Chaplain’s Chat

Culture is a funny thing. While many people will have a different understanding of what culture is, culture is certainly the ideas and beliefs of a certain group of people in a society. As Kevin Vanhoozer argues, it produces and reproduces shared social meanings, values, ideas and beliefs. In short, it is seen in what people do. And, of course, within every group of people in society there will be different subsets and ideas. Perhaps in Australia, despite the often-perceived cultural basis of the larrikin attitude, at a deeper level, many are searching for that Holy Grail of ‘the good life.’

And yet, within every culture, we don’t have to look far to find people searching for meaning in their lives. It has been seen in all cultures throughout the ages. Even the most primitive of cultures have expressed their desires for the spiritual and knowledge of the transcendent. As we have looked through the book of Acts this term in Chapel, we have seen that even the first century Greeks had their gods. As Paul walked through the city of Athens, he could say: ^23 ‘For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god.’ (Acts 17:23). In many ways, we are not much different to the people of the first century, as we search for meaning in life and even reflect on the transcendent. However, Paul then goes on the mention the life-changing events of the resurrection of Jesus. This changes everything, and the big claim of the Bible is that it gives us the answers about God Himself and life. Now that is a culture changer!

Reverend A Benn
Chaplain