Author: Michael J. Sleasman
Located in: Deerfield, IL
Submitted: January 11, 2007
Tell us a little about yourself. Kevin Vanhoozer is Research Professor of Biblical
and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical
Divinity. Charles Anderson is a PhD Candidate at
the University of Cambridge. Michael Sleasman is a
PhD Candidate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
What was your motivation behind this project? Charles Anderson and I were both using this basic
approach to cultural engagement that we learned
from Kevin in a number of ministry venues,
including Sunday School and the Christian college
classroom. We found that both the students and
adults easily adapted the approach to their own
contexts, which led to stimulating theological
interaction with cultural ideas that ranged from
the mundane to the highly provocative.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? Generally speaking, students, theologians,
pastors, and church leaders are well-trained in
the task of biblical exegesis. Where many fall
short, however, is in the area of cultural
exegesis--reading and interpreting the texts and
trends produced by our culture, which can have a
profound influence on the way we understand the
world and practice our faith. Anyone interested in
the intersection of Christianity and culture needs
to be able to do "everyday theology," that is, to
think theologically about our cultural environment
and pass it through the grid of Scripture, in
order to respond faithfully as Christian disciples.
With an emphasis on both methodology and case
study, Everyday Theology is well-suited for
classroom use as well as the Adult Sunday school
class. A significant introduction by Vanhoozer
lays out the hermeneutical method for engaging
with culture that carefully balances the impulse
of charitably reading the culture and critically
sifting it through a theologically interpretation.
This is followed by a series of essays from young
scholars and church leaders that engage cultural
texts and trends, from the music of Eminem to the
grocery store checkout lane to the phenomenon of
Internet blogs. A concluding chapter walks the
reader step-by-step through the interpretation
process with an additional case study.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: Our goal as editors was to produce a volume on
theological engagement that is just as useful in a
church-based small group as it is to a Christian
college or seminary classroom. Our hope is that
readers will walk away not just better
interpreters of the world around them, but as wise
Christian agents impacting that very world.
