The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite - Softcover

Staub, Dick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470344032 ISBN 13: 9780470344033

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2008

Synopsis

In The Culturally Savvy Christian—his incisive critique of contemporary culture and religion—Dick Staub concludes that though it is influential, American popular culture is generally superficial (diversionary, mindless, and celebrity-driven) spiritually delusional (moralistic, therapeutic, and deistic) and soulless (sustained not by art, craft, and ideas, but by the mad pursuit of profit—propped up by marketing and technology). Similarly American Christianity has devolved into its own mindless, diversionary, and celebrity-driven superficiality.

Because humans are created in God's image with spiritual, intellectual, creative, moral, and relational capacities, we long for more, yet the true seeker faces the lose-lose alternatives of a soul-numbing culture and a vacuous Christianity-lite. The renaissance we need in both faith and culture will originate in a deep spiritual renewal that restores God's image in us and creates a new breed of culturally savvy, thoughtful creatives who rekindle the spiritual, intellectual, and creative legacy of Christians as enrichers of culture.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"I think Dick Staub is right: the Christian community in the United States is at a crossroads. If we don't heed the voices of 'culturally savvy' and reflective leaders like Dick, our children and grandchildren will inherit forms of religion that are unworthy of their loyalty and commitment. But if we take these voices seriously, we could be on the verge of a new era of Christian faith, life, and mission—good for our churches, our children, and our world."–Brian McLaren, author and activist (brainmclaren.net)

Our frenzied and fickle worship of vapid celebrities; ostentatious displays of wealth; and fake, plastic perceptions of human beauty speak volumes about the soulless nature of our contemporary culture. How can Christians buck the trend to both experience and create a rich, satisfying spiritual and cultural life in a spiritually, intellectually, and creatively impoverished age?

In his incisive critique of contemporary culture and religion, Dick Staub concludes that though it is influential, American popular culture is generally superficial (diversionary, mindless, and celebrity–driven) spiritually delusional (moralistic, therapeutic, and deistic) and soulless (sustained not by art, craft, and ideas, but by the mad pursuit of profit propped up by marketing and technology). Similarly American Christianity has devolved into its own mindless, diversionary, and celebrity-driven superficiality.

Because humans are created in God's image with spiritual, intellectual, creative, moral, and relational capacities, we long for more, yet the true seeker faces the lose-lose alternatives of a soul-numbing culture and a vacuous Christianity-lite. The renaissance we need in both faith and culture will originate in a deep spiritual renewal that restores God's image in us and creates a new breed of culturally savvy, thoughtful creatives who rekindle the spiritual, intellectual, and creative legacy of Christians as enrichers of culture.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Culturally Savory Christian

"A provocative indictment of and suggestions for revitalizing both popular culture and the fallow state of Christianity in this country . . . "
—Kirkus Reviews

"Some Christians bemoan culture's vulgarities and believe that deepening ?faith requires us to withdraw into cocoons of Christian isolation and churn out happy-feely Christian art, but Staub warns us that this is not the way of Christ. Instead, he explains that like C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Dostoevsky, 'Christian artists are not bound to create religious art, but they understand that their exploration of everyday human occurrences is guided by their walk in faith.' The Culturally Savvy Christian encourages us to peer through the pop culture fog, dismiss the fluff, and reach for the life-changing, the thoughtful, and the meaningful."
—Image, A Journal of the Arts and Religion

"Dick Staub has watched from a unique vantage point as our culture—not least our Christian culture—has been sliding into more and more of a muddle and a mess. Now he offers a sharp, many-sided analysis of where we've allowed ourselves to get to—and a bracing, fresh prescription for how Christians can and should be leading the way through and out into a wiser, richer mode of being human. This is an urgent book for our times—and for our health."
—N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, author of Surprised by Hope

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0470344032
• ISBN 13: 9780470344033
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256