About Theology of Culture

If you are looking for an informed religious interpretation of our culture, and for insight into how the Christian faith speaks in this context, you have come to the right place.

Theology of culture begins with two ideas: (1) every culture embodies religious assumptions, values, and desires that one must be understand to make sense of the culture; and (2) the God one meets in the Bible has something to say to every culture. As the theologian Robert Jenson wrote, “Scripture and the theology of the church sustain the great maxim of the theology of culture, that the soul of every culture is a religion and the body of every religion is a culture.” Christian theology always takes place in the context of a cultural religion.

Theology of Culture is an effort to interpret and respond with Christian faith to the implicit religion of our present culture, and to interpret Christian faith in its present religious context.

About me

My name is Matthew Burdette, though I typically go by Matt. I work as an editor of non-fiction books at Penguin Random House, and when I’m not editing books, you will find me reading them, working on my own (more about that soon enough), or writing for this newsletter or other outlets. Both my undergraduate and master degrees were in religious studies, and I also have a PhD in Christian theology. Since graduate school, my work has focused largely on the work of Robert Jenson and James Cone, whose names appear in this newsletter often. In terms of my own theological outlook, I am a complicated liberal Protestant: I am convinced of the unique truth of Christianity—including the bodily resurrection of Jesus—and I also believe that things like historical criticism of the Bible are necessary and valuable. I’m an Episcopalian. My family and I live in Iowa City.

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