Aug 19, 2008
Coffeehouse Theology Review on Publishers Weekly
After taking a few weeks off from blogging due to our vacation at Lake George and some other summer projects, I’d like to begin my return by announcing the good news that my book Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life received a nice little review at Publisher’s Weekly. I count myself fortunate enough to have even been reviewed in the first place, but it’s a double blessing for the review to be not only an accurate summary of the book, but a generally positive evaluation of my work.
When you’ve invested lots of time on a project like this, on and off no doubt, for the past four years, it’s a wonderful relief to read this review. I’m particularly thankful that the reviewer caught on to my vision for greater Christian unity. Here’s the full review from the Publishers Weekly site:
Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life
Ed Cyzewski. NavPress, $14.99 paper (240p) ISBN 9781600062773
Freelance theologian Cyzewski enters into the Emergent conversation from the conservative end of the evangelical spectrum. He urges readers to explore theology while reassuring them that they don’t have to become postmodern philosophers: theology can be considered, as it were, in the coffeehouse. Arguing that “[o]ur local settings and cultural values—in other words, our context—influence how we read God’s Word,” Cyzewski approaches “contextual theology” by weaving together discussions of mission, culture, God, Scripture, tradition and the global church. Personal anecdotes of his own growth in faith are disarming in their honesty. While this accessible work is a useful introduction to aspects of Emergent theology, Cyzewski’s summary of modernism and postmodernism is sometimes too sketchy to be useful; however, each chapter includes valuable suggestions for further reading. Gently nudging his fellow Christians to listen to diverse points of view, Cyzewski doesn’t explain why he is committed to engaging in dialogue with some aspects of culture and not others (say, progressive theologians and secularists). This addition to books about emerging and missional forms of Christianity ends on a hopeful note for unity across denominations. (Sept.)
If that has you interested, the book and it’s study guides are available for pre-order with most book dealers such as Amazon.com.
