Liberty of Conscience
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 67, No. 1 - Fall 2024
Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
By Stephen O. Presley. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2024, 220 pp., $24.99.
Christians today are faced with an opportunity to discern how to respond to an increasingly hostile pagan culture in the West. Amid this juncture, it is easy to perceive that the best way forward is either to enact the Pope Benedict option by withdrawing from society or take up arms in the culture war. In his latest work, Cultural Sanctification, Stephen Presley offers a mediating solution to this discussion recognizing that Christendom has fallen in the West, and – in referencing Charles Taylor – a secular age has replaced it. Despite this cultural and religious transition, Christians have a fresh opportunity to represent Christ amid a hostile environment. Presley concludes that, rather than withdrawing from the culture or resorting to an aggressive confrontative posture, Christians should look to the ancient wisdom found in the early church, which faced a similarly hostile culture that believers are engulfed in today. Presley accomplishes this by drawing from early church voices such as Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Augustine, and others, each demonstrating the process of cultural sanctification. Cultural Sanctification is a masterful and much needed contribution that adds to the engagement provided by, most relevantly, Carl Trueman in Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. This work functions as a practical addendum to Trueman’s robust historical accounting.
Presley is a senior fellow for religion and public life at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy and associate professor of church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Along with his proficient work on Irenaeus in The Intertextual Reception of Genesis 1-3, Presley has contributed heavily to the patristic field through his numerous works and interactions that seek to provide wisdom to modern Christians by recovering the ancient wisdom of the early church. This same focus is the aim of his newest contribution, Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church.
Presley delineates the early church’s cultural sanctification by observing its identity, citizenship, and public engagement. In the first chapter of this volume, Presley posits how the early church developed a distinctly Christian identity both theologically and morally through catechesis and liturgy (40-54). A healthy Christian identity naturally led to an appropriate response through a sound political theology and public engagement. In chapters two and three, Presley asserts that the early church maintained the scriptural balance of honoring the governmental authorities yet remaining faithful to their Christian identity (63). This was coupled with the early church’s robust public intellectual contributions, notably exemplified by the second-century apologists (105).
The public engagement of the early church did not remain merely intellectual. In chapter four, Presley extends his notations about the early church’s public engagement to its emphasis on holiness, as represented by the early believer’s willingness to serve their neighbors in practical yet discerning ways (121). Despite Presley’s despairing yet correct conclusions about the current culture made at the outset of his work, his final two chapters serve as a reminder of the hope Christians have in the gospel of Jesus. Despite the loss of many of the West’s strong Christian institutions, this should never cause believers to despair (165).
Presley’s most decisive contribution to the conversation surrounding the conundrum of an increasingly hostile culture is his encouragement for Christians to uphold a strong identity that derives from robust participation in the local church. The early church recognized the need for intense modes of catechesis and liturgy that functioned as the foundation for a proper response to Rome’s pagan ethos. As Presley rightly remarks, spiritual formation through the local church led to the enactment of a rule of faith that sought the coming of the glory of God rather than the glory of Rome (49). Rightly so, the church is ground zero for Christians to begin the process of cultural sanctification.
A profound characteristic of Presley’s work is how he encourages believers not to fall into despair because of Christ’s hopeful return. However, readers might conclude that – given the demise of Christendom – there is no longer a hope in the West for any form of Christian society to return. While a simple return to the past is not the proper solution, Presley’s work might benefit from considering a more hopeful future for the West. Notably, if Christians participate in cultural sanctification, it will offer an opportunity to rehabilitate the West, given the faithfulness of God’s people. That is not to say this outcome is guaranteed, yet the remnant remains of the Christian West persists, and a better future is possible.
In writing Cultural Sanctification, Presley has provided Christians with a beautiful gift to both the layperson and academic. Yet it is perhaps most relevant to pastors across the West who are faced with opportunities to counsel their congregants as they struggle with how to live Christianly in a secular age. As Presley admits, retrieving the ancient wisdom of the early church does not automatically solve every cultural issue under the sun. Nevertheless, it strengthens the resolve and solidifies the church’s distinctly Christian identity. It also puts in perspective that, even if the culture remains in darkness, Christians can live with hope while participating in the public square consistent with a faithful witness for the benefit of the church and to the glory of God.
