The author of this book died in June 1978, but his tapes and written material were taken up by his wife and publisher. I came across the book while doing research for an undergraduate assignment on culture as a component of worldview. Although the material in the book is now more than two decades old, I found it quite fascinating, and knew immediately that I would have to include a review on the Christian Subculture web-site.

One of my index pages is headed "Scriptural Basis for Christian Subculture" so I was interested that more than half this book is a cultural survey of the Bible. With special emphasis on Genesis, Daniel, John and Acts, Hopler highlights the cultural lessons in the unfolding of the Bible. For instance, the Jews in the time of Daniel were taken away into Babylon, and some were scattered further afield. So Hopler says:

"The Jews have always had power beyond their numbers because they learned a style of life that was taught to them by God. And we should learn from them." (p54)

and…

"That is the kind of people we should be - spreading all over the world and working our ways into the economic and political structures of every kind of nation and capturing it for Jesus Christ. Not necessarily by becoming the prime minister, but by just being there and having influence." (p55)

Hopler's survey of Acts is particularly helpful, as he traces the expansion of the Gospel across cultural barriers. It took time, but the early church finally realised that the Gospel was supracultural, and not just an offshoot of Judaism.

The section on cross-cultural communication is also interesting, especially when Hopler discusses the urban setting. Without foreseeing the e-mail, mobile phones or the Internet, he accurately portrays the major trends in communication, namely that geographical boundaries would be less important that a shared profession, interest or value system. Our best friends and associates will probably not be our geographical neighbours.

Hopler would probably not have described Christianity as a subculture, although this book heads in that direction quite often. His concern is for the Church's witness to be effective and he makes some excellent points in this regard.