Excellent periodical for the intellectual who would like a critical analysis of christian, philosophic and historic books.
I did find the product to be very large (like a newspaper) making it difficult to store away (and you will want to store this item). However, it remains a great read and reference!
Also, the advertisments are quite appealing to the intellectual.
One of American evangelicalism's sympathetic critics once asked whether there is such a thing as a Christian mind. For all sorts of reasons some more than justified questioners, skeptics, and malnourished pilgrims have produced negative responses to the query.
But perhaps things are better than all that.
If encouragement may be taken from BOOKS AND CULTURE: A CHRISTIAN REVIEW, there is hope for the kind of wide-ranging integration of faith and the intellect that is so routinely dismissed as implausible by the cynical, the misinformed and those who have yet to discover the intellectual renaissance among evangelicals that has populated university departments (philosophy and physics spring to mind as parade examples) with proponents of robust biblical faith.
A publication of the Christianity Today empire, BOOKS AND CULTURE provides a forum for some of the most incisive writing and cutting-edge thinking to be found among Christians anywhere. One is not talking about puff pieces and cotton-candy testimony.
Rather, the kind of thoughtful and self-critical engagement with the Great Conversation and myriad contemporary issues that one expects in the fat intellectual monthlies and the Reviews of the New York and London Times are on offer here, and in abundance.
This reviewer who fights his wife for possession of each issue and sometimes finds them tucked away in bedroom squirrel-holes of which she believes him to be ignorant has watched this young-ish paper emerge as something of a renegade among evangelical organs and find its voice and stride within just a few years. Its trajectory has not been far from astonishing.
CHRISTIAN CENTURY was once known for thought of this quality and still hits the occasional home run. If it can sustain its current run, BOOKS AND CULTURE looks rather to be the .325 hitter of which franchise glory is made.
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One of my favorite magazines and one that deserves wider reading. I love the breadth of coverage ... history, current culture (though pretty much limited to American culture), politics, philosophy, science, film, music, theology and, of course, books! The reviews have gotten me to read quite a few books I otherwise would not have found. I also read First Things and do not agree that its coverage or authorship is broader, but in any case don't limit yourself to one or the other--take a look at both. You can of course access both through their web sites and see what kinds of articles are included in their issues.
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I had heard of "Books & Culture." I had never read it. And then a good friend from college called one afternoon and told me he was sending me a gift subscription. I've never enjoyed a periodical this much. It has given me hope.
When George W. Bush was reelected the word "Evangelical" was spoken across the country in blame. Regardless of your political stance, the point is that the Evangelicals were seen as stupid enough to reelect what much of the rest of the nation saw as a poor president. Even today, "Evangelical" is often used to connote backwardness or stupidity. But "Books & Culture" blows this assumption out of the water.
Have you stumbled across another publication that will voice God-fearing perspectives on gender roles in the church, current philosophy and theology, current film and literature, politics, economics, and cultural phenomena such as the internet? This is "Books & Culture's" most recent issue, thoughtfully done and honestly written, even when the conclusions reached seem somewhat outside of the traditional conception of things.
As a subculture, we love answers. But it seems we are entering a new period of growth in our communities, one in which questions will be equally important and appropriately valued. Why not begin with the tough questions? You'll find many of them in "Books & Culture."
ALong
P.S. Dennis, if you ever read this, thanks for the subscription, bud.
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Books and Culture is one of the few magazines I've found that woos me, as a Christian, into deeper, more thoughtful, Christ-centered engagement with academia, politics, culture, the media. Presenting articles and reviews by thinkers/academics/jourmalists from a wide range of the Christian doctrinal/confessional/political spectrum, it rigorously examines the trends and thoughts of our day in a way accessible to average idiots like me. Some of the best writing I've seen on issues the Church needs to grapple with is found here.
I look forward to every issue, and have neither kept nor thrown away any of them -they all end up in the hands of friends.
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In the recent past, I've subscribed to Vermont Life. Unfortunately, that magazine was full of more advertisements than Vermont Life. I thought this year, I'd give this publication a try. What a wonderful surprise! I've received my 1st issue and its full of interesting articles about my beloved state. I realize that some advertising is a must, but it was refreshing to read this magazine.
