Christianity provides us with an overarching metanarrative that runs from creation to redemption: We are creatures made in God’s image, who have sinned against him, who need to be rescued through the atoning work of Jesus, and who are called to love both God and neighbor. This is truly the book I have long wanted to read, and I believe it deserves to become a standard text for all Christian leaders, teachers, evangelists, and any serious-minded believer.” His exact words were “I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream,” in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. James Washington (New York: HarperCollins, 1986), 219. ↩ Christopher Watkin, Michel Serres: Figures of Thought (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020).

Finally, a profound distinctive of the biblical position, in contrast both to CRT and liberalism, is its positive message of hope. This hope is not merely a sense that justice will be done at some point in the future, but a way of inhabiting the complexities of racial injustice now in a way that neither merely laments them nor imagines they can be brushed under the carpet. Serres understood figures as algorithmic operators, “complex functions for producing an infinite variety of outputs from infinite possibilities of inputs.” [16] These structures and patterns are also generative. Different senses of meaning arise when one puts different words in a relationship using these structures and patterns. When repeatable patterns in space and repeatable rhythms in time are deployed beyond literature and language to include creation, ideas, systems, and behavior, they become helpful in analyzing culture. Watkin says this work mirrors God’s work in creation, where he organizes space and creates rhythms.The second principle can be gleaned from the biblical wisdom literature, and can provide a guiding light for Christians seeking to navigate the questions of systemic racism in the boardroom, hospital ward, or school classroom. Keller says that, for critical theory, “the main way power is exercised is through language—through “dominant discourses”… Language does not merely describe reality—it constructs or creates it.” I think Dr. Keller is accurate as much as a generalization can be. But whereas Keller sees this aspect of critical theory as detracting from a theory of justice, I see it as a tool for helping us to see things we are blind to. I find discourse analysis as useful in unfolding both the contingency and the formative effects of a sociological discourse. In other words, it helps us see how the way we talk, use words, behave in certain ways embodies learned and unspoken assumptions in matters such as racism, sexuality, gender, socio-economics, etc. Here’s a few comments on Tim’s take on critical theory to illumine how critical theory can help us make space for God to work in an antagonistic broken world. Smith, David Woodruff, “Phenomenology”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = R.C. Sproul, “R.C. Sproul on Social Justice,” YouTube Video, 12:02, June 5, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIyiwrVhhn0. ↩

At the same time, some critics of critical theory are able to agree with some of its tenants. This isn’t surprising, since “all truth is God’s truth.” Neil Shenvi, an evangelical critic of the movement, is one who finds some truth in critical theory. For example, he notes, “Critical race theorists affirm that race—as it has been defined historically and legally—is a social construct and not a concept legitimately rooted in human nature or human biology.” 11 The Bible recognizes only one race—the human race. While we might distinguish between ethnicities, it is a misnomer to distinguish between races. 12 If critical theory’s view of humanity stopped there, it would be easier to find more with which we could agree. Wed to postmodernism, however, it takes on additional meanings: “One of the most important characteristics of postmodern thought has been its emphasis on the contingent, indeterminate, and socially constructed nature of the categories with which we perceive and converse about the world.” 13 Deconstructing and reconstructing these categories becomes a chief end for critical race theory in its struggle against racism. 14 This has birthed new terms such as “whiteness,” “white privilege,” and “white fragility” and has ultimately led to an entirely secular reconstruction of the way in which conversations about racism are now being framed. 15 With the examples of Paul’s ‘wisdom/signs’ and Augustine’s ‘glory’ in mind, we now turn to the issue we face in our own day: the particular understanding of ‘justice’ that has arisen in critical race theory, and the resistance to that understanding represented by classic liberalism. My premise here is that both CRT and liberalism are Christian heresies, taking the form of a distorted gospel with their own versions of the four key biblical theological turning points – creation: what exists; fall: what is wrong with the world; redemption: how it can be fixed; and consummation: where it is all leading. Christians can therefore profitably approach the study of justice in CRT and liberalism as an exercise in comparative religion. [24] Another significant influence on critical theory was, and is, Marxism. “Critical Theory was conceived and birthed within the intellectual crucible of Marxism.” 7 But critical theory should not be equated with Marxism or reduced to it. It would perhaps be more accurate to say that early architects of critical theory had something of a love-hate relationship with Marxism, sometimes drawing from Marxist ideology and sometimes forcefully rejecting it. Marxism is well known for its portrayal of the tensions that exist between various economic classes that are collapsed into the categories of “oppressors” and the “oppressed,” with capitalism being one of the main causes of oppression. At the same time, critical theorists saw in Marxism yet another system of thought that proved unsuccessful in its attempt to bring equity to the world.Title and Product Update Lists". ATLA Religion Database. American Theological Library Association . Retrieved 2016-06-13.

Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture [1] ( BCT) is a remarkable book that will bless the Church and the academy. Do not be intimidated by the length of the book. Watkin is a delightful writer who is always clear and often witty. Throughout 28 chapters, he expounds key moments and movements in redemptive history, moving from the biblical text to contemporary application in all facets of culture. Taking the book’s title as a guide, we will consider what is biblical, critical, and theoretical about BCT. This review will summarize some benefits of the project for the Church then move to consider some of its distinctive features.DiAngelo, White Fragility, 40–43. It is noteworthy that MLK’s studies took him to the well of liberation theology, another offshoot of critical theory. But MLK was also grounded in the traditional Baptist theology of his family. ↩ An ambitious, comprehensive, and thrilling work of Christian apologetics . . . The most significant work of its kind to appear in a decade.” An argument against the liberal notion of “color-blindness” is made by Jayne Chong-Soon Lee, “Navigating the Topology of Race,” 441–49. ↩

See the introduction to Jayne Chong-Soon Lee, “Navigating the Topology of Race,” in Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement, eds. Kimberle Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, and Kendall Thomas (New York: The New Press, 1995), 441–49. ↩ The language of a ‘fault line’ is taken from Voddie T. Baucham Jr., Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe (Washington DC: Salem Books, 2021). The points of tension are numerous. Invariably, we will be forced to choose between critical theory and Christianity in terms of our values, ethics, and priorities.In discussing Watkin’s critical concerns, we already noted the figure-ground distinction. The Biblical figures that arise from Scripture have the effect of shaping the way we perceive our experience. Figures provide us with our world of meaning. “A world is not only that which is perceived by human consciousness. It also includes networks of machines or ecosystems that rhythm and pattern reality just as effectively or extensively as any human actor.” [18] Crucially, given the concrete nature of Watkin’s critical concerns, world is a more concrete and comprehensive concept than worldview. It includes rational and physical elements. Dr Christopher Watkin lectures at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He has written extensively on modern and contemporary European thought, atheism, and the relationship between the Bible and philosophy. Chris blogs about his academic work at christopherwatkin.com, and posts reflections on the Bible and culture at thinkingthroughthebible.com. This is a magnificent achievement. It is a must-read . . . Here is a total defence and commendation of Christianity like no other. Buy it. Read it. Ponder it. Pass it on.”