A Primer on Political Dualism

Pastor Douglas Wilson has been reviewing James Davison Hunter's book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. In a future blog I would like to share some of his insights on this important work, but some clarifying definitions might be in order first.

The general topic of political dualism should be of interest to all Dove Mountaineers just now because of Pastor Allen's recent expositions on justice from Micah. It should be even more interesting to WorldMovers becuase of our experiences in applying scriptural analysis to contemporary social issues.

It is difficult for me to give a decent explanation of the dualistic position,since I don't personally espouse it, but I'll give an attempt here. As Christians, we know that what the world needs more than anything else is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope none of us would disagree with that. Dualists would say that we must emphasize the kingdom to come over the kingdom of this world. Again, most Christians would agree, but this is where differences in emphasis begin to emerge. How much is too much emphasis on this world? Extreme dualists would say that since the world is going to hell in a handbasket anyway, we should see this world only as a stage on which we prepare the way of the Lord for the kingdom to come. While we might engage with the culture and politics of this world when necessary, we must not have the illusion that anything we can do would actually change (improve) it. Therefore, it would be bad stewardship of time and wealth to devote serious energy or resources to cutural and political causes.

Many Reformed Christians would counter the extremes of dualism with what we call "the cultural mandate," the responsiblity of thinking and caring Christians to apply the wisdom of the scriptures in every venue of life. This position is especially important to those of us who labor in Christian education. We know that the children we teach will end up in a variety of life callings, most of which would not be classified as vocational ministry. We delight in teaching every academic discipline in harmony with the revelation of scripture, so that our students will remember - as they work in banking, real estate, law, medicine, construction, and commerce - that they can apply God's wisdom to not only "making a living," but to portraying the gospel through the redemptive qualities of their work.

Again, many who call themselves dualists would agree with some aspects of the cultural mandate, but as we go farther down the two roads of dualism and integrational living, differences begin to appear which are more than matters of degree or emphasis. I will comment further on this in future posts. But for the time being, think about these two positions and some of their implications in light of your own life priorities.