Refreshing View of religion and technology
590733
This novel is a hopeful and intriguing view of a potential future for humankind that would combine spirituality and science.
66258
I enjoyed this book immensely. The authors have made a successful venture into a much trodden land. There are many books out there bewailing the attraction modern culture has for today's christians. As Solomon puts it, there seems to be no end to books. These two authors have managed to bring up their concerns about our fascination with modern culture and chastise us at the same time. However, they have done it in a loving way and offered some kind alternatives. I especially enjoyed their view of Facebook and while there were sections that struck close to home, agree with their overall point about social media. I also was pleased with the way they pulled in references from music, literature and art to help illustrate their points. To reference back to Mark Noll's book from last century, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, it is good to see that at least with these two authors there does indeed seem to be an evangelical mind or two out there. The book is a challenging read, both mentally and spiritually, but on the other hand not too deep leaving it highly readable.
3330180
In the busyness of our lives, we often lose focus and connection with our Creator. In this book, Matt Knisely helps us see God throughout the hurriedness of our days.

He states the following regarding technology: "When it comes down to it, technology has created a culture of distraction, keeping us stimulated by things that don't really matter." "My digital connections are more important than the people in front of me..." is the message that we send to people when we are immersed in technology.

We think we have the world at our fingertips with internet access readily available. However, have we ever considered how out of touch we are with life right in front of us?

This book is a helpful tool for stopping and seeing what matters and how it is often right in front of us...but the problem lies within our mis-focus & busyness with insignificance.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the booklookbloggers.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
320094
I thought that this was a really interesting and thought-provoking book.  It really plays with the idea of how easy it is to start a new religion and has plays with some interesting aspect of religion.  Keep in mind that this is not a book about religion; rather, it is an intriguing coming-of-age story with a religious twist.  The characters are interesting and fun, there are some funny pop culture references, and the plot moves forward well.  Hautman also delves into the mythology of the religion the boys created, and that is very interesting.  Overall, a thoughtful and fun read.
2520654
I think we have been smothered by the American Religion so much, that we fail to see it for what it is, self serving and suffocating. This book is not the first to define it, but Mr. Altucher's take on the current state of America is refreshing. We don't really need to have 401Ks, home ownership, or retirement at 65. None of those things will really improve the quality of your life relative to their costs. Yet those concepts are thrust down our throats as gospel. This book opens the path toward releasing yourself from that forced reality. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
210268
I enjoyed reading this book which gives insight into how technology can become a substitute for meaningful relationships.
It helped me recognize some areas to pay attention to such as texting, and social media interaction. Very well written with personal reflections of the author's knowledge of just how abuse can hurt financially and personally. Would highly recommend this as a knowledgeable and insightful read  which offers applicable ways to escape some of the pitfalls of 'Technology Overload'.
529456
This is a very readable narrative that pulls together a great many philosophical, religious and secular sources to explain, in an interesting way, the influence of cultural situations on ones beliefs.  As an early baby boomer, and a student of the natural sciences (but not of philosophy), who had always assumed that the evolution of my personal religious beliefs (and temporary lack thereof) resulted from my own "rational" thinking, this book was very illuminating.  It gave me a historical background to the development of Atheism that I was previously unaware of and explained how my thinking about religious ideas during much of my adulthood has been heavily influenced by popular media and the varied cultural situations I have experienced.  It has given me much to think about as I approach the twilight of my own life.  I highly recommend this book to baby boomers of all disciplines, and to natural scientists of any age.  It is fairly lengthy and somewhat repetitive, but taking the time to throughly read whole book is rewarding.
1509998
Most of us are aware of the vast social changes that the new media are bringing to our lives. As Christians, many of us are concerned about these changes or are at least aware of a "technological imperative". I don't mean the technological imperative that we must use technology but the technological imperative that if we Christians are going to use technology, we'd better know how to use it in godly ways.

Like Tim Challies' excellent "The Next Story," John Dyer's new book, "From the Garden to the City," is an excellent primer on what Christians should think about and how Christians should wisely use technology. In fact, John Dyer has given us a concise but profound theology of technology. Dyer is well-qualified to write this book, having not only a degree in theology but also being the Director of Web development at Dallas Theological Seminary. Many of you may know him from his wise and wonderful blog: doneatthefruit.com.

There are so many wonderful things to commend about Dyer's book, but I'll have to limit myself to a few.

1. First, I love the way that Dyer doesn't just use a few Bible verse to cobble together a theology of technology. Instead, he tells the story of God's relationship with man "From the Garden to the City." You'll be surprised to learn just how important technology is in the Bible! While the Bible begins in the Garden, it ends in a City - the Heavenly Jerusalem.

2. Dyer organizes most of his material around the 4-fold movement of God in his relation to man: Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration. This is a very useful and theological way to think about technology.

3. "From the Garden to the City" avoids the extremes of "technological instrumentalism," which states that our tools are completely neutral and don't actually transform us, and the other extreme of "technological determinism," which states that technology is an unstoppable force that is driving society.

