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Review: Cultural Engagement

In Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan Academic, 2019), Joshua Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior discuss how Christians should handle cultural issues that are not necessarily addressed in the Bible. The authors first offer a model for cultural engagement before introducing key views on major cultural issues, including sexuality, gender roles, human life, immigration and race, creation care, politics, work, arts, and war. Bringing together respected writers—both from the academy and the church, across various disciplines—Chatraw and Prior have compiled a robust volume of perspectives on current cultural issues. The essays, however, do not remain speculative but always have a view toward informing engagement with the world. Therefore, while one may not necessarily agree with every chapter, each certainly offers a new way to consider how to be a Christian in a changing world. Each chapter is short and manageable, and some are more technical than others. This is a terrific reference work for understanding the key positions on crucial debates so that Christians can have more informed, well-rounded, and charitable conversations for the sake of Christ’s kingdom.

(A complimentary review copy was given in exchange for an honest review.)

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