Develop your theology of technology
926986
Book Review: From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology by John Dyer
The author reveals the origin and history of technology from a biblical point of view. His work will help ground you in your theology of technology so that you can lead others through the same exercise to strengthen their lives so they will know why they are to use it. He clearly points out that technology is not neutral and that believers need to think through and understand the power of technology to bless or curse their lives. This book is John's effort to help us "understand how we can fulfill our role as God's image-bearers in a world very far removed from the garden". He has sought to "dismantle the concept of technology, examine it carefully, and then put it back to together again" while retelling the story of technology in a way that honors the Lord and "the reason He put us here on earth". He will help you understand how mankind has used technology to shape the world and how it can "in turn shape us". I believe John has successfully fulfilled his purpose for the book. I have marked it pages with my highlighter and pen along with posted notes for quick reference in the future. I highly suggest you do the same to help prepare yourself and others to deal properly with the power of technology.
3534472
This is truly a great book for those who want a concise history of the development of Western Theology. What makes it truly outstanding is that it's not just a history lesson, but it explains the discussion's implications/relevancy for contemporary theology. You won't need to be an expert to follow the discussion (though some knowledge of church history might be helpful, though not necessary).

As an evangelical, I have been rather frustrated with evangelicalism's view of salvation as simply a door into heaven. It has left me despairing of relevancy considering the fact that I'm not in heaven yet but still living in the here and now. This book explains how much of traditional Christian theology (including evangelicalism but also Catholicism and liberal Protestantism) is based on a specific interpretation of the Bible and theology originally based on Tertullian's legalistic theology (what the author calls type A theology: the Bible is a set of laws to be obeyed). This theology has been mixed with Augustine's Neo-Platonism (type B theology) resulting in the theology dominant in the West:a theology that interprets Scripture as a set of fixed, universal truths that need to be followed. God is the Judge that will punish any deviation herefrom.

But the author shows that there was an early theology, originally from Syria and probably closest to the tradition of the New Testament. The author calls it type C theology and considers Irenaeus its main exponent. This type of theology has disappeared due to social and political circumstances. But it's a theology that considers the Christian faith not a set of rules to be obeyed, but God's active participation in the history of mankind. In this theology history is the stage where His purposes will unfold, where His kingdom of justice will be established. This Christianity is not just relevant for the individual Christian who wants to "change his bad behavior" but for the whole Christian community fighting evil in all its forms and manifestations (including society's). And thank God this theology is experiencing a revival thanks to the end of modernity, the fight for social justice (for blacks, women, the poor) and the resurgence of the younger churches from the Third World (and I'm a woman from the Third World).

Anyways, a book that has made me think extensively and is helping me free myself from more traditional theology that IMHO has immasculated much of the liberating, earth-shaking, life-transforming, yes, even politically subversive elements of the gospel.
2874617
Great introduction to importance of theology without the abundance of standard theological verbiage.  Excellent read and quite practical.  I would recommend!
1715
Leonard Sweet has written this book to help the body of Christ minister to today's culture.  He dubs this culture TGIF: Twitter, Google, iphone, Facebook.  The two groups of Christians he addresses are the Gutenbergers and the Googlers, the word-based Christians and the relationship-based Christians.

Gutenbergers, named for the inventor of the printing press, value the written Word of God.  Over the past several centuries they have expanded global missions, translated the Bible so that diverse peoples can read the Word for themselves, created an impressive array of church programs, and given humanity big ideas like religious toleration, the rule of law and freedom of speech. They tend to value individual effort and the accomplishment of goals.  Their methods were amazingly effective in many ways for the culture that preceded the recent revolution in communication technologies.

Googlers, named for the dominant search engine on the internet, value relationships.  In many ways, Googlers seek to reestablish the human relationships that formed the backbone of pre-industrial societies--and to accomplish it using cutting-edge technologies.  Like neighbors over picket fences, they read each other's tweets and status updates.  They are lost if their phone battery dies and they lose connection with their network of friends.  While Gutenbergers fear that Googlers' relationships are shallow, many Googlers would counter that they interact with their family and friends more regularly than a workaholic Gutenberger.  Through blogs, tweets and social networking profiles, Googlers can create a network of influence and relationships that can lead to opportunities to advance the Kingdom.

