Sociologists often organize populations according to the generational differences they observe and then create categories with labels and timeline distinctives.

In 1976, Newsweek magazine proclaimed “the year of the evangelical,” with a cover story on being “born again.” It charted the expanding influence of evangelical churches, which were theologically and politically diverse, and, the article argued, were positioned to have a major impact of the nation’s public morality. After all, evangelicals were strategically important in the election of Jimmy Carter, a self-professed evangelical who talked of being born again. Today, few would portray the evangelical movement with such positive qualities.

Telling the story of an individual is an important exercise, for a historical narrative often reveals the character of a person and the long-run effects of historical actors and events. We can learn much from narratives. The Bible is filled with historical narratives and, among other things, reveals the purposes and goals of God, who acts in space-time history to accomplish His redemptive plan. So, how culture tells a story—creates a narrative—is quite important.

Today, yoga is part of a global wellness industry worth $25 billion. Alistair Shearer, a historian of Yoga, demonstrates that “in the US alone, the number of people doing yoga shot from 4 million in 2001 to more than 37 million by 2016.” Yoga today is associated with physical fitness, good health and clean living; 80% of yoga practitioners today are women. But few know that yoga has its roots in ancient and medieval India in the worldview known as Hinduism.

Rosaria Butterfield, former tenured professor at Syracuse University and former radical lesbian feminist, came to know Jesus Christ through the love and compassion of a pastor and his wife stretching over three years. She describes her conversion as a “train wreck,” for God had to dismantle her entire worldview, replacing it with the worldview detailed in Scripture. Butterfield is now married to a pastor in North Carolina, is a homeschooling mother and continues using her giftedness as a writer and speaker. She recently summarized a question and answer session she was hosting on a college campus in which she detailed her conversion to Jesus Christ.

Human depravity distorts and twists everything, creating chaos and disorder in the culture and its institutions. The first and most important institution God created was marriage and the family (see Genesis 2). What is it current condition? In our democratic-republic, education is intended to be a cooperative and dynamic enterprise involving the public school and parents. What is the condition of the public school movement? The state, an institution created by God to promote justice and thwart evil (see Romans 12:1-10), has taken on the role of a “savior,” ostensibly taking the risk out of living. The family, education, the state—each has been impacted by the depths of human depravity.

The radical ideology of gender and sexual fluidity and of transgenderism in the 21st century has reached an absurd level. Consider a recent ACLU objection to a sales tax on tampons and similar products: “How can we recognize that barriers to menstrual access are a form of sex discrimination without erasing the lived experiences of trans men and non-binary people who menstruate, as well as women who don’t?”

The cultural and ethical confusion over the transgender phenomenon in western civilization is manifested in several ways. For example, this confusion poses potential danger to children 12 and over through the use of puberty blocking drugs. These are children who purportedly are suffering from “gender dysphoria”—the distress caused by feeling that one’s sex at birth and gender identity does not match.

Should Christians accommodate to their culture, to its values, its virtues, its ethical standards? Instinctively, the answer is no. But it is important to understand what the American culture believes and values. What are its standards for authority? Since at least the 1960s, America has accepted two sources of cultural authority

Philosopher and theologian, David Bentley Hart, currently a professor at the University of Notre Dame, is often provocative and controversial. A former Anglican, he converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and writes prominently on major doctrinal issues of Christianity. His most recent book, That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell and Universal Salvation, argues for universalism—that ultimately God will save everyone, thereby rejecting any belief in a literal hell.