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Reading

Christopher R. Brewer, "Friedrich Schleiermacher and Makoto Fujimura," a paper submitted to Jeffrey Wilcox for the course Schleiermacher Seminar at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary (2008)

David Brown, God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience (Oxford, 2006)

David Brown, God and Grace of Body: Sacrament in Ordinary (Oxford, 2007)

David Brown, God and Mystery in Words: Experience through Metaphor and Drama (Oxford, 2008)

Emil Brunner, “Nature and Grace,” in Natural Theology: Comprising “Nature and Grace” by Professor Emil Brunner and the reply “No!” by Dr. Karl Barth (Wipf and Stock, 2002)

Brunner’s is a classic text in the field of natural theology.

Curtis Chang, Engaging Unbelief: A Captivating Strategy from Augustine and Aquinas (InterVarsity, 2000)

Chang develops a rhetorical strategy based on Augustine’s City of God and Aquinas’s Summa Contra Gentiles, the three main components of which are: entering the challenger’s story, retelling the story, and capturing that retold tale within the gospel metanarrative.  

The book is well done, and is probably the closest thing I’ve found to GTSE, though Chang’s model is primarily drawn from the realm of historical as opposed to biblical theology.

Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (InterVarsity, 2008)

This book, especially the first 98 pages, is absolutely essential for understanding our context(s), and if we are to pursue the Gospel through shared experience we must know something about culture(s).  Crouch challenges Niebuhr’s either-or approach, arguing instead for a flexible approach that recognizes the multiplicity of cultures and publics (Chapter 2) which require a variety of postures (Chapter 5).

David Dark, Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, the Simpsons and Other Pop Culture Icons, Chapter 1: Flip the Script (Brazos, 2002)

When you’re ready to start applying GTSE, this chapter from Dark’s book is an example/analogy of how you might speak from shared experience.

Tim Downs, Finding Common Ground: How to Communicate with Those Outside the Christian Community...While We Still Can (Moody, 1999)

William A. Dyrness, Poetic Theology: God and the Poetics of Everyday Life (Eerdmans, 2011)

Daniel J. Estes, “The Hermeneutics of Biblical Lyric Poetry,” in Bibliotheca Sacra 152 no.608 (1995): 413-430.

An excellent introduction to GTSE by way of the analogy of poetry, this article sheds light on Ecclesiastes, and to some extent and in some sense (following the argument above), 1 John as well.

Stanley J. Grenz, A Primer on Postmodernism (Eerdmans, 1996)

Defining something that resists definition is certainly a challenge, but Grenz’s text is probably the most accessible and helpful.  If you’re new to the conversation of postmodernism, start here.

James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford, 2010)

After reading Crouch’s Culture Making this book is the logical next step.  A groundbreaking work that questions our notions of what culture is and how one goes about changing it, this is essential reading for any would be culture makers.

C.S. Lewis, “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said,” in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature, 45-48 (Harvest, 2002)

This essay is a great apologetic for and example of GTSE.  Lewis was ahead of his time. You might also read his Chronicles of Narnia, Space Trilogy, or if you prefer non-fiction, the opening paragraphs of Chapter 1: The Law of Human Nature of his Mere Christianity, or the final pages of his An Experiment in Criticism.

Louis Markos, Lewis Agonistes: How C.S. Lewis Can Train Us to Wrestle with the Modern and Postmodern World, Chapter 5 - Wrestling with the Arts (Broadman & Holman, 2003)

The entire chapter is worth reading, but his discussion of poetry (or the aesthetic process by which poetry embodies universal truths) as analogous to the mystery of the Incarnation (130ff.) is especially helpful with regard to GTSE.

Dick Staub, Too Christian Too Pagan: How to Love the World Without Falling For It (Zondervan, 2000)

If you're new to the Christ and Culture conversation, read this book before Grenz or Crouch.  Staub's book is a sort of primer on the topic, and even takes a few steps towards the Gospel through Shared Experience with chapters like “Learn the Art of Dual Listening,” “Listen to the Music,” “See the Movie,” “Read the Books,” and “Tell Short Stories.”  

Dick Staub, The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite (John Wiley & Sons, 2007)

A great follow-up to Too Christian Too Pagan, this book provides practical guidance for applying GTSE (especially Chapter 8: Communicating in Culture Like Ambassadors).

Michael E. Wittmer, Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God (Zondervan, 2004)

A great introduction to Christian Worldview, this book lays the groundwork for this entire conversation by expanding our notions of the gospel.

These and many other fine books are available from Hearts & Minds Books