Books

My Top 5 Books on Popular Culture

Identity49% Muslims in the U.S. who say they think of themselves first as Muslims rather than as Americans.70% Evangelicals in the U.S. who say they think of themselves first as Christians rather than as Americans.Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press35% American Muslims who say Islam is the one true faith leading to eternal salvation.51% American evangelicals who say this of Christianity.Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the PressReligious FreedomSource: Pew Forum on Religion & Public LifeSpiritualitySource: Barna GroupCopyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.Related Elsewhere:See our earlier “Go Figure” postings from September 2011, August 2011, July 2011, June 2011, May 2011, April 2011, February 2011, January 2011, December 2010, November 2010, October 2010,September 2010, and earlier issues.
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Neil Postman

Extends Marshall McLuhan’s argument that the mode in which content is delivered shapes us as much as the content itself. In other words, “The medium is the message.” Postman looks at how images and sound change the way we actually come to know reality.

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Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It Thomas De Zengotita

Read this book, along with Neal Gabler’s Life: The Movie, and watch Merchants of Cool (PBS) to grasp the dehumanizing effects of today’s electronic mediators.

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It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God Ned Bustard, Editor

Artists show how we can be the creators—not just critics—of culture. Thoughtful, insightful essays wrestle with the theology and practice of the creative enterprise. You’ll see hints of classics from Madeleine L’Engle (Walking on Water), Hans Rookmaaker (Art Needs No Justification), and Richard Niebuhr (Christ and Culture).

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A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor

Bill Romanowski (Eyes Wide Open), Robert Johnston (Reel Spirituality), and Jeffrey Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly) helped us find God in film. Now Detweiler and Taylor guide us in discovering God in other art forms.

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Identity49% Muslims in the U.S. who say they think of themselves first as Muslims rather than as Americans.70% Evangelicals in the U.S. who say they think of themselves first as Christians rather than as Americans.Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press35% American Muslims who say Islam is the one true faith leading to eternal salvation.51% American evangelicals who say this of Christianity.Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the PressReligious FreedomSource: Pew Forum on Religion & Public LifeSpiritualitySource: Barna GroupCopyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.Related Elsewhere:See our earlier “Go Figure” postings from September 2011, August 2011, July 2011, June 2011, May 2011, April 2011, February 2011, January 2011, December 2010, November 2010, October 2010,September 2010, and earlier issues.
Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture: Bridging Teen Worldviews and Christian Truth Walt Mueller

Mueller listens to faith and culture and interprets each to the other in a way that builds bridges, not walls.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Previous top 5 lists had books about the Civil War, apologetics, atheism, and sex.

More book reviews are available on our site.

The Culturally Savvy Christian is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

Staub’s website and blog, “where belief meets real life,” has a section on The Culturally Savvy Christian.

In The Dick Staub Interview, formerly a weekly feature on our website, Staub spoke with writers, theologians, and other cultural influencers.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

The Mission Of Business

News

The Men of Boystown

Bookmarks

Everyman Meets Jesus at Jack-in-the-Box

Africa Unbound

Traveling with Wesley

Deconstructing Dawkins

Surprising Candor

The Evangelical Elite

Review

<em>Idol</em>'s Worshiper

Scripture and <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>

Work <em>Is</em> Our Mission

Answering the Atheists

Non-Holy Work

<em>More</em> Free, At Least

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Developing Good Development

News

In the Aftermath of a Kidnapping

News

Short-Term Troubles

News

Missions Isn't Safe

News

Edgy Grace

News

Bowing to Kigali

Q&A: Kay Warren

Getting Back on Course

News

Passages

Editorial

Dr. Luther's Tribulation

News

Go Figure

News

News Briefs: November 07, 2007

News

Quotation Marks

News

Haggard Reprimanded

News

Free from State Oversight

News

Filling in the Blanks

News

No Mercy for Grace Churches

News

Pius and Impious

News

Surviving the Mortgage Crisis

News

Dispensational Dustup

News

Faith-Talk Surprise

View issue

Our Latest

The Bulletin

Young Republican Texts, Anglican Split, and George Santos Released

Controversial Republican texts, Anglican Communion splits, and George Santos’s sentence is commuted.

Review

Do Evangelical Political Errors Rise to the Level of Heresy?

A Lutheran pastor identifies five false teachings that threaten to corrupt the church’s public witness.

Highlights and Lowlights of 1957

In its first full year of publication, CT looked at Civil Rights, Cold War satellites, artificial insemination, and carefully planned evangelism.

News

Will There Be a Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Conservatives suggest country and Christian artist alternatives for game day.

News

As Madagascar’s Government Topples, Pastors Call for Peace

Gen Z–led protests on the African island nation led to a military takeover.

News

Amid Fragile Cease-Fire, Limited Aid Reaches Gazans

Locals see the price of flour rise and fall as truce is strained and some borders remain closed.

News

Federal Job Cuts Hit Home as Virginia Picks Its Next Governor

Meanwhile, the GOP candidate draws from Trump’s playbook to focus on transgender issues in schools. 

Religious OCD and Me

Scrupulosity latches onto the thing we hold most dear—our relationship with God.

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