LE3 .A278 2007

2007

Wilson, Jonathan

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

Theology

Acadia Divinity College

"...the goal of the Church [is] the increase among men of the love of God and neighbor..."1 "Let the Church be the Church."2 The purpose of the church seems clear enough in Scripture, but transplanting it to the twenty-first century seems a difficult task, particularly given the current socio-political melee within which the church finds itself. Commonly held words and ideas change meaning so fast it seems impossible to keep up. And within this fracas, the church seeks to be both relevant to the culture and faithful to its Lord. The goal of this thesis is to analyze and interpret the thought of H. Richard Niebuhr, and discern whether or not his 'Christ and Culture ' typology provides good resource for the Christian church as it seeks to respond faithfully to the issue of homosexual marriage and its legality in North America. The thesis examines Niebuhr's typology and critiques it, determining each type inadequate as a full response to any issue. The Christian response to culture is then analyzed, using homosexual marriage as a case study. The various reactions by Christians to homosexual marriage are critiqued, necessitating the development of a theologically proper process to develop a response. This process being outlined, it is then put to use in an imagined communal setting with regard to the Christian response to homosexual marriage. 1H. Richard Niebuhr, 'Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry' (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1977), 31. 2John Howard Yoder and Michael G. Cartwright, ' The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical' (Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1998), 168.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:2906