The second chapter of the third essay of James Davison Hunter’s To Change The World is called “Old Cultural Wineskins.” The abstract of this chapter, from Hunter’s website, reads as follows:

If sincerity were the same thing as faithfulness, then all would be well, for Christians, as a rule, are nothing if not sincere—not least in their desire to be “faithful in their own generation.” However, wisdom is required. The changes that have brought about the challenge of difference and dissolution go right to the core of the ability of Christians to live out there faith with integrity.

The three political theologies are the leading public edge of three paradigms of cultural engagement: “Defensive Against,” “Relevance To,” and “Purity From.” All three approaches develop strategies to address difference and dissolution and each approach is equally problematic. So the question remains: How can one be authentically Christian in circumstances that, by their very nature, undermine the credibility and coherence of faith

http://jamesdavisonhunter.com/to-change-the-world/chapter-abstracts/

Hunter provides a good analysis of the three leading political postures among Christians, with corresponding phrases to help us understand them. He then looks at how each of these cultural stances deals with the problems of distance and dissolution (discussed in the previous chapter).

Hunter finds that the “relevant to” camp tends to abandon the struggle for difference. The “defensive against” has maintained distinctiveness, but has done so through an aggressive and confrontational approach. The “pure from” group has withdrawn from large sections of social life. None of these approaches, Hunter claims, seems to be adequate for the pursuit of faithfulness in this world.

In the following chapters, Hunter will seek to find an alternative way.