Abstract
This paper closes the fourth cluster of the volume and the substantive analytical work of the twenty white papers, drawing together the cumulative findings of the previous nineteen papers into a comprehensive consideration of the universal human temptation toward exemption that operates across all religious and quasi-religious frameworks within which human beings have organized their institutional life. The argument proceeds through four interlocking analyses: the anthropological foundation of the temptation toward exemption as a feature of the human condition that has operated across the historical and cultural contexts within which human beings have organized themselves; the civilizational manifestations of the temptation across the various societies and historical periods within which the patterns the volume has been examining have appeared; the theological foundation that the biblical perspective provides for understanding the temptation as a feature of the fallen human condition that operates with particular force wherever credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority; and the implications of this universal pattern for the broader argument the volume has been developing and for the diagnostic instruments that will follow. The paper applies the biblical critique developed in the first cluster to the universal pattern that the cumulative analytical work of the volume has documented, demonstrating that the dynamic identified by the Lord operates as a feature of the human condition that has reproduced itself across the diverse institutional and cultural contexts in which human beings have constructed religious and quasi-religious frameworks for the organization of their common life.
I. The Cumulative Argument and the Scope of the Present Paper
The contemporary work of the present paper occupies a distinctive position within the broader argument of the volume. The preceding nineteen papers have examined the operation of the Teflon pattern across a substantial range of institutional and cultural contexts. The first five papers established the biblical foundation upon which the analytical framework of the volume rests, drawing the standards of reciprocal accountability and the critique of religious elites directly from the canonical witness of Scripture. The second five papers extended the biblical foundation into the institutional and sociological analysis that captures the mechanisms by which the patterns the biblical critique addresses are reproduced within human institutions. The third five papers applied the resulting analytical framework to five contemporary secular domains in which the pattern operates with substantial visibility. The fourth cluster has, across its first four papers, applied the framework comparatively to religious and quasi-religious traditions across history, including first-century Judaism, medieval Christianity, the Hindu priestly hierarchy, Islamic jurisprudential elites, Buddhist monastic privilege, and the secularized priesthoods of modern academia, technocracy, and activism.
The present paper does not introduce additional empirical material to the analytical work of the volume. The empirical material the volume has assembled is sufficient, in the cumulative weight of the previous nineteen papers, to support the broader conclusions the present paper draws. The present paper, rather, performs the synthetic work of drawing the cumulative findings of the previous papers into the broader recognition that the patterns examined across those papers constitute manifestations of a single underlying temptation that operates as a feature of the human condition. The recognition has been implicit throughout the broader argument of the volume, but the explicit articulation of the recognition has been reserved for the present paper, where the cumulative weight of the previous analytical work provides the foundation upon which the explicit articulation can proceed.
The scope of the present paper is therefore distinctive. The paper does not undertake the kind of specific empirical examination that the preceding papers have conducted within their respective domains. The paper undertakes, rather, the broader anthropological and civilizational consideration of what the cumulative empirical examination has revealed about the human condition that produces the patterns the volume has been documenting throughout. The scope is broader than that of any single preceding paper, since the scope addresses the human condition as such rather than any particular institutional manifestation of that condition. The scope is also more constrained in another respect, since the paper does not undertake to introduce new empirical material but draws upon the cumulative empirical material the preceding papers have assembled.
The distinctive position of the present paper produces several specific commitments that shape its analytical work. The first commitment is to the substantive recognition that the patterns examined across the preceding papers exhibit sufficient consistency that they can be analyzed as manifestations of a single underlying phenomenon. The second commitment is to the theological articulation of the underlying phenomenon within the biblical framework that the volume maintains throughout. The third commitment is to the implications of the broader recognition for the diagnostic instruments that will follow the substantive analytical papers, since the diagnostic instruments will provide practical tools for the identification of the patterns the volume has been examining within any institutional context in which the patterns appear. The fourth commitment is to the recognition that the broader recognition of the universality of the pattern does not produce a counsel of despair regarding the human institutional condition but provides, rather, the foundation upon which substantive engagement with the condition can proceed.
The biblical perspective the volume maintains throughout produces the controlling framework within which the analytical work of the present paper proceeds. The biblical perspective recognizes that the human condition, considered in its fallen state, includes the tendency toward the patterns the volume has been documenting, and the biblical perspective also recognizes that the substantive engagement with the condition is possible through the resources that the biblical witness provides. The application of the biblical perspective to the universal pattern that the volume has been documenting therefore produces both the diagnostic recognition of the condition and the foundation for the substantive response that the recognition requires.
