Cultural Identity and the Purposes of God: A Biblical Theology of Ethnicity, Nationality, and Race

Humanity’s diverse nationalities, ethnicities, and races were intended to be a blessing from God. However, due to sin and rebellion, these differences often result in alienation, hatred, and even violence, becoming one of the most urgent problems facing the world. Cultural divisions are unfortunately common in the church, too. How can Christians embrace God’s purposes for diversity and experience renewal and unity as his people? Steven Bryan presents a biblical framework for thinking about cultural identity and experiencing cultural diversity as a positive good that God intended. Writing from more than 20 years of experience in cross-cultural mission work in Ethiopia, Bryan examines historical and political aspects of nationality, ethnicity, and race. This practical examination of cultural ideologies—including multiculturalism, nationalism, and intersectionality—helps readers move from asking, Who am I? to Who are we? as God’s people.

Publisher: Crossway
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781433569739

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Steven M. Bryan (PhD, Cambridge University) is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He also served as a theological educator in Ethiopia for more than twenty years and as director of SIM Ethiopia for six years. He and his wife have three sons and a daughter-in-law.

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“Among the heated arguments and rancorous debates that characterize much Western conversation, expressions such as culture, ethnicity, race, cultural identity, assimilation, individualism, and diversity are dropped into live discussions like grenades. It takes a few minutes to grasp how these words mean different things to different people, and are often deployed with more zeal than insight—the purpose being to score points, not win arguments. What a pleasure it is, then, to read Steven Bryan’s learned and evenhanded book and to listen in on presentations that are mature, reasoned, and convincing. Better yet, the stances Dr. Bryan adopts are grounded in careful exegesis and wonderfully refreshing biblical theology. It could have been written only by a faithful and competent biblical scholar who has spent many years in fresh study of Scripture while being immersed in more than one culture. This is not a book to skim, it is a book to ponder.” D. A. Carson, Cofounder and Theologian-at-Large, The Gospel Coalition