If the church is to reach a lost world, it must reach the world as it is, not as it was.  Gutenbergers like myself need to learn the culture and learn to value human relationships over church programs, people over policies.  Working together, Googlers can help the Gutenbergers enjoy relational evangelism (the kind Jesus did) and avoid nasty legalism.  Gutenbergers can learn the language of the new culture while maintaining their rightfully high regard for the Word of God and helping Googlers achieve depth as well as breadth in their lives.
I highly recommend this book for bookish curmudgeons and iphone addicts alike.

Sweet's writing style is conversational, but he includes enough footnotes to let you know he's not just making this stuff up.  This book is practical and theoretical, broad and deep--great reading for everyone.

I received an electronic review copy of this book for free from the publisher for this review.
4646774
It not only helped me to understand better the technology but also explains the relevance of the use of environmental projection in churches today. In a much deeper way,  I've learned about  how we can tell stories of eternal value that will change lives and inspire people to live a more meaningful life through the use of arts and technology.

Inspired art and sacred space can invite people who are deep in their walk with God as well as those who have just begun. Art enables us to see the world or a story as the Holy Spirit desires us to.

Excerpt From: Luke McElroy. Environmental Projection. Orange Thread Media LLC, 2016. iBooks. [...]
4906319
I am a theology major, in my second year. I have begun reading this book out of genuine interest to learn how to help other people. If you feel the same need, to put your faith to work to help others, I highly recommend this book. There are a lot of good ideas on counseling, and coming from a pastor, there are a lot of things as I am reading I personally make note of to apply to my own ministry once I am given my own congregation. Even as a layman or serious Christian there are still many tips for application. Best wishes to the readers.
-Ryan
2332247
I appreciate the work that Tim Challies and Josh Byers completed on this work. It is theology brought to life! Many people have a hard time understanding the nuances of Theology and this book by far makes it easier to understand. Although, we will never know everything there is to know regarding theology, Challies does an excellent job in providing this resource. This is a resource that will be helpful not only to Pastors but to lay people as well. The important thing is we have become a theologically defunct culture. In a lot of pulpit's today, theology is not even being preached nevertheless written about. I am grateful for this work and I am hoping that many people will take advantage of this resource that makes learning theology simple. This will serve as a great primer into learning more about the study of God.
1166863
Susan Windley-Daoust represents a new generation of systematic theologians who are engaging with real-life issues of concern to all people. Here, she brings John Paul II's extensively-discussed theology of the body into new conversations surrounding life, death, suffering, impairment, and disability, and does so by engaging with contemporary developments in theology of vocation, theology of the gift, theology of grace, theology of the Holy Spirit, and theology of the people of God. The Theology of the Body, Extended is important not least for illuminating the existential questions and concerns of an aging Baby Boomer generation, but the entire volume urges Christians across the life span to the divine call to live faithfully into our embodied creatureliness in light of the Christ event and the Spirit's outpouring on all flesh. The challenges of life become opportune windows into the spiritual dimension in these pages. Here is one systematic theology you will not want to put down.
3487893
This is a theology book, first and foremost. If you don't have formal theological training (like me), you might stumble over some of the references.  But there were some good insights here in how to view dementia, not just Alzheimer's, from a more holistic, theological perspective.  I've already loaned the book and have a feeling I'll never see it again!
3364643
This book is excellent. It has quickly made it to my go-to list of books I recommend to others.

There are many books out there that talk about either the merits of technology, or the fall-out caused by it, but this is the only book I have found that asks us to develop a well thought out framework for understanding how technology impacts us and then using that framework to shape our future choices. The author avoids making technology a saint or a sinner, and instead calls us to see the impact it is having on us, while we are using it to impact the world around us.

This book should make it into the canon of must-read books for the modern Christian, beside Francis Shaeffer's "The God Who is There," CS Lewis's "Mere Christianity" and others.
553751
Technology and Spirituality is a subject that has caught my attention. As a TA in researching the link between the two subjects Spykers book was on my list of must reads.

  The Luddite metaphor is a striking link between churches that shun progress and those that embrace technology in  the church. Having read Spyker's dissertation Spirituality and Technology: A study in frontiers, I can most assuredly recommend this book as capturing the highlights of Spirituality and Technology. Skip the dissertation! It rambles and does not contain the scholarly element most found in dissertations.

  Technology and Spirituality is a simple and good read for those beginning an initial investigation into how our spiritual lives and paradigms need to change. Spyker's book gives simple suggestions how we as a church can assist in facilitating these simple changes.