II. The Anthropological Foundation
The first analytical task of the paper is to examine the anthropological foundation of the temptation toward exemption as a feature of the human condition that has operated across the historical and cultural contexts within which human beings have organized themselves. The anthropological consideration addresses the question of why the patterns the volume has been documenting recur across such diverse institutional and cultural contexts, and the answer to this question requires attention to features of the human condition that operate independently of the particular institutional and cultural contexts within which they manifest.
The recurrence of the patterns across the diverse contexts the volume has examined indicates that the underlying temptation cannot be adequately explained through reference to the particular features of any specific institutional or cultural context. The patterns operate within first-century Judean institutional structures, within medieval European institutional structures, within South Asian institutional structures, within Middle Eastern institutional structures, within East Asian institutional structures, within contemporary North American academic structures, within contemporary North American technocratic structures, within contemporary North American activist structures, and across the various other institutional structures the volume has examined. The diversity of the institutional contexts within which the patterns operate is sufficient to establish that the patterns are not products of the particular features of any one of those contexts but products of features that operate across the contexts despite their substantial institutional and cultural differences.
The features that operate across the diverse contexts must therefore be features of the human condition itself, considered as the condition that has shaped the various institutional and cultural arrangements within which the patterns have manifested. The recognition of this fact directs the analytical work toward the consideration of what features of the human condition produce the patterns the volume has been documenting, and the consideration draws upon the broader resources that the biblical perspective and the analytical literature on human institutions provide.
Several features of the human condition contribute to the production of the patterns the volume has documented. The first feature is the tendency toward the prioritization of self-interest over the substantive obligations that would require costly action on behalf of others. The tendency operates across the broader range of human conduct, but it operates with particular force in institutional contexts where the structural conditions permit the prioritization to be expressed without immediate negative consequences. The institutional contexts within which credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority over broader populations provide such structural conditions, since the institutional position of the credentialed class permits the prioritization of self-interest to be expressed through the various mechanisms the analytical framework of this volume has identified.
The second feature is the tendency toward the rationalization of self-interest through the construction of justifications that characterize self-interested conduct as serving broader interests. The tendency operates across the broader range of human conduct as well, but it operates with particular force in institutional contexts where the credentialed class possesses the interpretive resources required to construct elaborate justifications for its own conduct. The credentialed classes the volume has examined have, with substantial consistency, constructed such justifications, and the justifications have served to obscure from the credentialed classes themselves, as well as from the broader populations subject to their authority, the substantive divergence between what the classes urge upon others and what the classes practice in their own conduct.
The third feature is the tendency toward the formation of in-group loyalties that operate to protect members of the in-group at the expense of those outside it. The tendency operates across the broader range of human social relationships, but it operates with particular force within credentialed classes where the shared institutional standing of the members produces strong in-group identification. The in-group loyalties produce the patterns of mutual protection that the analytical framework of this volume has identified as characteristic of the operation of credentialed classes, and the loyalties operate with substantial consistency across the diverse institutional contexts within which credentialed classes have been observed to operate.
The fourth feature is the tendency toward the construction of social hierarchies that produce conditions in which those at the top of the hierarchy operate under conditions of substantial advantage relative to those at lower positions. The tendency operates across the broader range of human social organization, but it operates with particular force in institutional contexts where the credentialed standing of certain classes produces formal recognition of their elevated position within the broader institutional structure. The recognition contributes to the broader patterns of asymmetric application that the analytical framework of this volume has identified, and the patterns operate with substantial consistency across the diverse institutional contexts within which credentialed classes have come to occupy elevated positions.
The cumulative effect of these features is the production of a human institutional condition in which credentialed classes are systematically tempted toward the patterns the volume has been documenting. The temptation does not operate as an irresistible force; individual members of credentialed classes have, at various points across the historical record, resisted the temptation and conducted themselves in ways that did not produce the patterns the analytical framework identifies. The temptation does, however, operate as a recurring feature of the human institutional condition, and the recurrence of the patterns across the diverse contexts the volume has examined indicates that the temptation operates with sufficient consistency to produce, as a regular feature of human institutional life, the patterns the analytical framework identifies.
