Building on the success of One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God, Christian Scharen shows how to engage faith and culture through a wide range of popular music, including the blues, hip-hop, and rock. He examines artists such as Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Leonard Cohen, and Billie Holiday, offering a fresh, compelling theology of culture in conversation with C. S. Lewis that can look suffering and brokenness in the face because it knows of a love deeper than hate, a hope stronger than despair. Written engagingly yet with theological depth, this book will resonate with readers interested in the interface between pop culture, music, and theology, as well as with pastors and youth ministers.
Broken Hallelujahs
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Brokenness, Redemption, and Popular Music
Broken Hallelujahs offers a fresh perspective on engaging faith and culture through a wide range of popular music, including the blues, hip-hop, and rock. Christian Scharen reveals the limits of approaches to culture that draw strict boundaries between saint and sinner, church and world--approaches that can miss the creative ways God is active and at work in the world. He calls us to trust God's redeeming presence in the midst of a broken creation. Through his examination of artists such as Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Leonard Cohen, and Billie Holiday, Scharen offers a compelling theology of culture in conversation with C. S. Lewis that can look suffering and brokenness in the face because it knows of a love deeper than hate, a hope stronger than despair.
"The realm of popular music, like much in pop culture, is often written off as bleak and godless. Scharen pleads that this is the result of a 'constricted imagination,' and rightly so. This very readable book will provoke discussions that are much needed in the church and beyond."
--Jeremy Begbie, Duke University
"Christian Scharen's theological meditation on popular music shows why Christians and popular artists have serious spiritual concerns in common. He argues that pop musicians are already literate about the creative character of surrender in their lives and work, and that Christian theology too finds its center in graceful surrender to God with and for others. Fans of music and students of spirituality will and should be drawn in by the work of this discerning, inquisitive theological thinker and unapologetic--but not uncritical--music fan."
--Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University
Broken Hallelujahs offers a fresh perspective on engaging faith and culture through a wide range of popular music, including the blues, hip-hop, and rock. Christian Scharen reveals the limits of approaches to culture that draw strict boundaries between saint and sinner, church and world--approaches that can miss the creative ways God is active and at work in the world. He calls us to trust God's redeeming presence in the midst of a broken creation. Through his examination of artists such as Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Leonard Cohen, and Billie Holiday, Scharen offers a compelling theology of culture in conversation with C. S. Lewis that can look suffering and brokenness in the face because it knows of a love deeper than hate, a hope stronger than despair.
"The realm of popular music, like much in pop culture, is often written off as bleak and godless. Scharen pleads that this is the result of a 'constricted imagination,' and rightly so. This very readable book will provoke discussions that are much needed in the church and beyond."
--Jeremy Begbie, Duke University
"Christian Scharen's theological meditation on popular music shows why Christians and popular artists have serious spiritual concerns in common. He argues that pop musicians are already literate about the creative character of surrender in their lives and work, and that Christian theology too finds its center in graceful surrender to God with and for others. Fans of music and students of spirituality will and should be drawn in by the work of this discerning, inquisitive theological thinker and unapologetic--but not uncritical--music fan."
--Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University
About the Author
Christian Scharen (PhD, Emory University) is assistant professor of worship and theology and codirector of the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has authored a number of books, including One Step Closer and Faith as a Way of Life.
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More About the Author
Christian Scharen teaches worship and practical theology at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, MN, having previously taught at Yale University Divinity School in New Haven. Originally trained in theological ethics, ethnography, and social theory, Scharen's work brings a lively Christian imagination to critical engagement with culture. His writings have appeared in The Cresset, Books & Culture, The Christian Century, Dialog, Generate and others. He is married to Sonja, a nurse-midwife and has two children, Isaiah and Grace. He loves old churches, A Prairie Home Companion (a must from Lutherans in diaspora), and dark beer. On that last one, he'd especially like to recommend the fantastic Minneapolis/St. Paul local, Surly Furious.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Identifying what he calls a "constricted imagination" that is at work in much of Christianity and which seriously inhibits many Christians from faithfully engaging culture, especially entertainment, Scharen sets out to expand the imagination so that we might be able to "[look] the brokenness of humanity and the groaning of creation straight in the face" while recognizing that "mercy and reconciliation have been offered by God in Christ, who through the Holy Spirit is working in the midst of all our sorrows even now" (17). Important to his endeavor are two key claims. First, that "there is no truly or completely `secular' culture or arena of human life if you believe that God is Creator of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them" (21). Second, that we must recognize that "there is much to object to in popular culture, but if we have our theology straight, we know there is much to object to in the church, and in our own hearts as well" (23). With those claims as a foundation, Scharen sets out to build "a sound biblical theology for engaging popular culture" and constructing "a sound method for engaging the voices of popular culture where God is already at work reconciling the lost, healing the broken, and speaking the truth of life" (22-23).
