Month: October 2008
Resources for Wisely Engaging Culture
The issue of how to engage the fuzzy issues of culture came up last night in our Partners Class. How should Xns respond to the so-called ethical “gray areas”? In order of most to least accessible, here are a few resources to help you cultivate cultural discernment:
Articles
- Start using this cultural continuum.
- v.Culture by yours truly.
Journals/Magazines
- First Things
- Gospel & Culture Project
- Check out Ransom Ministries and their thoughtful magazine Critique which is free by request/donation.
- The Other Journal
Accessible Books
- All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes (Ken Myers) – don’t let the lame title fool you. Myers is the producer of Mars Hill Audio, an audio journal that robustly addresses matters of faith and culture. This book provides a concise biblical theology of culture, followed by a medium is the message approach to cultural engagement.
- The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite by Dick Staub
- Culture Makers (Andy Crouch) – excellent stuff. Main thesis is that we need to focus less on transforming culture and more on making good, true, and beautiful culture.
Academic Books
- Everyday Theology. The first chapter is worth the book. See short review here.
- Read Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture.
- I am slow to recommend D.A. Carson’s Christ and Culture Revisited. It is unnecessarily dense and confusing in places, but his thesis is excellent–how should biblical theology help us rethink Niebuhr’s categories? See my blog reviews of the book here.
- Translating the Message by Lamin Sanneh.
- Trilogy by David Wells
The Bible as a Glossy Magazine
Read about the new version of the Bible called The Book here.
The Bible/Book/Best Marketing Story Ever Told?
Ever feel uncomfortable carrying your leather Bible around? Now you don’t have to. The Book is a glossy, magazine-style version of the New testament filled with modern images to illuminate the ancient text. Everything from Coca-cola to Angelina Jolie, all in your New testament–the Good News translation or TEV.
Dag Soderberg, former marketing guru and former CEO of one of the largest advertising firms in Scandinavia, is the visionary behind this project. Soderberg says the aim of this edgy Bible is to get non-readers to read the Bible. He notes that the text is more powerful than the church. Is there agenda? They claim no agenda and write:
“The goal is to drive an emotional reaction and get people to think, discuss and share. It’s meant to trigger bigger moral questions. It in turn will help people to understand the common heritage between all religions through the Bible’s text. We hope people will find the images, design and layout intriguing—intriguing enough to talk about the actual stories in the Bible and what the morals and lessons mean to them and to each other.“
Ten percent of Stockholm turned out for the release of The Book. Bible sales in Sweden increased by 50%. Director of Marketing for The Book points out that “smart, educated, urban influencers, young, who know in their heart of hearts that they should probably have read the Bible but never have.”
It appears that Soderberg’s impetus isn’t evangelism; it’s moralism and education. To discuss and learn the morals of the Bible, to learn our history, to be touched by its message. Other literary texts are scheduled to undergo similar publication. Will you be picking up a copy?
You can preview The Book here and order it from Amazon and read an NPR interview here.