Cultural Christianity’s Ambivalence

The question of what to do with our Christian inheritance—what we call “cultural Christianity”—has become unavoidable. Cultural Christians wish to preserve the cultural, political, and intellectual traditions and institutions Christendom left behind, and for good reason; modern democracy, intellectual honesty, and the pursuit of truth are fruits of Christianity, and their erosion has had dire consequences across politics, academia, and journalism. But while cultural Christianity can prove valuable as a conservative force that resists thoughtless reforms, when divorced from the Church’s core mission of salvation and conversion, it ultimately proves not only insufficient but even self-destructive.