Chapter 2 of Broken Hallelujahs finds Christian Scharen mining the life and work of Leonard Cohen for signs of God's presence. Chapter 3 of Broken Hallelujahs explores the blues in great detail, with Scharen focusing on Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey, and Georgia Tom Dorsey. Chapter 4 of Broken Hallelujahs ("Cries") serves as a sort of hinge on which the book turns. Departing the world of popular music, Scharen turns to the Bible and serves up an extended meditation on the truth-telling cries found throughout scripture. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Scharen's reason for turning to the Bible is that the truth-telling of Leonard Cohen and the great bluesmen and blueswomen is not only prefigured in scripture, but occupies a place at the heart of scripture. Indeed, "the more profound and more central strand of the Bible teaches that it is out of identification with suffering that the character of God as redeemer becomes clear. Such a shape for the divine life . . . offers a hope that even in the worst of circumstances we are not abandoned. God is there in our midst, fully identifying with our plight, and working to open new possibilities for life" (77).
Chapter 5 of Broken Hallelujahs ("Grace and Karma") returns to consider one of the concepts introduced in the opening chapter: the "constricted imagination." As he makes clear throughout this chapter, a view of the world shaped by karma rather than grace and, similarly, a view of God shaped by karma rather than grace, has tremendous implications for the way one engages the world, other people, and especially popular entertainment. As much as anything, such a view of the world and of God leads to a kind of overconfidence in one's own ability to distinguish and identify "evil" and "good" as well as a sort of fear for one's own safety if one is exposed to anything "evil." Such overconfidence, apparent in the reviews and recommendations put forth by Focus on the Family's Plugged In, reveals the extent to which the thought process behind Plugged In is influenced by karma far more than grace. Scharen pushes instead for intentional and incarnational engagement with the world, trusting that God's presence with us frees us to pursue such engagement without fear.
In Chapter 6 ("Surrender to the Music"), Scharen suggests "we view pop culture as also the domain of God, as potentially spiritually edifying, and as `innocent until proven guilty,'" (117) rather than guilty until proven innocent. Once pop culture is viewed this way, faithful Christians begin to engage it differently: imitating Jesus in the losing of one's own life, the setting aside of one's own interests, and the opening up of ourselves to the other, no matter how different the other may be. Chapter 7 ("Practicing Surrender") wraps up the book by reflecting on three cultural offerings which would typically be labeled "secular" (J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, the music of Sigur Rós, and the prophetic lyrics of Arcade Fire), demonstrating how each can enrich the ability of Christians to live faithfully in the world.
Broken Hallelujahs is an immensely helpful resource for Christians seeking wisdom and guidance for how to engage the culture in which we live. It would be particularly useful in small group discussions or in college classes. Having been shaped by Scharen's discerning vision, I feel I'm more equipped than ever to answer the calling of God as Scharen put it so wonderfully at the end of the first chapter: "God calls us to join in as broken-but-beginning-to-be-healed coconspirators in the great unfolding of our lives in God" (25).
Chapter 2 of Broken Hallelujahs finds Christian Scharen mining the life and work of Leonard Cohen for signs of God's presence. Chapter 3 of Broken Hallelujahs explores the blues in great detail, with Scharen focusing on Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey, and Georgia Tom Dorsey. Chapter 4 of Broken Hallelujahs ("Cries") serves as a sort of hinge on which the book turns. Departing the world of popular music, Scharen turns to the Bible and serves up an extended meditation on the truth-telling cries found throughout scripture. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Scharen's reason for turning to the Bible is that the truth-telling of Leonard Cohen and the great bluesmen and blueswomen is not only prefigured in scripture, but occupies a place at the heart of scripture. Indeed, "the more profound and more central strand of the Bible teaches that it is out of identification with suffering that the character of God as redeemer becomes clear. Such a shape for the divine life . . . offers a hope that even in the worst of circumstances we are not abandoned. God is there in our midst, fully identifying with our plight, and working to open new possibilities for life" (77).