Alexandra Kealey
2927172
In Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life, Ed Cyzewski offers a welcoming introduction to how laity should begin to work out theology and doctrine in a postmodern context.  Providing a succinct and fast-paced introduction to the cultural changes that have shifted the way Americans think from The Modern Age to the plethora of possibilities that make up our current cultural context, Cyzewski navigates the turbulence of contemporary philosophical discussions and misinformation and enters into a stirring discussion of how every member of the Church must do theology and not know theology.

At the center of this book is the shift from "knowledge" to "understanding." Whereas the Scientific Method has influenced our culture to think in terms of data, knowledge and absolute Truth the postmodern age does not question the veracity of these claims but instead the knowability of such claims---in other words, Cyzewski works out the "postmodern age" much like the postmodern philosophers since the 1950s would want it to be: a realization that we cannot know everything so we must be humble.  When we do theology contextually, that is by being humble enough to realize that we are biased by our culture and our traditions and that there are different biases and different traditions in other cultures, we move from the battle of knowing doctrine and to a conversation like one would have in a coffeehouse (civil, polite, understanding, and loving).  As Cyzewski notes,

  "Doing theology in a postmodern context challenges us to read Scripture with an awareness of how our culture influences who we are and how we see the world, while dialoguing with Christians from history and around the world.  This process involves reading Scripture, and then rereading Scripture in light of what our traditions and global believers teach us."

At its worse, the framework for theological conversations since the Reformation has not been ecumenical but divisive, and Cyzewski is right to call the Church to task for conducting its theological discussion as a fight and not as a coffeehouse conversation.  Cyzewski reminds us that, "if love for God and for one another guides us while we form theology, then we will be wary of accumulating knowledge as a matter of pride."  This forms the paradox of theology in the postmodern context as opposed to The Modern Age, and gets to the heart of the shaking science-based foundations on which Modernism approached theology:

  in the Modern Age more theology meant more knowledge and more divisiveness.
  in the Postmodern age more theology means more understanding and more love.

As the belief that man can obtain all knowledge is slowly thrown into the wastebasket of intellectual history, we are reminded that in our humility we should look at theology not as a finite project, one that will lead us to all knowledge concerning God and the Church, but as an infinite project where "contextual theology ends up being an ongoing process, a conversation we have between the Bible and the influences of our culture, traditions, and global Christians."

Informally written, well paced, and easy to digest, I sincerely recommend Coffeehouse Theology as an excellent introduction to theology in a postmodern context and especially for book clubs or small group meetings.  It is sure to spark excellent conversations about how to have theological conversations!
4200825
Theology is the study of God. In recent years, weve seen a steady increase of good solid systematic theologies that seek to lay out for readers what the authors think about a variety of theological issues. One of these recent volumes is The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way by Michael Horton. Over the years, Ive read quite a few systematic theology texts. Where Hortons effort shines the most is in not just its examination of what the Bible teaches, but its wide coverage across a variety of theological spectrums. The author demonstrates a high degree of knowledge about the topics he discusses from a biblical, historical and theological perspective. Along with this, he engages with various Christian movements from within the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions.

Rather than get into every jot and tittle of this book as it is massive, I want to highlight a few things I appreciated about this book. First, as I noted in the first paragraph, this systematic theology is biblical. Those who are Reformed will appreciate how the author talks in covenantal language. Those who aren't Reformed will still appreciate the fair manner in which Horton engages the various perspectives on these theological issues. Second, this book is unapologetically written from a Reformed-Presbyterian perspective which means Reformed Baptists will likely not agree with Hortons view on baptism. Yet, agreeing on every point isn't needed for one to enjoy this book. What is needed is to consider what Dr. Horton says and to learn from it. If we as Christians are going to engage one another across our various theological perspectives, it is important that we understand what each other believes and why we believe it, especially when it comes to what can be rightly labeled as secondary and third order doctrines. The Christian Faith is systematic theology at its best, biblical, historical, engaging and practical. This explosive trifecta makes this a systematic theology worth picking up, and referencing for years to come.
3295936
Probably one of the best reviews on "Bible Codes" crossing several technological and theological arenas (Equidistant Letter Sequences -ELS, microcodes, macrocodes, codes embedded in life - DNA).  Excellent introduction to the technical problems and solutions to encoding information and how the problems are solved.

