Back to the Future: The Resurgence of Ancient Cultural Trends
The world is getting stranger in many ways. As the Western world becomes less Christian sometimes it feels like an alien age. When I read the New Testament, it often feels like we’ve gone back to the future—the ethical issues Paul wrote about in the first century are coming back around.
Part of Michael Horton’s argument in Shaman and Sage (which I reviewed here) is that the resurgence of “Spiritual but not Religious” in recent decades dates not from the New Age movement (though it is connected), but from around 600 BC. In other words, what we are seeing is the rising popularity of a perspective on religion that is ancient and that has existed to some degree in all cultures, especially in the last three thousand years or so.
Yet there is more to our current vibe than a vague spirituality. The whole kerfuffle around the debauchery (and likely mocking of Christianity) in the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremonies had a distinctly ancient, pagan feeling. But it’s more than a vibe. We’re seeing a rise in stoicism, especially among young men. There are attitudes and opinions that feel—for those familiar with classical literature—more ancient and more pagan than new.
In his 2010 book Full Circle: How the Classical World Came Back to Us, novelist and columnist Ferdinand Mount makes an extended case that that we are really experiencing a revival of many aspects of the first century AD. If we accept that fact, it makes Christian engagement with culture much more understandable.
Signs of the Times
“We have been on a round trip,” Mount argues. “We have sailed round the harbor and seen the glimmering, misty, limitless sea, and now after nearly 2,000 years we are back at the jetty we embarked from” (7). More significantly, accepting this fact and identifying the points of similarity are, according to Mount, the best way to understand the rising trends in modernity.
Sex is no longer seen as a moral issue. We are overwhelmingly concerned with perfecting our bodies. There is an increase of paganism and, more prominently, pantheism. Texting and social media have catapulted endless, meaningless debate into the cultural mainstream. These are all symptoms of the return of classical attitudes to our modern age.
For Mount, this is largely a good thing. “God’s long funeral is over, and we are back to where we started,” he writes. “We have returned to Year Zero, AD 0, or rather 0 CE, because we are in the Common Era now, the Years of Our Lord having expired” (1). At the end of the book Mount comforts himself after having accidentally urinated on a “plastic figure of the Virgin Mary” with the fact that it’s just a myth, though he intended no sacrilege. Citing the late atheist Daniel Dennett, he realizes that “It’s only a piece of plastic, nothing’s sacred” (384). And yet he can’t bring himself to belittle the desire for sacredness and enchantment that people express.
Mounts book is a bit long-winded at times. It is an intentional celebration of dechristianization, which is sometimes unfair to Christianity. Some of his examples (like the opening chapter on baths) seem a bit of a stretch. And yet, his overall thesis is well-supported. That makes this a helpful book for Christians seeking to understand our cultural moment.
Redeeming the Times
In his letter to the Ephesians, which provides general instructions for the Christian life, Paul urges his readers to “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:15–16)
Recognizing that our culture has returned to ancient patterns is the first step in fulfilling Paul’s instructions. We have to “look” so we can be “wise.” When we do so we gain some understanding of the cultural tides.
Unfortunately, given the overwhelming nature of our primary source of information—social media—we have a tendency to doomscroll rather than to make the best use of the time. We have to understand the times, but we have to do something about them.
If Mount’s thesis is correct—and I think it largely is—then the making the best use of our time will involve digging deeper into classical culture and Christian history to understand how ancient Christians dealt with ancient problems. Then, we will have to apply some of those ancient solutions to our modern communities. No part of that is particularly easy.
But being faithful was never meant to be easy.
The good news is that the ongoing work of retrieving patristic and medieval theology makes the hard work a little easier. The Popular Patristics series by Saint Vladimir Seminary Press continues to revive ancient sources (though often with a bent toward Eastern Orthodox theology). There are evangelicals translating and engaging with early church sources.
So, while it’s not easy, it’s at least feasible to see how earlier generations of Christians responded to cultural challenges that share many characteristics with our own.
Final Thoughts
Mount’s book is not a masterpiece. Some of his chapters seem to drag on and deserve to be skimmed rather than read carefully. However, his overall thesis is helpful. As a non-Christian—even an anti-Christian—his thesis validates the theory I have had for a while that we are seeing ancient cultural themes recycled.
More significantly, Full Circle reminds us of the continuity of human culture and that there is nothing new under the sun. As a result, it’s a helpful source for understanding the times so we can make the best use of our time in these evil days.
I’ve got a chapter in a Crossway/TGC book coming out in 2025, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Consider pre-ordering here:
Reading your Bible is a battle. There’s a reason why Paul lists Scripture as the sword of the Spirit in his discussion of the armor of God (Eph. 6:17). More even than that, Scripture reveals God’s character and is, thus, central to worshiping well (Psalm 119). That’s why reading the Bible is a battle.