The recognition of the temptation as a feature of the human condition has substantial implications for the broader argument the volume has been developing. The recognition indicates that the patterns the volume has documented cannot be adequately addressed through interventions that target only the particular institutional contexts within which the patterns have manifested. Such interventions, while possibly addressing the immediate manifestations within specific contexts, leave the underlying temptation in operation, with the consequence that the patterns will reappear within subsequent institutional contexts even after particular manifestations have been addressed. The substantive response to the universal pattern requires attention to the universal temptation that produces it, and the attention requires resources that the analytical examination of particular institutional contexts cannot, by itself, provide.
III. The Civilizational Manifestations
The second analytical task of the paper is to examine the civilizational manifestations of the temptation across the various societies and historical periods within which the patterns the volume has been examining have appeared. The civilizational consideration extends the anthropological foundation of the second section by attending to the specific ways in which the universal temptation has expressed itself within the various civilizational contexts the volume has examined.
The civilizational manifestations exhibit sufficient consistency that they can be analyzed as variations on a common underlying pattern rather than as unrelated occurrences that happen to share surface features. The consistency operates across the institutional structures within which credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority, across the cultural mechanisms by which the credentialed standing of those classes has been recognized and legitimized, across the patterns of asymmetric application of standards that have characterized the operation of the credentialed classes, and across the responses that have developed within the broader populations subject to the credentialed authority of those classes.
The first dimension of consistency operates through the patterns of credentialing that have characterized the various civilizational contexts. The credentialing has, across the diverse contexts the volume has examined, involved extended periods of formal training, the evaluation of candidates by existing members of the credentialed class, and the formal entry into the institutional structure through procedures that the credentialed class controls. The credentialing has produced classes whose authority operates through the institutional standing that the credentialing confers, and the standing has, across the various contexts, provided the foundation upon which the broader patterns of credentialed authority have operated. The first-century Pharisaic class, the medieval clerical class, the Brahmin priestly hierarchy, the Islamic jurisprudential class, the Buddhist monastic class, the contemporary academic credentialed class, the contemporary technocratic credentialed class, and the contemporary activist credentialed class — all have operated through credentialing processes that share these common features, and the consistency of the features across the diverse contexts indicates that the production of credentialed classes through such processes is a recurring feature of human civilizational life.
The second dimension of consistency operates through the patterns of interpretive authority that the credentialed classes have exercised across the various civilizational contexts. The interpretive authority has, across the diverse contexts, operated as a substantial source of the credentialed classes’ broader influence over the populations subject to their authority. The credentialed classes have administered the interpretation of the foundational texts, traditions, and bodies of knowledge that have shaped the broader cultural understanding of substantive matters within their respective civilizational contexts, and the interpretive authority has produced conditions in which the broader populations have been positioned to experience the substantive content of their cultural traditions substantially through the mediation of the credentialed classes. The consistency of the interpretive function across the diverse contexts indicates that the exercise of interpretive authority is a recurring feature of credentialed classes across human civilizational life.
The third dimension of consistency operates through the patterns of institutional protection that the credentialed classes have enjoyed across the various civilizational contexts. The institutional protection has, across the diverse contexts, operated through formal arrangements of various kinds and through informal patterns that have supplemented the formal arrangements. The protection has produced conditions in which the credentialed classes have, with substantial consistency, operated under reduced exposure to the consequences that ordinary participants would face for analogous conduct, and the reduced exposure has contributed to the broader patterns of asymmetric application that the analytical framework of this volume has identified throughout. The consistency of the institutional protection across the diverse contexts indicates that the development of such protection is a recurring feature of the operation of credentialed classes across human civilizational life.
The fourth dimension of consistency operates through the patterns of response that have developed within the broader populations subject to the credentialed authority of the various classes. The responses have included, across the diverse contexts, the patterns of cynicism, institutional fatigue, and corrosion of legitimacy that the analytical framework of this volume has examined. The responses have also included, in various contexts, the development of reform movements that have sought to address the patterns through substantive engagement with the credentialed classes that have produced them. The consistency of the response patterns across the diverse contexts indicates that the broader populations’ responses to credentialed authority follow recognizable patterns that operate independently of the particular features of any specific civilizational context.
The cumulative effect of these four dimensions of consistency is the establishment that the temptation toward exemption operates as a universal feature of human civilizational life, producing recognizable patterns across the diverse contexts within which credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority. The recognition of this universality has substantial implications for any subsequent engagement with the patterns the volume has been examining, since the universality indicates that the patterns are not features of any particular civilizational context but features of the broader human condition that has shaped the various contexts within which the patterns have appeared.
