Ed Cyzewski - Coffeehouse Theology

I've just wrapped up my initial reading of Ed Cyzewski's newest book, Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life and I've found it to be a worthwhile read.  So worthwhile, in fact, that I had to make myself put it down in order to do required reading for some of my seminary classes!

One of my goals in life is to earn a doctoral degree and teach theology in a university or a seminary (a tall order, I know - we'll see how things turn out).  Although I'm still in the early stages of preparation for such a vocation, I must say that if I were currently teaching an introductory course in theological method - i.e. how to do theology today - this book would be required reading for the class.  It represents, in my view, a personal and well-argued account of how one might go about doing contextual theology in today's postmodern world.

If you're like me - a young student of theology who's still got loads of questions about how to formulate a theology that makes sense in today's world - then you'll be refreshed when you read this book.  And - if I've read him correctly - I believe Cyzewski would say that all Christians need to be about the business of formulating such a theology.  Such work must be biblically oriented with an ear to tradition and working constantly to hear from and be corrected by the voice of the global Christian community.  Because, as Cyzewski writes, "the truth is, whether we acknoweldge it or not, we constantly deal with the influences of culture on theology."  Because this is true, we need these sources to work out who we (the church) are in relation to the world.

But none of these sources are to be thought of as impersonal references so we can get our facts right.  If I have followed Cyzewski closely, I understand him - throughout this book and in various ways - to be saying that Contextual Christian Theology must be done in the church.  In other words, Contextual theology is a communal discipline of the church and it would be a mistake to approach any of the main sources - scripture, tradition and the global church - as though they were encyclopedias of right teaching to provide proper thought points for our litmus tests for doctrine.  No!  In today's world, to think of the work of doing theology as forming a litmus test would be counterintuitive to the living out of the mission of God in the Christian community.  Consider - in this light - Cyzewski's own words regarding the "web of theology" he has tried to paint in this book:

"Doing theology in the 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 daloguing with Christians from history and around the world.  This process involeves reading Scripture and then rereading Scripture in light of what our traditions and global believers teach us.  While it sounds like a formula, contextual theology really only involvesa commitment to reading Scripture while learning from Christians who have different perspectives (p. 207)."

I have always tried to cultivate - wherever I happen to be - an ecumenical perspective both within myself and in anyone who will listen.  Ed Cyzewski's Coffeehouse Theology has done - in my view - begins that conversation again for our generation.  Sure, there are points in this book with which I would disagree (such as Cyzewski's reliance on what I've begun to call "the primacy of the postmodern" in thinking about theology and culture today) but - on the whole - this is a delightful book which I recommend to anyone who's interested in doing "theology on the ground."

For more information about Ed, check out his personal and theology blogs.  And for further insight about this book, check out Ed's introduction to the book @ the Ooze and his recent post @ Emergent Village.com.  Also be looking tomorrow for DJ Chuang's contribution to the blog tour (which, if his other blogging is any indication, is likely to be excellent!) and check out the roster of upcoming stops (as well as those who came before mine) by looking at the Blog Tour Schedule.  I'd like to thank Ed for allowing me to contribute to the tour and I look forward to reading this book again!!  Feel free to voice your questions and comments.

Grace & peace,
A.T.