Abstract:
The church never exists and acts in a cultural vacuum. Its members live
within a given cultural framework of values and symbols co-existent in
society. This entails a very real danger of the church subserving the
pressure of group interests asserted in this programme of activities. It is
the task of the church to maintain a prophetic-critical stance in relation
to a given cultural sphere. This does not imply a hostile attitude to culture,
but one of critical evaluation in relation to tradition and culture.
Modern culture, which in due course superceded mediaeval culture, was
built on the basic differentiation in the subject-object paradigm. This
rational scheme, which accorded priority to the 'knower' as subject,
brought science and technology to unknown heights. The dilemma in
which the post-modern society finds itself inevitably leads to new dimensions
of man as a human being, and, amongst other things, to existential
thought, which places the emphasis on man as a being in relationship.
Naturally postmodern culture brings challenges and poses threats to
which the church will have to pay attention.
