Cultural Engagement

Joshua Chatraw (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the director for New City Fellows and the Resident Theologian at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. His books include Apologetics at the Cross, Cultural Engagement, Truth in a Culture of Doubt, and Truth Matters. He is a fellow with the Center for Pastor Theologians and has served in both pastoral and academic posts during his ministry.

Christians talk a lot about cultural engagement, but our dismal record in recent decades suggests that our engagement strategies need a lot of work. In this provocative and timely book, Joshua Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior have convened a wide-ranging cast of authors to debate the most pressing issues facing the church today.

• Introduction: A Call to Cultural Engagement Part 1 - Charting a Course for Cultural Engagement1. Defining Culture: How It Cultivates and Communicates2. Understanding Christian Approaches to Cultural Engagement: Why the Categories Help and Hurt3. The Centrality of the Gospel in Cultural Engagement4. The Importance of Virtue and Skill in the Practice of Cultural EngagementPart 2 – Practicing Cultural Engagement5. Engaging on Homosexuality Views - affirming, non-affirming (traditional and third-way)Contributor Pool - four or five of the following: Matthew Vines, Luke Timothy Johnson, Robert Gagnon, Albert Mohler, Denny Burk, Wesley Hill, Matthew Lee Anderson, Preston Sprinkle, Todd Wilson6. Engaging on GenderViews - egalitarian, complementarianContributor Pool - four of the following: Rachel Held Evans, Jen Wilkin, Courtney Reissig, Lynn Cohick, Michael Bird, Craig Blomberg, Ben Witherington, Jillian Ross, Andreas Kostenberger, Tom Schreiner7. Engaging on War and WeaponsViews - pacific, just war, anti-gun, pro-gunContributor Pool - four of the following: Stanley Hauerwas, Ben Witherington, Preston Sprinkle, Russell Moore, Joseph Loconte, John Piper, Rob Schenk, Karen Swallow Prior8. Engaging on Reproductive TechnologyViews - no abortion, abortion in difficult cases, pro-choice and pro-IVF, pro-life and pro-IVFContributor Pool - four or five of the following: Francis Beckwith, John Stonestreet, Charles Camosy, Ellen Painter Dollar, Matt Appling9. Engaging on RaceViews - landscape, positive toward Black Lives Matter, negative toward Black Lives Matter Contributor Pool - four of the following: Trillia Newbell, Anthony Bradley, Voddie Baucham, D. A. Horton, Thabiti Anyabwile, Alan Noble10. Engaging on IslamViews - same God, different GodContributor Pool - Miroslav Volf, Nabeel Qureshi11. Engaging on Creation and Creature CareViews - landscape, pro-global warming, skeptical of global warming, animal welfare, meat eatingContributor Pool - five of the following: Steven Bouma-Prediger, Mark Liederbach, Kathryn Blanchard, Kevin J. O’Brien, Alexei Laushkin, Calvin Beisner, Christene Gutleben, Sarah King, Joel Salatin12. Engaging on PoliticsViews - Kuyperian, Benedict Option, Paleo-Baptist, Religious Left, Religious RightContributor Pool - five of the following: James K. A. Smith, Amy Black, Rod Dreher, Scot McKnight, Nathan Fin, Russell Moore, Bruce Ashford, Jim Wallis, Tony Perkins13. Engaging on Work Views - Transformational, Two Kingdoms, pro women working, against women workingContributor Pool - four of the following: Timothy Keller, Greg Forster, Stephen Grail, Michael Horton, Greg Gilbert, Kevin DeYoung, Katelyn Beaty, Owen Strachan14. Engaging on the ArtsViews - Christian art, culture making, insufficient questions, avoiding sex and nudity, engaging sex and nudityContributor Pool - five of the following: Philip Ryken, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Andy Crouch, Alissa Wilkinson, Tim Challies, Craig DetweilerConclusion: A Realistic Hope