Abstract
Interpreting Your World is a compelling text, offering a kaleidoscopic approach of multiple lenses for wrestling with and entering into theological dialogue with culture. In this book, Bailey (Associate Professor of Theology at Dordt University) delves into this ever-growing field with kindness, clarity, and generosity. He approaches cultural concerns from a pragmatic and appreciative standpoint, both affirming the potential goodness of human creative endeavors while acknowledging our shared broken and fallen state. Jesus remains at the center of all, his work in humanity (and thus in our cultural creations) taking precedent over everything else.
Throughout the book, Bailey deftly juggles a multitude of topics: his own selected sets of lenses (meaning, power, ethics, religion, and aesthetics), interpretive practices for each, the priority and primacy of Biblical texts, and current topics of cultural significance: COVID-19, critical theory, the Black Lives Matter movement, and more. It makes for a reading that feels especially timely, though some of that immediacy may fade as time goes on. That is less a critique of his approach itself and more of an acknowledgment that the work in this area is, by necessity, at least partly bound to ever-present creations and issues.
One of the most compelling sections of the book explores the question of how culture works by comparing it to the character and nature of viruses. Bailey suggests that culture can act as a sort of multi-faceted immune system, wherein we find both purpose and meaning, place and identity. Yet even as it has positive characteristics, he says that, just like a virus, culture can also seal us off from others who do not fit the same immune system bubble, causing greater fractures to occur between people as individuals and between the larger groups with which they identify.
While this book is accessible enough to serve as an introduction to the study of theology and culture, it will likely be most helpful for someone who already has a basic grounding in the field, as it operates from a position that theology and culture are vital and necessary conversation partners. While I wholeheartedly agree with that assertion, foundational aspects of that discussion are only touched on lightly here. That said, each chapter ends with a series of questions for reflection, making this a terrific text for group discussions, whether within a classroom setting or a church small group. Highly recommended for any individual or group seeking to be better caretakers of culture and creation.