Where Does Culture Come From?

As we stare at the end of our great culture, this, maybe more than any other, is the fundamental societal question of our time.

75. Where Does Culture Come From?

The man with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a man is not subject to any man’s judgment, for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

Today there is much talk about culture. Culture wars. The destruction of our culture for political gain. The preservation of our culture. The life cycle of a culture. What is “western” culture? When did it start and what makes it unique? Can our culture be preserved? What is culture? I have no illusions that I am going to answer all of these questions. Lengthy treatises have been written on the subject. But there is one question in this tangled knot about which I have some thoughts: where does culture come from, and how is it generated? It is not as easy a question as one might think to answer. That the word “culture” comes from the Latin meaning to cultivate or to grow does help some, but what are you growing and how do you grow it? It has been noted that at the hea…