Henry R. Van Til Quotes

Culture is "lived religion". It is the form that religion takes in the lives of men.

Through the Reformation, the mechanical relation of nature and grace was superceded by an ethical one, so that the restoration of the law of God in every sphere of life became the concern of the believer.

Culture is not a peripheral concern, but the of the very essence of life. It is an expression of man's essential being as created in the image of God. Since mans is essentially a religious being, culture is expressive of his relationship to God, that is, of his religion.

The Protestant Reformation did not merely seek to cleanse the church and deliver it from doctrinal errors, but it also sought the restoration of the whole of life.

Calvinism furnishes us with the only theology of culture that is truly relevant for the world in which we live, because it is the true theology of the Word.

The family is the simplest and smallest unit of society and the real fountain of culture. If this fountain remains pure, man's culture has promise. But if it becomes polluted, all the rest will turn to dust and ashes, since the home is the foundation of the entire social structure.

A biblical metaphysics implies a biblical theory of knowledge and a biblical ethic.

The problem of living a Christian life in a non-Christian society is pressing, since most of our social institutions are non-Christian and in pagan hands. The family remains the only trustworthy transmitter of Christian culture.

Culture derives its meaning from man's faith in God; it is never an end in itself, but always a means of expressing one's religious faith.

One cannot keep on evangelizing the world without interfering with the world's culture. It devolves upon God's people, therefore, to contend for such a society which will give the maximum opportunity for us to live wholly Christian lives and the maximum opportunity for others to become Christians.

Religious faith always transcends culture, and is the integrating principle and power of man's cultural striving.

Rome changed the New Testament catholicity (which purifies and sanctifies as it's proper domain the whole of life) and has substituted in its place a dualism which separates the supernatural from the natural.

The primary principle of the Calvinistic system of thought is the direct and absolute sovereignty of God over all things. Such sovereignty is not one among the many attributes of God, but it comes to expression in all of His attributes.

Since man is a moral being, his culture cannot be a-moral. Because man is a religious being, his culture, too, must be religiously oriented.

David was so filled with ecstasy at this glory-filled vocation (of the creation mandate) that he exclaimed in awe and wonder, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?... For Thou hast made him a little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor... Thou hast put all things under his feet." To say that culture is man's calling in the covenant is only another way of saying that culture is religiously determined.

Religion based on divine sovereignty is religion for God's sake. Religion is for God, for whom all things exist. Whereas all forms of Arminianistic Christianity make man the final arbiter of his own salvation, in Calvinism, God saves sovereignly, immediately, whom He wills.

Christians are called unto holiness and are to be engaged actively in self-purification. They are to walk in good works which have been prepared before, unto which they have been called. But how is it possible to visualize this activity of believers outside of their culture? Is holiness restricted to the life of the soul?

Does the twentieth-century disciple have a right to discard the cultural mandate, twice given to the human race by Jehovah himself? Are we justified in turning the world and culture over to the enemies of God> How far does the kingship of Christ extend?

Culture is any and all human effort and labor expended upon the cosmos, to unearth its treasures and its riches and bring them into the service of man for the enrichment of human existence unto the glory of God.

Culture is concerned with the world of values. All cultures are irreducibly value-oriented.

Due to their deep conviction of the sovereignty of God, the Word of God was taken very seriously by Calvinists. It became the unconditional norm for faith and life to the believer. The Divine injunction not to add or take away has been scrupulously observed by Calvinism. Thus, a Calvinistic ethic was developed with its high theism. Because God was held to be the absolute sovereign for man's life, it became simply a question of determining the will of God from His Word. Calvinistic ethics is not a system of opinion, but an attempt to make the will of God as revealed in the Bible the authoritative guide for social as well as personal direction.