The civilizational manifestations also reveal, across the diverse contexts, the various ways in which the temptation has been addressed within different cultural and institutional traditions. The reform movements that have developed within various traditions have, across the diverse contexts, exhibited recognizable patterns that share substantial features despite their substantial differences in particular detail. The reform movements have typically involved the substantive engagement with the institutional patterns that the credentialed classes have constructed, the articulation of alternative frameworks within which the substantive matters at issue can be addressed, and the development of institutional arrangements that have sought to prevent the recurrence of the patterns the reform movements were addressing. The consistency of the reform patterns across the diverse contexts indicates that the substantive response to the universal temptation is itself a recurring feature of human civilizational life, and the recurrence provides resources for any subsequent engagement with the patterns the volume has been documenting.
IV. The Theological Foundation
The third analytical task of the paper is to examine the theological foundation that the biblical perspective provides for understanding the temptation as a feature of the fallen human condition that operates with particular force wherever credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority. The theological consideration draws upon the biblical resources that the volume has been employing throughout, with attention to what those resources reveal about the underlying condition that produces the patterns the volume has documented.
The biblical perspective identifies the underlying condition that produces the patterns as the fallen condition of human nature that has operated across the historical and cultural contexts within which human beings have organized themselves. The fallen condition was introduced into human nature through the original disobedience recorded in the third chapter of Genesis, and the condition has operated as a feature of human nature across the subsequent historical record. The biblical witness documents, across its various canonical books, the operation of the fallen condition within the institutional and cultural contexts that the books address, and the documentation provides substantial resources for understanding the operation of the same condition within the contemporary and historical contexts the volume has examined.
The specific features of the fallen condition that produce the patterns the volume has documented include the disordered priorities that the fall introduced into human nature, the broken relationship with God that the fall produced and that has continued to shape the broader operation of human conduct, the substantial damage to the proper exercise of human authority that the fall introduced, and the broader distortion of the relationships among human beings that the fall has produced across the various contexts within which those relationships have operated. The features operate with particular force in institutional contexts where the credentialed standing of certain classes provides the structural conditions within which the features can express themselves through the various mechanisms the analytical framework of this volume has identified.
The biblical perspective also provides the theological framework within which the substantive response to the universal temptation can be articulated. The framework includes the biblical articulation of the standards that the Lord requires of those who exercise authority over others, the biblical critique of the patterns that develop when those standards are not maintained, the biblical examples of figures who exercised authority in ways that conformed to the standards the Lord requires, and the broader theological resources that the canonical witness provides for the substantive engagement with the patterns the volume has been documenting.
The biblical standards for the exercise of authority were articulated in substantial detail across the first cluster of this volume, and the standards apply to any institutional context in which authority is exercised, regardless of whether the context formally identifies itself as religious. The standards include the requirement of reciprocal accountability examined in White Paper 1, the critique of religious elites articulated in White Paper 2, the warning against the indulgence of elite misconduct examined in White Paper 3, the requirement of priestly self-application of standards examined in White Paper 4, and the heightened accountability for teachers articulated in White Paper 5. The standards apply with substantial force to any subsequent context within which credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority, and the application produces the substantive engagement with the patterns the volume has been documenting that the biblical critique requires.
The biblical examples of figures who exercised authority in ways that conformed to the standards the Lord requires provide additional resources for the substantive response to the universal temptation. The examples include the prophetic figures who confronted the credentialed classes of their respective contexts, the apostolic figures who exercised authority in ways that did not produce the patterns the broader critique addresses, and the Lord Himself, whose ministry constituted the substantive instantiation of the standards that the broader biblical witness articulates. The examples demonstrate that the substantive response to the universal temptation is possible, and the demonstration provides the foundation for the practical work that the diagnostic instruments following the substantive analytical papers will support.
The theological foundation also provides the framework within which the broader hope for substantive engagement with the universal pattern can be articulated. The hope does not depend upon the elimination of the fallen condition that produces the temptation; the elimination of that condition awaits the eschatological consummation that the biblical witness articulates. The hope depends, rather, upon the substantive resources that the biblical witness provides for the engagement with the temptation within the conditions of the present age. The resources include the biblical standards examined throughout the first cluster of this volume, the institutional and sociological analytical resources examined throughout the second cluster, the comparative resources that the third and fourth clusters have developed, and the diagnostic instruments that will follow. The combination of these resources provides the foundation upon which substantive engagement with the universal pattern can proceed, and the foundation supports the broader practical work that the volume’s argument has been preparing throughout.