4. Dyer restates a lot of familiar material (for readers who have already investigated the effects of technology on us) from writers like Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman. But he also goes beyond what they've said and extends and applies what these men have said. Along the way, Dyer diagnoses the ways that technology transforms us, even as we use technology to transform the world. He also gives plenty of practical examples, not only from new technologies but also from older technologies.

My favorite example of the importance of older technologies (maybe because I'd already had this thought myself 25 years ago) was how God orchestrated the timing of the Exodus with the new technology of writing.

5. I especially like the way that Dyer provides not only useful definitions (for example, technology is "the human activity of using tools to transform God's creation for practical purposes") but also useful principles. My favorite principle of all is Dyer's guiding principle for technology: "Technology is for the table." That's it. Everything we do with technology "should be directed toward enriching the few, precious face-to-face encounters we have in our busy world."

There's much, much more. But this is a profound and thoughtful book for those who want to delve more deeply into how Christians should think about and use the tools, especially the new ones, that we and our culture are using both for good and evil. It merits a careful reading.
2798841
I reviewed this book for one of my professional journals and consider it to be terrific.  The bulk of it deals with the set of difficulties (and opportunities) that arise when new knowledge is added to old knowledge and how we as a society deal with change, using Jefferson and Darwin -- two intellectual giants -- as examples. Thomson argues that that science and religion are both works in progress, and both require beliefbut of different kinds. Religion requires belief in a certain set of facts, and to a large extent, it is fixed, although many religions allow for continued revela- tion. Science requires that we believe in a process for learning about the worldone in which conclusions are always transitory but the methods are not and in which surprise is one of the great joys.  He also notes that there is a wide range of issues in which science and religion overlap (e.g., contraception, biotechnology, stem cells, cloning, genetic engineering, the rationing of health care, stewardship of the environment, nuclear power and war, global climate change) and that these issues do not concern theological abstractions or the supernatural but concern the conduct of daily life where science has an immediate as well as a principled impact.  Science and religion can go forward in a sensible way by putting aside debates about the literal reading of translated texts or untestable ideas and focusing on joint efforts for improving the world. There is much to be done and little time to be lost.
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!
3318968
Its a great insight to meshing the method of science (physics) and faith. Rather than there being a debate between science and religion you get the feeling of a convergence of two vast areas of human thought and understanding. Tops value.
1853631
Imagine the opportunity to get a serious and accurate glimpse into the future of technology without a real crystal ball? For the consumer it would be an opportunity to best determine how technology will affect your life and impress your friends with your "tech saavy." For the geek/technologist or wannabe entrepreneur, you could plan your career strategy for the future. Well, a very compelling glimpse is available right now provided by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel in their new book "Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future." These two authors give you a wonderful tour of how the technological future is being shaped by contextual awareness. The book is a real page-turner and the only thing to keep you from reading it cover-to-cover in one sitting is the constant interruption of getting on your computer or mobile device in order to check out some of the applications described. The authors have a keen eye for being able to pick out those technologies and concepts that are truly disruptive and innovative.  They are not easily taken by the "gee-whiz" of a technology and thoroughly explore underlying issues such as security and privacy (a good example is their discussion of Google Glass). They are not hesitant to describe the pitfalls that they have personally encountered with these technologies in their own lives. This book is just the latest example of how Israel and Scoble are "must-reads" on the topic of how technology is shaping the global and our personal futures.
2420166
Nice exploration of current happening in Tech. Much more than Popular Science, but not as deep as Scientific American. I look forward to each issue
622614
As someone who is always on a journey to understand truth regarding spirituality and the role of religion within that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  There is a lot to comprehend, but it can be consumed with a lightness that Bryan Winters brings to it.  For anyone who enjoys unearthing reasons why we think the way we do about religion and what might influence us going forward e.g. technology, I recommend reading this for sure.
1556102
This book carries a refreshing, hopeful spirit.  The authors add value to the current conversation about the church in the 21st Century by breaking free from a polarizing discussion about reform.  They point our attention to a creative God inviting us to embrace creativity in the design process.

Allan and Linda also acknowledge that many people who love the church are not in a position to be "designers."  The paradigm (or model) for ministry in their local setting is established.  Ever feel like success stories you have read elsewhere just don't work as well in your context?  There is a way for refiners and re-aligners to find a rhythm inside your current faith community that infuses new life and vision for the future.

One insightful example Linda and Allan use to articulate this process is the fractal theory (pg. 61).  Check it out!
3580339
An enjoyable read with an interesting reality that builds on a number of technologies that already exist (albeit in a more primitive manner).
3860797
The author does a great job of bringing science into his discussion of a topic that is truly beyond modern science. This careful blend of head and heart moves the topic of Heaven beyond fantasy and dogma into an inspiring reality. For this pastor, it was a refreshing read in an age skepticism.