the Cafe—Canon Press Blog

Toward a Biblical Theology of Culture
In my personal estimation, Plowing in Hope is one of the most under-appreciated Canon Press titles.

In an era that seems to be drifting further and further from Christian truth in the culture, Plowing in Hope is a very engaging and timely book. The main strength of it is that Dave Hegeman clearly articulates a definition of culture grounded in scripture. From there Hegeman paints a picture of what our original cultural mission in the Garden was and how we can renew that mission today.

Why should we care about culture? What can we learn from the fact that work was part of creation even before the fall? There has been a significant resurgence of interest in beauty, work, creativity, culture building, the arts ,and similar topics as of late by millennials and from public figures like Andy Crouch, Gabe Lyons, and Makoto Fujimura. I honestly wish that Dave Hegeman could join that list.

Plowing in Hope is one of the best contributions to that discussion and deserves much more attention that it has received up till now. Christians seeking to engage our culture need strong grounding in Biblical truth. We need to do our work in faith. We need to do our plowing in hope. And this book is a great tool in that mission.

David Hoos

Suzanne Rhodes is the author of two Canon titles, The Roar on the Other Side, a guide for student poets, and Sketches of Home, one of our few hardback titles. Sketches is probably one of our most difficult books to give a “quick” summary of, which I promise, is a great virtue. Reading Sketches of Home is like reading someone’s diary; it’s often so personal I am amazed at Suzanne’s ability to relate the stories she shares. Suzanne isn’t afraid to revel in seemingly childish joys, and at the same time, she never veers from speaking candidly about the brokenness of life. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and it’s completely refreshing.

And so it’s very exciting to share with you that Suzanne is currently working on another book of creative prose for Canon, a sort of sequel to Sketches of Home. There’s no publication date yet, but it’s really happening. Suzanne has also recently launched a website, www.rhodesnotttaken.com, which features more of her published essays and poems, her husband’s fantastic photography, as well as her new blog.

Here at Canon we feel very blessed to have Suzanne amongst our authors. She is a joy to work with and a joy to read. Thank you, Suzanne!

Rachel Bagley (who blogs about books at What Rachel’s Reading) recently reviewed A Primer on Worship and Reformation. Her review raised some very good questions, and I wanted to interact with them a little here on our blog.

Rachel writes,

I’m still chewing on this book, and I’d like to hear your input, dear reader. It seems like there are two audiences to Mr. Wilson’s book: the typical American Christian, and the theologically conservative pastor. I can’t help but feel like I missed a crucial point or something, but at first read I don’t fit either of those two categories. However, I don’t want to read something convicting and just agree how it applies to other people. What can I learn from this? Where is my sin?

I, like Rachel, don’t really fit into either of those categories—we don’t even have a Christian bookstore here in Moscow anymore, and you’re not likely to see me behind a pulpit anytime soon (if ever). But there are two reasons I believe that this book is helpful.

First, it’s a great book to give to friends, family, and others who want to know, “What’s the big deal about worship?” And this question is not just for evangelicals. Plenty of Reformed folk—yea, even those who have been Reformed for generations—go to church every Sunday without understanding why faithful, weekly worship is crucial to the health of the church. Although Christian music’s “modern worship” movement displays a growing sense of the importance of worship for the believer’s health, many Christians have yet to connect the state of the Church and of our countries with the state of Christian worship.

This leads to my second point: just because we sing Psalms every Sunday and don’t teach our kids Veggie Tales doesn’t mean we’re off the hook. The heart of this book is not to tear down modern evangelicalism, but to call the Christian to continual, faithful worship. Which is something that every Christian needs. As the Reformers realized, we need to be called to faithfulness over and over again. Calvin observed that the human heart is an “idol factory,” which means that we must consistently war against the temptation to worship wrongly. I believe that Pastor Wilson lays out principles in this book which are helpful not just to those who have the symptoms he mentions, but also to those of us who need to be on guard against failure and against idolatry.

Do I think this book is for everyone? No, I don’t. Very few books are. But I do think it is a helpful little book, for readers both like and unlike me.

I’m a big fan of reviews.

For starters, I used to write them myself, and I can still remember how much of a challenge it was to offer an opinion on a book (or CD) without saying too much. But now that I’m on the “other side” as it were, I appreciate them for other reasons. It’s nice to know that someone else decided that one of our books was worth thinking and writing about. (more…)

Here’s a sweet new thing: Canon Press now has an online library, courtesy of Google Books. (What is Google Books? Click here.) The library includes some of our own books which have been uploaded (thanks, Frank!), but primarily it’s a collection of books we’re fond of, for one reason or another. There are over 150 books in the Canon Press Library, and each one is available in full for online browsing (and searching!). Put these two together and for starters, you could—

1. Study Shakespeare using Brightest Heaven of Invention, plus the six plays Leithart analyzes.

2. Sate your wild desire to read Mother Kirk. (I know, it’s been out of print for too long…but have you seen the new cover?)

3. Start a book study for The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Reforming Marriage, or Building Her House.

4. Get a start on the New St. Andrews reading list with The Seven Lamps of Architecture, Robinson Crusoe, On Rhetoric, Faust, or Plutarch’s Lives.

5. Laugh yourself silly reading The Mantra of Jabez.

6. Lull yourself to sleep reading Calvin’s Institutes.

7.Browse Book Tree recommends like Animal Farm, The Owl and the Pussycat, Treasure Island, or Anne of Green Gables.

Zoinks! Other titles you’ll want to watch for amongst the many: The Baptized Body, The Divine Comedy, Augustine’s Confessions, The Odyssey, For a Glory and a Covering, and Bondage of the Will. Have fun! (P.S. Go for the “cover view” option in the top right corner; it’s the best.)