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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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).
* * *
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.
* * *
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.
