Culture is the way that humans organize their lives in a particular place and time. It includes everything from our language to our customs, to our values. As image-bearers of God, we are called to be salt and light in culture, bringing redemption and transformation to all areas of life. However, often the relationship between faith and culture is hard to navigate. The Way of Christ in A Vision for All of Life by Benjamin Quinn and Dennis Greeson provides a framework for how to think rightly about the relationship between faith and culture. The authors survey the biblical narrative to develop a theology of culture. They focus on knowing one’s time in God’s story, one’s place in creation, and following the way of Wisdom. These themes help Christians evaluate their callings and responsibilities in society and equip them with the categories to think Christianly about every arena of culture.

Christians in the modern West hear a lot about—and talk a lot about—“freedom.” The word has taken on so many meanings that Christians often fail to realize how much our contemporary ideals of freedom stray from what freedom has meant in Scripture and the Christian tradition. Called to Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License by Bradford Littlejohn seeks to define and disentangle theological, moral, and political concepts of freedom and provide a deeper understanding of what true Christian freedom is—liberation from the bondage of fear and sin. Littlejohn builds his argument from the Protestant doctrine of Christian liberty anchored in Martin Luther’s Reformation classic The Freedom of a Christian. He then looks at conflicts over technology, the market, and religious liberty as case studies of how a full-orbed Christian idea of freedom helps us respond faithfully to these challenges in our spiritual lives, our churches, and our civic engagement. Littlejohn argues that a great source on contemporary social problems and trends towards illiberalism derive from a faulty understanding of human freedom which places individuality and authenticity as the highest good for society. Littlejohn argues that the Christian tradition presents a much more compelling vision, namely that freedom cannot lead to flourishing for everyone unless it is rightly ordered to God’s moral commands and divinely ordained sources of authority in our lives. As such, he presents a case against modern secularism and charts a vision for what Christian faith actually has to say to our political and social lives.

Wonder and awe of the beautiful is essential to the human experience. Our souls are often shaped and formed by the aesthetic experiences provided by the Creator. When we neglect this aspect of our lives, we fail to realize how God has created us uniquely to not only enjoy beauty, but to also create the beautiful. A distinctly Christian vision of these realities opens our eyes to see how God has enchanted our world to draw us toward Him, the source and substance of beauty, for a deeper experience of the Christian life. In Drawn by Awe and Wonder in the Christian Life, pastor and theologian Matthew Z. Capps points to the reality that our spirits are formed by God through the beautiful experiences that he offers. This book is a call to not only acknowledge the effect that beauty has on the human spirit, but it is an appreciation of the obviously divine presence in the things of this world that are truly awe inspiring.