While modern critical theories seek to deconstruct society and reveal its injustices, Dr. Christopher Watkin makes the case that Christianity gives us the best resources to critique culture.

0:00 Modern anthropology

1:22 Dr. Christopher Watkin

2:15 The background of Critical Theory

4:52 Was St. Augustine the original Critical Theorist?

6:02 Christianity critiques culture

8:02 Radical different visions for society

9:08 He who shouts loudest wins

10:42 A standpoint of redemption

11:41 Competing metanarratives

13:20 The Enlightenment story and the Christian story

15:08 Cain, Lamech, and Noah

17:16 But God

18:28 Rhythms of grace

21:09 Let my people go that they may serve me

22:33 Be who the market tells you to be [clip]

26:42 We are owned by the market

28:01 Phenomenology and social imaginaries

32:00 Modern examples

34:12 Do Christians have more reason to have a hermeneutic of suspicion than Nietzsche and Marx?

37:55 Augustine’s City of God

41:10 How should Christians analyze culture?

42:57 Practicing Biblical Critical Theory in the 21st Century

47:35 We need to reevaluate how we are being conformed to Christ or this passing age

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Have you ever wondered what a biblical approach to Critical Theory would look like? In this episode of theFormed.life we explore this profound question with Dr. Christopher Watkin, an expert in modern European thought and the Bible. Dr. Watkin discusses how the biblical narrative offers a compelling framework for critically examining modern life, integrating science, arts, and personal experience.

Tune in as we discover how these timeless truths can bring intellectual richness and practical wisdom to your everyday life. Bio Dr. Watkin is a Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. His work increasingly explores the complex relationship between modern and contemporary thought and theology.

A Christian since age fifteen, Dr. Watkin is fascinated by the interplay between philosophy, contemporary culture, and Christian theology. 3 Main Takeaways Personal and Absolute Reality:The Trinity presents God as an absolute and personal reality, suggesting that the universe is governed by a knowable deity.

This underscores the significant and inherent value of individuals in the universe.

Biblical Critical Theory:

Christopher Watkin introduces “Biblical Critical Theory,” which uses the Bible’s narrative (creation, fall, redemption, new creation) to make sense of contemporary life. This framework provides stability and meaning, helping to understand the world’s complexities without losing hope.

Separation of Power and Truth:

He also emphasizes the biblical distinction between power and truth, where truth serves as an external standard to critique authority.

Jesus’ model of power, characterized by service and sacrifice, offers a transformative alternative to dominance and suppression seen in other worldviews.

Resources

Biblical Critical Theory – Christopher Watkin

City of God – Augustine

Clayton welcomed Christopher into the studio to talk about his award-winning book ‘Biblical Critical Theory – How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture’. Christopher shared with Clayton that he became a Christian when he was fifteen years old and since then he has been fascinated by the ways in which philosophy and contemporary culture can be brought into conversation with Christian theology.

Como a narrativa bíblica de Gênesis a Apocalipse pode oferecer uma compreensão mais profunda da sociedade moderna? De que maneira a “diagonalização” bíblica oferece soluções alternativas às polarizações culturais? Quais são as implicações da soberania de Deus na distribuição da misericórdia e compaixão para a justiça social hoje? Como a abordagem da Teoria Bíblica Crítica difere das teorias críticas seculares como a Teoria Crítica Racial e de Gênero?

Essas são algumas das questões que iremos tratar nesta entrevista com Christopher Watkin, autor do livro “Biblical Critical Theory”, onde propõe uma abordagem inovadora para entender a cultura contemporânea através da narrativa bíblica. Ele argumenta que a Bíblia não apenas oferece uma visão espiritual, mas também um profundo entendimento crítico das estruturas sociais, políticas e culturais. Watkin utiliza a história da criação, queda e redenção como lentes para analisar e criticar as suposições subjacentes da modernidade.

Christopher Watkin é doutor em filosofia francesa moderna pela Universidade de Cambridge. Após lecionar em Cambridge, ele se mudou para a Austrália e atualmente ensina na Universidade Monash, em Melbourne, onde mora com sua esposa Alison e seus dois filhos. É autor de vários livros, incluindo “Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture” (Zondervan, 2022) e “Difficult Atheism” (Edinburgh University Press, 2011). Suas palestras e recursos cristãos podem ser encontrados em thinkingthroughthebible.com, e seu identificador no X é @DrChrisWatkin.

A talk given at One Church, Blackburn, Melbourne, in March 2024

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The question of the relationship between Christianity and culture increasingly takes centre stage in debates both within and outside the church today. This talk reflects on how a constructive, nuanced and—to many modern ears—fresh vision for contemporary society can be drawn from a rich engagement with the Bible’s storyline, guided by Augustine’s magisterial work City of God. What might it look like to reimagine Augustine’s mode of engagement with late Roman society in our own cultural moment of late modernity?

Christopher Watkin (PhD, University of Cambridge) is senior lecturer in French studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a scholar with an international reputation in the area of modern and contemporary European thought, atheism, and the relationship between the Bible and philosophy. His published work runs the spectrum from academic monographs on contemporary philosophy to books written for general readers, both Christian and secular, and include Difficult Atheism, From Plato to Postmodernism; Great Thinkers: Jacques Derrida. His recent impressive 2022 tome with Zondervan Academic is Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture.

This conversation was recorded at the First Things Editorial Office, 9 East 40th Street, 10th Floor, New York, on Wednesday, January 24 2024, at 7:00 p.m.

Drs Watkin and Gregory discussed the topic of critical theory and how, if at all, the concerns of critical theorists can be addressed by the church.

Dr. Christopher Watkin is an Associate Professor of European Languages at Monash University and a Fellow for Philosophy and Culture at Reformed Theological Seminary in New York City. He is developing a systematic response to the concerns of critical theorists that draws upon the Biblical narrative and is inspired by Augustine. Watkin is the author of Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture, which has won Christianity Today’s Book of the Year Award (all categories).

Dr. Eric Gregory is a leading Augustine scholar and Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He established himself as a leading Augustinian scholar with his 2008 book, Politics and the Order of Love: An Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship. Gregory is a Former Chair of the Humanities Council at Princeton, serves on the the editorial board of the Journal of Religious Ethics, and sits with the executive committee of the University Center for Human Values. Brought to you by First Things and Reformed Theological Seminary (NYC).

This talk and discussion took place in Queens, New York City, on 24 January 2024, at a meeting of Queens Connexus: https://queensconnexus.org/.

Dr Christopher Watkin talks about the term “counter-culture” as a way of describing what churches are building, and discusses how Christians can cultivate the common good in society. Queens Connexus is an inter-denominational hub for church planting in Queens, the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world. Our commitment to you is to get you connected with hyper-local, rooted ministry leaders. This group is for church planters, those who desire to plant in the future, or have a heart to support church planting–here in Queens. It is open to men and women, pastors and leaders, who subscribe to the Nicene Creed (which is the earliest and broadly accepted creed in the Church’s history).

Critical Race Theory is not the only sort of critical theory out there. As a matter of fact, Augustine’s City of God may be the first example of critical theory. How can this kind of academic exercise be understood Biblically? What benefit can it give to theology? Dr. Christopher Watkin, author of Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture, joins Matt and Alastair to discuss this often confusing topic. Dr. Watkin argues that in order to even do critical theory, it must be approached at least a theistic if not fully Christian point of view.