Kline, Meredith. Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations For a Covenantal Worldview. (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2006).

Man has from the beginning of time needed a way to live harmoniously to the greatest extent possible with other men and with God. In a prelapsarian world the degree to which that was attainable had no cap upon its value. In what Kline defines as “ the megapolis”, the fullness of covenantal relationship was to be achieved through an aggregate of city-life in which God’s epiphany as “glory spirit” was at the center.

Kline articulates a dualistic view of postlapsarian humanity and culture, and thus city-life, where earthly community and the descent of man is characterized by a common and unholy nature instead of regular and holy communion with God on the path towards fullness and completion. At the heart of this discussion is the question which aspect of the berith was influenced by the fall. Does the nature of the relationship between man and God change and thus indicate a need for reconciliation? Or is man’s inherent nature and essence reduced to a state of commonness such that his work is no longer considered part of God’s kingdom? Whether the relationship or our inherent nature was changed in God’s covenant with man or some combination of the two will determine our view of the purpose and destiny of man, culture, and the redemptive work of the gospel.

Kline continues the discussion through the particular emphasis of the city in postlapsarian creation. As an ordinance of common grace, the city is not redemptive in its nature. Kline fundamentally sees the city in the kingdom of God as an aspect of covenant community in a theocratic world. The focus of such a city was vertical, orienting man constantly in relationship to God. It was concentric. It had an axis about which the metapolis revolved. It fundamentally consisted of a heavenly focus constantly orienting man in an outwards direction away from himself and upwards into communion with God.

The particular method by which this city ceased to be is answered by the covenantal change. If indeed the covenantal relationship was at the root of the fall’s effects then the dynamic and structure of the city assumed a literal expulsion of man from this city. If the inherent nature and essence of man was the influence, then his desires for dominion and changed and caused him to seek horizontal movement away from the vertical city.

The shift in focus from vertical to horizontal brings up a natural disharmony within man because it is not the natural order of things. Throughout a history of civilization and architecture we see this discomfort manifested in a zealous desire to reorient ourselves and our architecture vertically. The most explicit (and arguably consequential) example is the episode of the tower of babel which is thoroughly analyzed for its ramifications on the structure and destiny of humanity in Kline. Wonderful examples still remain of ancient cultures who sought to orient themselves communally with gods in Egypt, Greece, South and Middle America, etc., but were limited in scope by their relative technology.

Modern cultures have erected temples to different gods with different technologies and are reaching unparalleled heights but are driven by the same fundamental notion: a recognition of disharmony in personal and cultural lives. One thinks of Dubai for example and the ongoing construction of SOM’s Burj Dubai, already the worlds tallest building and still climbing.