V. The Implications for the Broader Argument and the Bridge to the Diagnostic Instruments
The fourth analytical task of the paper is to examine the implications of the universal pattern for the broader argument the volume has been developing and for the diagnostic instruments that will follow. The implications operate at several levels, and the recognition of the implications at each level is essential for understanding the role the present paper plays in the broader work of the volume.
The first level of implication addresses the broader argument the volume has been developing. The cumulative recognition of the universal pattern across the diverse contexts the volume has examined confirms that the analytical framework developed throughout the volume captures the underlying dynamics that operate across institutional life rather than features specific to any particular type of institution. The confirmation has substantial implications for any subsequent application of the framework to additional institutional contexts, since the framework operates as a general analytical resource that can be applied to any context in which the relevant dynamics can be identified. The cumulative work of the volume has therefore established the framework as a tool of substantial generality, and the generality supports the broader application of the framework that the diagnostic instruments will facilitate.
The second level of implication addresses the relationship between the volume’s argument and the broader cultural and institutional landscape of the contemporary period. The recognition of the universal pattern indicates that the contemporary period is not exempt from the dynamics that have operated across the broader historical record, and the contemporary institutions within which credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority are subject to the same dynamics that have operated within the historical and comparative cases the volume has examined. The recognition has implications for any contemporary engagement with the conditions of institutional life, since the engagement must take seriously the universal character of the dynamics rather than treating contemporary institutions as if they operated outside the broader patterns that the universal recognition has documented.
The third level of implication addresses the relationship between the volume’s argument and the broader theological tradition within which the biblical perspective the volume maintains has been articulated. The recognition of the universal pattern as a feature of the fallen human condition connects the volume’s argument to the broader theological tradition’s treatment of the fallen condition and its institutional consequences. The connection provides resources for any subsequent theological engagement with the patterns the volume has documented, and the engagement can draw upon the substantial resources that the broader theological tradition has developed for the consideration of the fallen condition and its various manifestations.
The fourth level of implication addresses the practical work that the diagnostic instruments following the substantive analytical papers will support. The diagnostic instruments will provide practical tools for the identification of the patterns the volume has been documenting within any institutional context in which the patterns appear, and the tools will draw upon the analytical framework that the cumulative work of the volume has established. The diagnostic instruments include the Teflon Leadership Assessment for the broader institutional evaluation, the Congregational Diagnostic for the evaluation of religious institutions, the Leadership Self-Assessment for the evaluation of individual leaders, and the Institutional Heat Map for the visual identification of zones of asymmetric burden within institutional structures. The instruments will operate as practical applications of the analytical framework, and the practical applications will provide resources for the substantive engagement with the patterns within particular institutional contexts.
The diagnostic instruments will require, for their effective use, the substantive understanding of the analytical framework that the twenty white papers of the volume have been developing. The instruments cannot operate effectively as isolated tools; they require the broader analytical framework that the white papers have provided in order to be applied appropriately to the institutional contexts within which they will be used. The relationship between the white papers and the diagnostic instruments is therefore the relationship between the substantive analytical foundation and the practical applications that the foundation supports, and the relationship operates throughout the broader structure of the volume.
The cumulative work of the volume has therefore prepared the foundation for the substantive engagement with the patterns the volume has been documenting, and the engagement will proceed through the diagnostic instruments that the substantive analytical work has prepared. The engagement does not promise the elimination of the universal temptation that produces the patterns; the elimination of the underlying temptation awaits the eschatological consummation that the biblical witness articulates. The engagement does provide, however, the resources for the substantive work within the conditions of the present age, and the substantive work can produce, within particular institutional contexts, the kind of substantive renewal that the analytical framework has been articulating throughout.
VI. The Conclusion of the Substantive Analytical Work
The closing analytical task of the paper is to provide the conclusion of the substantive analytical work of the twenty white papers and to articulate the relationship between that work and the diagnostic instruments that will follow.
