Book Review for Coffehouse Theology by Ed Cyzewski

Coffeehouse Theology is not at all what it seemed to me at first. I expected a simple read on the emerging church. Instead, I received an academic book focusing on contextual theology. Once I changed my mindset and focused on the book itself, rather than my preconcieved notions, I enjoyed the read.

Ed Cyzewski's main premise is that there are several ways to study the Bible. The Church as a whole focuses on Biblical Theology, which organizes beliefs about God around the writers of Scripture (page 35), and Systematic Theology, which organizes beliefs about God according to contemporary categories (page 36). This book focuses on a third type of theology, which is often overlooked by Christians in our society, Contextual Theology.

Contextual Theology challenges us to look at local cultural context when studying the Word. It challenges us to acknowledge we look at the Bible through a certain lens, based on where we live and what our culture dictates. If we truly want to understand the Bible, we need to consider how other cultures and people see it. Cyzewski stresses this on page 43 when he says,"only when we appropriately measure our strengths and potential biases - misunderstandings that we bring to the process of forming theology - can we proceed to the second step of reflecting on God."

Cyzewski biggest challenge is to start talking about our theology, to look at things from others perspectives, to simply join the conversation. He says, "theology is the way we respond to God's revealing himself to us."

Rating: Initially is probably would have given is a 3 out of 5, but the further I went in "the conversation" the more I appreciated it. I give it a 4 out 5.