MISSION
HΞRITΛGΞ COUNSΞL is dedicated to advance the transforming truth of Christian faith and promote its excellence in the public life, by preparing the hearts and minds of the believers and thinkers in reinforcing a robust biblical framework and addressing the challenges offered by our society through a collective strategy involving proper cultural exegesis..
VISION
Equipping a cross-cultural and international team of biblically-minded and servant-hearted leaders to promote an articulate and intelligent voice in bringing the truth of Christian faith to bear on the big questions of life, with a strategic emphasis on removing the gap between the sacred and the secular and maintaining a healthy balance between faith and reason.
INTRODUCING HERITAGE COUNSEL
“…everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim.- 3:17
Undeniably, Christianity has offered much to the world. The legacy of Christians is that
of engaging the world with truth and pursuing God’s restorative purposes for all people.
However, today it is hard to deny that we are living in challenging times culturally. The church’s
influence is seemingly fading, and we are struggling to provide robust and authentic answers to
some complex questions threatening the very fabric of our society. We are undoubtedly living
amidst an age of polarity, which has disrupted traditional model of collective existence built
strategically on the foundations of a grand narrative that aimed at promoting truth, goodness, and
beauty. Today, church’s prophetic presence in the world is being questioned and violently
suppressed. Christianity is now merely seen as an echo chamber that has come to be regarded as
a historical vestige and is relegated to the sphere of traditional obligation. Christians are no more
perceived as the moral gatekeeper of the culture, as they are failing to demonstrate their faith as
public truth and culturally plausible.
I would like to paraphrase Dr. King’s council on the Church and State relations in stating “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the [culture], but rather the conscience of the [culture].” I would even argue that Gospel is not to be seen as separate from culture; “Gospel is culture”. We have forgotten that we are called to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world (Mat. 5: 13-14). Speaking at a time of cultural upheaval Dr. King argued, that church “is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.” Today, this is particularly true in the West.
By taking a posture of silence and mostly a reactionary approach, we have surrendered to the cultural rejection of the sovereignty and ownership of God over all of our life and have thereby condemned the soul of Western civilization. Yes, we are called not to love the world, but we are surely called to impact the world so that the world may love the Lord. It is true that no earthly kingdom can replace the kingdom of God, but we are called to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. This act of prayer reified in all aspects of life recognizes God’s sovereignty and ownership over all of creation. In the midst of seeming cultural captivity, Christ is not only the final word; He is the Word that continually redeems our past, present and future.
Man without God is doomed within a vicious cycle of sin that prompts him to call good evil and evil good. We as a society are far from gauging the ethical ramifications of our unguarded exploits. We may not have completely abandoned the truth, but we have become habitual in taking a piece of truth captive and detaching it from other truths. Truth is now fragmented and therefore relativized to the realm of subjective preferences. We have atomized knowledge so that we may manipulate, control and use it for our own personal gains. Facts, ideas and other elements of intellectual life have been consciously trimmed off from truth and knowledge has been relegated to the realm of doubt and skepticism.
People now mostly conceive their world in tiny bits of disconnected reality based on their mental appropriation and they experience those realities based on their personal feelings. Unfortunately, many Christians have also succumbed to this. Truth is now taken to be a fabricated knowledge meant to be harvested, processed, and marketed. It is now naked of any soul-commanding dimension. Our postmodern impulse toward atomizing culture into politically correct categories has made our intellectual vocations no longer vulnerable to knowledge tensed with moral and spiritual values.
It is within this cultural landscape and amidst a crisis of a grand narrative and bleak realities HΞRITΛGΞ COUNSΞL seeks to develop Christian influencers who are willing to demonstrate an enduring resolution to the most vexing issues that concern our common public life. Every generation cultivate their influencers, who may either bring about redemptive transformation or moral degradation. The choice and responsibility is ours’ to help believers know this and prepare them to vanquish every argument and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
HΞRITΛGΞ COUNSΞL seeks to enthrone Christ in our public life by summoning the church into the margins and also to the center of cultural influence, not because God is not already there, but because God has commissioned us to be his ambassadors of reconciliation. To traverse ethereal and unfulfilling promise of radical individuality by fighting against a culture that is in the effort of making everyone common. HΞRITΛGΞ COUNSΞL therefore aims to create uncommon people who are willing to battle for the human spirit and live for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.
FOUNDER
Dr. Jacob Daniel
Founder
J acob Daniel is an international speaker, apologist, and cultural analyst.
Born and raised in India, he grew up amidst diverse cultures and worldviews. Over the past 15 years he has travelled and lived in different parts of the world pursuing education and career in diverse disciplines. He received his pre-doctoral degree in India and did advanced studies in International Development at the University of Manchester (UK). It was during this time his interest in theology and philosophy grew; subsequently, he went to the University of Oxford to study theology and to Biola University to earn a degree in Christian Apologetics. Jacob has a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Biola University. Jacob’s specific interest is in the area of cultural analysis and the role and relevance of Christian faith in the public life. Jacob’s speaking engagements have taken him across the globe to address topics such as culture and transformation, faith in the Public Square, cultural apologetics, and theology & mission in the 21st century. Jacob is married to Preeta since 2008, and they currently live in Los Angeles, California.
IMPACT
- Restoring and Promoting God’s Order of Dependent Relationship—To God, To others, & To the world.
- Creating an Authentic Public Square
- Setting Cultural Parameters
“Being the church community that God has set at the center of the world to keep the world centered.”