The substantive analytical work of the twenty white papers has demonstrated, across its cumulative examination, the universal operation of the Teflon dynamic across the diverse institutional and cultural contexts within which human beings have organized themselves. The dynamic operates within the biblical witness that the first cluster examined, within the institutional and sociological mechanisms that the second cluster analyzed, within the contemporary secular domains that the third cluster documented, and within the comparative religious and quasi-religious traditions that the fourth cluster has examined. The dynamic operates with sufficient consistency across the diverse contexts that its operation can be identified as a recurring feature of human institutional life rather than as a feature specific to any particular type of institution.
The recognition of this universality is the central substantive contribution of the twenty white papers, and the recognition supports the broader argument the volume has been developing throughout. The argument is that the patterns the Lord identified within the first-century religious establishment, the patterns that the canonical witness preserves in the gospel narratives and the broader biblical literature, the patterns that the institutional and sociological analysis has examined in its general operation, and the patterns that the comparative examination has documented across the diverse contexts in which credentialed classes have come to occupy positions of authority — these patterns constitute manifestations of a single underlying temptation that operates as a feature of the fallen human condition. The recognition of this single underlying temptation, articulated across its diverse manifestations, provides the foundation for the substantive response that the biblical perspective requires.
The substantive response that the biblical perspective requires operates at both the individual and the institutional levels. At the individual level, the response requires the personal application of the biblical standards examined throughout the first cluster of this volume to the conduct of those who occupy positions of credentialed authority. The application requires the substantive examination of one’s own conduct in light of the standards the biblical witness articulates, and the examination must address the substantive matters of whether the conduct conforms to the standards or whether it produces the patterns the broader analytical framework has identified.
At the institutional level, the response requires the substantive engagement with the institutional structures within which credentialed classes operate, with attention to whether the structures produce the patterns the analytical framework has identified or whether they prevent the production of those patterns. The engagement requires the substantive examination of institutional arrangements, the development of countermeasures that would prevent the operation of the patterns the framework identifies, and the broader work of institutional reform that the substantive engagement with the patterns requires.
The diagnostic instruments that follow the substantive analytical papers will provide the practical tools for both the individual and the institutional levels of the substantive response. The Teflon Leadership Assessment will provide a tool for the broader institutional evaluation of the patterns the analytical framework identifies. The Congregational Diagnostic will provide a tool for the evaluation of religious institutions in light of the standards the biblical witness articulates. The Leadership Self-Assessment will provide a tool for the personal application of the biblical standards to the conduct of individual leaders. The Institutional Heat Map will provide a visual tool for the identification of zones of asymmetric burden within institutional structures. The instruments will operate as practical applications of the analytical framework, and they will support the substantive response that the recognition of the universal pattern requires.
The cumulative work of the twenty white papers has therefore prepared the foundation upon which the diagnostic instruments can be effectively employed. The instruments cannot operate effectively as isolated tools; they require the broader analytical understanding that the white papers have provided in order to be applied appropriately to the institutional contexts within which they will be used. The relationship between the white papers and the diagnostic instruments is the relationship between the substantive analytical foundation and the practical applications that the foundation supports, and the relationship operates throughout the broader structure of the volume.
The volume closes its substantive analytical work, therefore, with the recognition that the Teflon pattern operates universally across human institutional life, with the articulation of the biblical foundation upon which the substantive response to the pattern can be developed, and with the bridge to the diagnostic instruments that will provide the practical tools for that response. The substantive engagement with the pattern requires both the analytical understanding that the white papers have developed and the practical tools that the diagnostic instruments will provide, and the combination of the two will support the substantive work of institutional renewal that the analytical framework has been articulating throughout. The work does not promise the elimination of the universal temptation that produces the patterns the volume has documented; the elimination of the underlying temptation awaits the eschatological consummation that the biblical witness articulates. The work does provide, however, the resources for the substantive engagement with the temptation within the conditions of the present age, and the resources support the kind of substantive renewal that the biblical critique developed throughout this volume has been calling for from the beginning.
The biblical perspective the volume has maintained throughout produces the controlling framework within which the conclusion of the substantive analytical work can be appropriately understood. The framework recognizes that the substantive renewal of institutional life is possible within the conditions of the present age, that the renewal requires the substantive engagement with the patterns that the analytical work has been documenting, and that the engagement must be conducted in light of the standards that the canonical witness articulates. The framework also recognizes that the eschatological hope that the biblical witness articulates extends beyond the substantive renewal that is possible within the present age, and that the substantive engagement with the patterns within the present age operates as a preparation for the broader fulfillment that the biblical witness anticipates. The volume closes, therefore, with both the substantive engagement that the present age requires and the eschatological hope that extends beyond it, and the combination provides the foundation upon which the diagnostic instruments that follow can be appropriately employed.
