[1]NASHVILLE (BP) — The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity has launched a new initiative to help evangelical Christians understand and respond to public issues.[QUOTE@left@180=“The goal of “Canon & Culture” is “to be a tool for spiritual warfare.”
— Russell D. Moore]
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission unveiled “Canon & Culture: Christianity & the Public Square” Tuesday (Jan. 28). The new project — with blog and podcast components — will seek “to help build and strengthen the church’s social witness by providing thoughtful content that inspires a rising generation of evangelicals to think Christianly about the public square,” according to the ERLC.
The Canon & Culture blog channel will include essays by leaders in Southern Baptist life, scholars, seminary presidents and professors, policy experts and think-tank specialists. The essays — expected to be posted each Tuesday and Thursday — will address a broad range of topics, such as art, ethics, vocation, culture, philosophy, politics and technology.
At least once a month, a new Canon & Culture podcast will be posted at the website. The podcasts will include conversations with congressional staff members, specialists with non-governmental organizations, columnists and bloggers.
The goal of the new initiative “is not to be just another publication, but to be a tool for spiritual warfare,” ERLC President Russell D. Moore said in a written release. “Each generation faces new, complex questions about how to be faithful to the mission of Christ. ‘Canon & Culture’ recognizes that this task requires a band of joyful warriors devoting themselves to asking hard questions, and thinking deeply about difficult issues all from a kingdom-focused grid.”
Andrew Walker, the ERLC’s director of policy studies and managing editor of Canon & Culture, said in an introductory post at the website the initiative “desires to be an avenue that helps evangelicals discern and navigate the times we find ourselves in — in a culture where religious nominalism is dropping out, even as vibrant and orthodox belief continues to move forward.”
[2]With the blog channel, the ERLC wants basically to provide “public thinkers an opportunity to … think in depth about the issues that are affecting Christians,” he said on the inaugural podcast episode.
Walker explained the title Canon & Culture by saying, “Canon is in reference to a precept or a standard or a rule that we’re trying to judge something against. And so when we talk about ‘Canon and Culture,’ I believe as Christians our task is to judge culture and to weigh culture against the claims of Christ and His kingdom.”
The project may be accessed at www.canonandculture.com/ [3]
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