The necessity of assumptions

"No coherent thought is possible without taking some things as given. It is not difficult to show, in respect of every branch of knowledge as it is taught in schools and colleges, that there are things taken for granted and not questioned, things which could be questioned. No coherent thought is possible without presuppositions. What is required for honest thinking is that one should be as explicit as possible about what these presuppositions are. The presupposition of all valid and coherent Christian thinking is that God has acted to reveal and effect his purpose for the world in the manner made known in the Bible. " (Gospel in a Pluralist Society p8)

To elucidate these assumptions, I have found few more helpful questions than those Andy Crouch offers in Culture Making:

1. What does this cultural good assume about the way the world is?
2. What does this cultural good assume about the way the world ought to be?

In creating new opportunities that announce and embody the good news of Christ, we need questions like this to help us examine our assumptions so that we may do honest, faithful Christian thinking . . . and action. In so doing, our actions ought to call into question all aspects of culture that are gospel-rejecting.