already) in...more This is one of those books that I wish I had read years ago. VanDrunen's vision (which, I think, is really the Bible's vision) for Christianity's relationship with culture is formed out of some very simple, common-sense principles. Because of Adam's rebellion and through God's covenant with Noah, there is a common kingdom in which all people live, work, learn, coexist. And because of the covenant with Abraham, which was fulfilled in Christ, there is a redemptive kingdom which exists (already) in seed form, in anticipation of its (not yet) culmination at Christ's return. VanDrunen expertly and clearly traces these two kingdoms through biblical and human history, describing their implications for believers who are simultaneously citizens of both kingdoms.

A cursory understanding of Covenant Theology is helpful when reading this book, but not necessary. The views are never presented recklessly, and VanDrunen (appropriately) errs on the side of Christian liberty where Scripture is silent. The book presents a response to the "cultural transformation" or "redeeming culture" perspectives of what he terms the New Calvinism, the Emerging Movement, and the N.T. Wright/New Perspectives on Paul group. It also has words for the Religious Right and Fundamentalist groups, views in favor of withdrawing from culture, and those who support establishing a Theocratic government. Both "liberal" and "conservative" perspectives find a needed corrective in the Two Kingdoms doctrine, where neither kingdom is over-extended or under-emphasized.

I would recommend this book to ANY Christian. The vision contained may seem very difficult to achieve given the current American milieu and the seemingly paradoxical relationship between Christianity and culture. Regardless, these perspectives, I believe, should give the church a needed attitude adjustment. An understanding of what these kingdoms are and how they function could have saved me (and a lot of people I know) a great deal of confusion growing up.(less)

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Mar 02, 2012 Joel Arnold rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a very readable book with a fairly thought-provoking message.

The book is clearly intended as a polemic for transformationalists in the Niebuhr / theonomic postmillenialist mold. VanDrunen separates all of life and cultural engagement into two kingdoms. The common kingdom is shared between believers and unbelievers (what we would typically call "culture") and the redemptive kingdom is the purview of believers alone.

Overall, this is an excellent starting point for combatting the transforma...more

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Aug 27, 2012 David rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to David by: Amy Kannel

Shelves: worldview

I'm glad I read this book, but I have some issues with the author's thesis. I had a hard time following his logic in the first part of the book where he defends the two kingdoms concept. Then, in the latter part of the book when he deals with how this plays out in life, he commits the straw-man fallacy repeatedly and then engages in self-refutation without even realizing it. For example, he concludes that the Bible teaches that spiritual topics should only be taught by pastors and ministers in t...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Kenneth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: theology

This was a helpful book in understanding what the doctrine of the two kingdoms from a reformed perspective teaches. This two kingdoms doctrine of understanding Christianity and culture I believe is a very helpful perspective in the many issues that it relates to. The book doesn't answer every question one may have but it is helpful for building a foundation upon with to think through many issues. I appreciated VanDrunen high view of the church although I would disagree with his view of infant ba...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Tim Wang rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great introduction to the christianity and culture debate. I appreciated his commitment to the scriptures and it was helpful to see the distinction between the abrahamic and noahic covenants. Although his application was pretty general and almost commonsensical i finished the book longing for heaven and allowing that longing to speak into how i live here on earth

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Sep 26, 2012 Amy Kannel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christianity

A provocative and helpful balance to Wilson's Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning (and much more gracious and winsome!). I’m not sure I wholly agree, but VanDrunen certainly magnified Christ and left me with a very different perspective to consider. Well worthwhile (I need to go through it again and make extensive notes).

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Sep 12, 2012 Christian rated it 2 of 5 stars

A desperate attempt to defend the absolute atonement of Christ. Because Christ is the last Adam, faithful where the other failed, he has already accomplished all the redemption that the world will ever need. There's nothing left for us to do, so we should wait quietly until God is done with this world and takes us all home to Heaven.

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Aug 30, 2011 Jason Rivera rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a great alternative to the Roman Catholic filth of Theonomy and other Satanic ideas that spewed out of the mouth of that evil Rushdoooony.

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Feb 11, 2013 Wyatt Houtz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Helpful as representative of contemporary reformed two kingdom polemics.

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Feb 26, 2011 Cbarrett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Helpful book on this approach to Christianity and culture. Will certainly not convince all who lean toward a transformational view of Christ and culture, but transformationalists will do well to listen to the arguments. Places Two-Kingdom within the Reformed tradition.
Offers a very helpful overview in the introduction showing what the Reformed 2Kingdom view is and is not and what it does share with the transformationalist view. This is good because of the caricatures that are lofted on both sid...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Nathan Carter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Profoundly provocative at some areas. Could have been better in others.

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Nov 08, 2012 Tara Gelston added it

My pastor lent this to us. It is engaging and challenging. Van Drunen patiently leads you through his arguments and saves the most controversial topics for the end. The Biblical conclusions he draws about education, vocation and politics are liberating and surprising.

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Jun 02, 2011 Chuck Bonadies rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book on two-kingdom theology. Read it in conjunction with Al Wolters Creation Regained, which gives the alternative worldview: reformational.

CB

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Jun 26, 2011 Ben rated it 5 of 5 stars

Really good look at how the church (and its members) should be involved in culture.

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May 06, 2013 Bpm3g rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 19, 2013 Philip marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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“Christians should pursue cultural activities not with a spirit of triumph and conquest over their neighbors but with a spirit of love and service toward them. Far too often Christian writers and leaders imbue their audience with a drive to take over- to take over politices, education, the courts, and whatever else or maybe it is put in more platable terms such as taking back instead of taking over as if Christians are the rightful owners of everything and are simply reclaiming what is already theirs.” — 1 person liked it

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