The Lord whose ministry confronted the first-century religious establishment is the same Lord whose authority extends across the conditions of the present age, and the standards that He articulated in His earthly ministry remain the standards by which the conduct of every credentialed class is to be evaluated. The application of those standards to the contemporary institutions within which credentialed classes operate is the substantive work that the analytical foundation of the twenty white papers has been preparing, and the diagnostic instruments that follow will provide the practical tools for that work. The volume concludes its substantive analytical examination with the recognition that the work has only begun, that the substantive engagement with the patterns the work has documented will continue across the institutions and the lives of those who take the work seriously, and that the engagement is conducted under the authority of the same Lord whose original critique of the religious establishment provides the foundational standard against which all subsequent institutional patterns are measured. The Name above every name is the Name of Jesus Christ, and the standards He articulated remain the standards by which every credentialed class must finally be evaluated.
Notes
Note 1. The analytical work of this paper has drawn together the cumulative findings of the previous nineteen papers of the volume, with attention to the broader pattern that those findings reveal. The work has not introduced new empirical material to the analytical examination but has performed the synthetic work of articulating the broader recognition that the empirical material of the previous papers supports. The recognition has been implicit throughout the broader argument of the volume, but the explicit articulation of the recognition has been reserved for the present paper, where the cumulative weight of the previous analytical work provides the foundation upon which the explicit articulation can proceed.
Note 2. The anthropological foundation examined in the second section draws upon the broader recognition that the patterns the volume has been documenting cannot be adequately explained through reference to the particular features of any specific institutional or cultural context. The recognition directs the analytical work toward the consideration of what features of the human condition produce the patterns the volume has documented, and the consideration draws upon the broader resources that the biblical perspective and the analytical literature on human institutions provide. The four features of the human condition examined in the section are not intended as an exhaustive enumeration of the relevant features but as a representative selection of the features that contribute most directly to the production of the patterns the volume has documented.
Note 3. The civilizational manifestations examined in the third section have been drawn from the cumulative examination of the previous nineteen papers of the volume, with attention to the consistency that those manifestations exhibit across the diverse contexts the previous papers have examined. The recognition of this consistency supports the broader argument that the patterns operate as features of a universal underlying temptation rather than as features specific to any particular civilizational context. The four dimensions of consistency examined in the section are not intended as an exhaustive enumeration of the relevant dimensions but as a representative selection of the dimensions that most directly establish the universality of the underlying pattern.
Note 4. The theological foundation examined in the fourth section draws upon the biblical resources that the volume has been employing throughout, with attention to what those resources reveal about the underlying condition that produces the patterns the volume has documented. The section identifies the fallen condition of human nature as the underlying condition that produces the patterns, and the identification proceeds within the broader theological framework that the biblical perspective the volume maintains throughout has been articulating. The reference to the eschatological consummation that the biblical witness articulates should be understood within that broader framework, and the reference does not depend upon any particular eschatological framework that is foreign to the biblical perspective.
Note 5. The implications examined in the fifth section address the relationship between the substantive analytical work of the twenty white papers and the diagnostic instruments that will follow. The diagnostic instruments will provide practical tools for the identification of the patterns the volume has been documenting within any institutional context in which the patterns appear, and the tools will draw upon the analytical framework that the cumulative work of the volume has established. The relationship between the white papers and the diagnostic instruments is the relationship between the substantive analytical foundation and the practical applications that the foundation supports, and the relationship operates throughout the broader structure of the volume.
Note 6. The conclusion of the substantive analytical work, articulated in the sixth section, returns to the recognition that the Lord whose ministry confronted the first-century religious establishment is the same Lord whose authority extends across the conditions of the present age. The recognition is essential for understanding the broader theological framework within which the analytical work of the twenty white papers has proceeded, and the recognition provides the foundation upon which the diagnostic instruments that follow can be appropriately employed. The reference to the Name of Jesus Christ as the Name above every name draws upon the canonical witness of Philippians 2:9–11, and the reference articulates the controlling theological framework within which the substantive engagement with the patterns the volume has been documenting must finally be understood.
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Hoekema, A. A. (1986). Created in God’s image. Eerdmans.
Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (Rev. ed.). Crossway.
Keller, T. (2008). The reason for God: Belief in an age of skepticism. Dutton.
