Book review: Integration: A Conversation Between Theological Education and the Letters to Timothy and Titus by David C. Wright

Abstract

the dominant voices in our Christian cultural engagement. But the term “engaging culture” (a term used in the book’s subtitle) is a bit fabricated. It assumes a culture that exists “out there,” and we engage it. The problem is that culture has engaged us before we evaluate it. And so, Bailey wisely guides the reader into discernment rather than the mere evaluation of ideas (i.e., this is good vs. this is bad). Beckoning proverbs, Bailey writes “rightly discerning between the voices (of wisdom and folly) requires us to become a particular kind of person” (p. 7). As such, evaluating the cultural landscape is less a matter of content and more a matter of who’s discernment are we using. Like Paul at the Aerogapus in Acts 17, the gospel comes not as a rejection of culture (“your poems are bad”) or a replacement of culture (“here’s some better poems”) but the fulfillment of culture (“your poems point to something true and good fulfilled in Jesus”). Rather than the stale categories we often inherit in contemporary Christianity, Bailey provides the reader with several lenses on how Christians can more faithfully discern culture. These same categories can apply to Christian ministry and faith integration, as well. Rather than having to reject movies or songs, these five lenses can help us learn something from cultural artifacts. Or rather than having to replace “secular” learning theories from those who aren’t of the Christian faith sources, we can point to the good, true, and beautiful and lead others to see the fullness of Christian theology. I appreciate the range of sources and topics from which Bailey draws. He is theologically and philosophically indiscriminate (a virtue in my eyes). He celebrates truth wherever it is found, which seems to be modeling the posture toward a culture that he recommends throughout the book. Because of his wide range, his approach is dynamic. Bailey attempts to bridge the world of culture and theology in dynamic ways. Striking a balance of what I’ll call “accessibly deep”—he uses complex ideas but explains the in understandable ways—Justin Bailey has written a perceptive work on how exactly we are meant to interpret our world. *A version of this review was originally published in a newsletter from FareForward. http://farefwd.com/index.php/2022/11/30/interpreting-your-world