How would the Ultimate Mathematician communicate with His creation?  Would HE send a message that a man could create?  Would HE send a message that had proof embedded to verify HE sent the message (digital signature)?  If there is such a set of messages, what is the information in this set of messages?

Evidence is abundant and well sourced in the book.  The conclusion is left to the reader but this book will increase the faith of the the Bible believing population and draw the sceptic to reevaluate the evidence.

Would also recommend Dr. Missler's web site khouse.org and the technical section for those looking for scientific articles on various topics.
4790911
A Hope Deferred is a book about theology told through the story of real life. It's a trend I've seen increase over the last five years in theology books for the average Christian and it's a positive trend in the way we teach theology.

It's a book about the Yuille's adoption and infertility but it's much more. Yuille from the start assures the reader that his story of adoption is a backdrop to much larger truths about God. "The main theme of this book is God, and its lessons extend well beyond infertility and adoption to affliction in general" (12). Yuille alternates short memoir chapters with chapters filled with robust exposition of Romans 8.

Yuille works within Romans 8 sticking close to the text. Everything he says flows out of this chapter and Paul's theology of adoption and more directly from our union in Christ ("We don't receive anything from God apart from union with Christ" 19). These are the winds beating against our hearts in this book.

One of my favorite chapters contained exposition of Romans 8:26-27 in connection with Christ's prayer for our unity in John 12. He compares and contrasts the essential unity in the Trinity, the hypostatic union in the person of Jesus Christ, and the mystical union between Christians and Jesus Christ. He highlights that the essential unity within the Godhead functions as a pattern for our mystical union with Jesus. That's encouraging and assuring. That's objective. What's in Christ can never be dissolved anymore than God himself could be separated

If you're looking for a book that deals with suffering and hardship from the theology perspective, A Hope Deferred fits the bill. It tackles a tough topic from one the richest chapters on adoption and our union with Christ in the New Testament. It's conversational with a slight bent towards those conversant with theology.
396553
Rick Cornish, 5 Minute Theologian:  Maximum Truth in Minimum Time (Colorado Springs:  NavPress), 2004, Pp. 324.

I liked the author as soon as I came across his motive for writing this book.  On the sixth page of the introduction, Cornish writes, "My first reason for writing 5 Minute Theologian originated from my role as a dad reading to my sons...to develop their spiritual growth and prepare them for life as thinking Christians" (p. 20).  Here's a dad who takes seriously his responsibility and privilege to raise his sons in the "training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).  Here's a father who could echo Solomon's advice, "Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching" (Proverbs 4:1-2).  Although our culture has lost its way with respect to parenting, according to Tedd Tripp, here is one Christian man who values his children as gifts from God (Psalm 127:3) and who understands his responsibility to direct and teach them (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).  As a parent, you just have to like someone with those values.

With that motive in mind, you would naturally expect a loving approach.  The tone and style of the book are simple, clear, accurate, memorable and purposeful.  The format of this book, exactly 100 three-page essays devoted to a theological theme, is ideal for use with a spouse, teenagers, or for private reading.  You really can read through each chapter in five minutes or less.

Cornish bemoans the fact that theology is "sadly neglected in our day."  This book addresses this need by offering "capsule explanations of essential Christian beliefs."  Theology's job is to spell out the faith so as to:  a) guard us from error; b) defend itself against attacks; and c) explain the gospel to those interested.  I recommend this book for teenagers and above.  Although all terms are clearly explained, the author does use some big words like immanence, transcendence, hypostatic, kenosis, imputation, propitiation, etc., which might bog down younger readers.  This would be an ideal reference for a college freshman.  Once this book is read, I recommend J.I. Packer's Concise Theology or R.C. Sproul's Essential Truths of the Christian Faith which are more meaty treatments of the same theological concepts.
4258922
If you never read this book the whole way through, but were to simply read the introduction, you would not be able to look at the technology we often take for granted the same way again. In his book "The Next Story- Life and faith after the digital explosion", Tim Challies (timchallies.com) gives us an insightful and well thought out look at how we handle this common grace in our lives. He breaks the first half of the book down to three subjects (Theology/Theory/Experience) and unpacks each very well with some overlap, while the second half is filled with an excellent history of technology, followed by some challenging applications for all of us.

I listened to the audiobook and it doesn't drag you on and on as if to just fill up space.  Each chapter had something very insightful to give.  I hope this book begins to shape the way people approach technology