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

Joe Maxwell

News

The Men of Boystown

Jeremy Schneider

Bookmarks

John Wilson, editor of 'Books & Culture'

Everyman Meets Jesus at Jack-in-the-Box

Jerry B. Jenkins

Africa Unbound

Jonathan J. Bonk

Traveling with Wesley

Deconstructing Dawkins

Logan Paul Gage

Surprising Candor

The Evangelical Elite

Interview by Tim Stafford

Review

<em>Idol</em>'s Worshiper

LaTonya Taylor

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

Interview by Collin Hansen

Work <em>Is</em> Our Mission

Uwe Siemon-Netto

Answering the Atheists

Non-Holy Work

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

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Developing Good Development

Greg Snell

News

In the Aftermath of a Kidnapping

Sarah Pulliam

News

Short-Term Troubles

News

Missions Isn't Safe

A Christianity Today Editorial

News

Edgy Grace

Todd Hertz

News

Bowing to Kigali

Q&A: Kay Warren

Interview by Timothy C. Morgan

Getting Back on Course

Ajith Fernando

News

Passages

Editorial

Dr. Luther's Tribulation

A Christianity Today Editorial

News

Go Figure

News

News Briefs: November 07, 2007

News

Quotation Marks

News

Haggard Reprimanded

Sarah Pulliam

News

Free from State Oversight

Lisa Parro

News

Filling in the Blanks

Elizabeth Lawson

News

No Mercy for Grace Churches

Susan Wunderink

News

Pius and Impious

Sheryl Henderson Blunt

News

Surviving the Mortgage Crisis

Brad A. Greenberg

News

Dispensational Dustup

Sarah Pulliam

News

Faith-Talk Surprise

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

View issue

Our Latest

News

Families of Venezuelan Political Prisoners Pray for Their Release

The acting president proposed an amnesty law, yet hundreds remain in prison.

The Jewish Archaeologist Who Inspired A Generation of American Christians

Gordon Govier

Pastors, students, and researchers have Gabriel Barkay to thank for insights into biblical history.

We Are Not Workhorses

Xiaoli Yang

In a culture that champions power, Proverbs 21:31 reframes what strength and victory look like for Chinese Christians.

Public Theology Project

When Christians Contemplate Assisted Suicide

Answering a reader’s tragic question requires more than a sound theology of hell.

I Failed to Mature as an Artist—Until I Learned to See

Drawing is a way of entrusting what I can see to the care and attention of God.

We Are Obsessed with Gender

With incoherent language trickled down from academic theorists, we think and talk about gender incessantly—and to our detriment.

Jesus Did Not Serve Grape Juice

Why reopen debate about what we serve for Communion? Because it matters that we follow God’s commands.

How A Pastor’s Book Inspired a New Rom-Com

Mike Todd’s book, Relationship Goals, gets a spotlight in a film aimed at both Christian and secular audiences.

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