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