Kuyper, A. (1898/1931). Lectures on Calvinism. Eerdmans.
Lewis, C. S. (1942/2001). The screwtape letters. HarperOne. [Cited for analytical observations about the operation of temptation; broader theological framework is not fully endorsed.]
Lewis, C. S. (1947/2001). Miracles. HarperOne. [Cited for analytical observations; broader theological framework is not fully endorsed.]
Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (1959). Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Eerdmans.
Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (1968). Romans: An exposition of chapter 6, The new man. Banner of Truth.
MacArthur, J. (2007). The Jesus you can’t ignore: What you must learn from the bold confrontations of Christ. Thomas Nelson.
Manton, T. (1693/1962). A practical commentary, or an exposition with notes on the epistle of James. Banner of Truth.
Mohler, R. A. (2008). Culture shift: Engaging current issues with timeless truth. Multnomah.
Murray, A. (1895/1982). Humility: The beauty of holiness. Whitaker House.
Murray, J. (1955). Redemption accomplished and applied. Eerdmans.
Murray, J. (1957). Principles of conduct: Aspects of biblical ethics. Eerdmans.
Niebuhr, R. (1932). Moral man and immoral society. Charles Scribner’s Sons. [Cited for analytical observations about institutional behavior; broader theological framework is not endorsed.]
Niebuhr, R. (1941). The nature and destiny of man, Volume 1: Human nature. Charles Scribner’s Sons. [Cited for analytical observations about human nature; broader theological framework is not endorsed.]
Owen, J. (1656/1991). Indwelling sin in believers (W. H. Goold, Ed.). Banner of Truth.
Owen, J. (1668/1991). The mortification of sin in believers (W. H. Goold, Ed.). Banner of Truth.
Packer, J. I. (1973). Knowing God. InterVarsity Press.
Packer, J. I. (1990). A quest for godliness: The Puritan vision of the Christian life. Crossway.
Piper, J. (1986). Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian hedonist. Multnomah.
Piper, J. (1995). Future grace: The purifying power of the promises of God. Multnomah.
Powlison, D. (2003). Seeing with new eyes: Counseling and the human condition through the lens of Scripture. P&R Publishing.
Ryle, J. C. (1879/2014). Holiness. Banner of Truth.
Schaeffer, F. A. (1972). He is there and he is not silent. Tyndale House.
Schaeffer, F. A. (1976). How should we then live? The rise and decline of Western thought and culture. Crossway.
Sproul, R. C. (1985). The holiness of God. Tyndale House.
Sproul, R. C. (1986). Chosen by God. Tyndale House.
Stott, J. R. W. (1986). The cross of Christ. InterVarsity Press.
Stott, J. R. W. (1992). The contemporary Christian: Applying God’s word to today’s world. InterVarsity Press.
Tozer, A. W. (1948). The pursuit of God. Christian Publications.
Tozer, A. W. (1961). The knowledge of the Holy. HarperCollins.
Trueman, C. R. (2020). The rise and triumph of the modern self: Cultural amnesia, expressive individualism, and the road to sexual revolution. Crossway.
Van Til, C. (1955/2007). The defense of the faith (K. S. Oliphint, Ed.). P&R Publishing.
Veith, G. E. (1994). Postmodern times: A Christian guide to contemporary thought and culture. Crossway.
Vos, G. (1948/1975). Biblical theology: Old and New Testaments. Banner of Truth.
Warfield, B. B. (1948). The inspiration and authority of the Bible. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing.
Watson, T. (1668/1965). A body of divinity. Banner of Truth.
Wells, D. F. (1993). No place for truth: Or whatever happened to evangelical theology? Eerdmans.
Wells, D. F. (1994). God in the wasteland: The reality of truth in a world of fading dreams. Eerdmans.
Wells, D. F. (1998). Losing our virtue: Why the church must recover its moral vision. Eerdmans.
Wells, D. F. (2005). Above all earthly pow’rs: Christ in a postmodern world. Eerdmans.
Wells, D. F. (2008). The Courage to be Protestant: Truth-lovers, marketers, and emergents in the postmodern world. Eerdmans.
Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual disciplines for the Christian life. NavPress.
Wright, C. J. H. (2004). Old Testament ethics for the people of God. InterVarsity Press.
Wright, C. J. H. (2010). The mission of God’s people: A biblical theology of the church’s mission. Zondervan.