Chapter 5 of Broken Hallelujahs ("Grace and Karma") returns to consider one of the concepts introduced in the opening chapter: the "constricted imagination." As he makes clear throughout this chapter, a view of the world shaped by karma rather than grace and, similarly, a view of God shaped by karma rather than grace, has tremendous implications for the way one engages the world, other people, and especially popular entertainment. As much as anything, such a view of the world and of God leads to a kind of overconfidence in one's own ability to distinguish and identify "evil" and "good" as well as a sort of fear for one's own safety if one is exposed to anything "evil." Such overconfidence, apparent in the reviews and recommendations put forth by Focus on the Family's Plugged In, reveals the extent to which the thought process behind Plugged In is influenced by karma far more than grace. Scharen pushes instead for intentional and incarnational engagement with the world, trusting that God's presence with us frees us to pursue such engagement without fear.
In Chapter 6 ("Surrender to the Music"), Scharen suggests "we view pop culture as also the domain of God, as potentially spiritually edifying, and as `innocent until proven guilty,'" (117) rather than guilty until proven innocent. Once pop culture is viewed this way, faithful Christians begin to engage it differently: imitating Jesus in the losing of one's own life, the setting aside of one's own interests, and the opening up of ourselves to the other, no matter how different the other may be. Chapter 7 ("Practicing Surrender") wraps up the book by reflecting on three cultural offerings which would typically be labeled "secular" (J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, the music of Sigur Rós, and the prophetic lyrics of Arcade Fire), demonstrating how each can enrich the ability of Christians to live faithfully in the world.
Broken Hallelujahs is an immensely helpful resource for Christians seeking wisdom and guidance for how to engage the culture in which we live. It would be particularly useful in small group discussions or in college classes. Having been shaped by Scharen's discerning vision, I feel I'm more equipped than ever to answer the calling of God as Scharen put it so wonderfully at the end of the first chapter: "God calls us to join in as broken-but-beginning-to-be-healed coconspirators in the great unfolding of our lives in God" (25).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By THowerton
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'll admit that when I picked up this book it was to read about artists in whom the author found what one might call fragments or echoes of the Christian faith, of the gospel, though not coming in a package from those who would claim Christianity as such. To a degree we get this as illustrated primarily through Leonard Cohen and a few other musical artists (the title of the book refers to Leonard Cohen's oft covered song "Hallelujah"). But this isn't the thrust of the book. With the title tagline of "Why Popular Music Matters To Those Seeking God" the author, Christian Scharen, discusses how the Great Redeemer has come to us in the midst of our brokenness in order to save us and, therefore, in the haunts of our brokenness (i.e., the cries of hurt and despair as expressed in blues music) God can be found. If you follow that you can basically follow this book.
After exploring a faith that points directly to the God of Israel through the works of Leonard Cohen Scharen moves along to a brief history of blues music and of the life of Billie Holiday and others. Scharen contends that "the devil's music" is an extreme misnomer (I agree) and that God can be found here, in the echoes of the cries of the heartbroken and lost, those reaching out and those who have lived hard lives. Scharen's point is really that God can be found here because here are people who are broken reflections of God's powerful creation and God loves them immensely and desires to save them and so hears their cries and is active in pursuit of them. Their cries, in particular, is what Scharen finds purposeful and powerful and with what God is concerned with and would be responding to. To underscore these points Scharen dives into the cries of the Psalms and the sufferings of Christ and how these are connected to God. At one point he states, "The action of God to reconcile and make new does not erase the brokenness to which God is responding. Rather, God's actions point to the place of brokenness, to the locatin of the cry, as the sure place of God's presence and work." Now at this point one may be wondering, "...what?" And if you are that person then this book probably isn't for you.
Scharen goes on to criticize a popular, Americanized Christian culture that he proposes uses a "checklist Christianity", a moral compass if you will that while good-intentioned ultimately ends up creating what he calls a "constricted imagination" amongst Christians. While I believe his criticisms of Focus on the Family are too harsh I do understand and agree with his point; Christians, who have been taught to avoid and be separate from the evil popular culture at large, have usually imitated aspects of that same culture after several years (seen frequently in musical styles being adopted only years after they appeared). Fundamental and even evangelical mainstream American Christianity has been stand-offish toward the culture rather than seeking to understand what it is expressing and how that might echo God in some way; this has been a hallmark of fear (not just the desire to try to keep pure) and Scharen calls it out. If Scharen's point isn't quite clear (and it isn't) I think that it boils down to this: that in order for Christians, who are free and strong in the love of God, to effectively engage and bring God's love and transformation to others they must engage the culture and they cannot do that until they seek to understand it, its POV, and what it is saying and how it can (even in its brokenness) still reflect the Creator.
Scharen suggests that we might take a model from C.S. Lewis in how to accomplish this, to approach art (which is a speculative term at best anymore in our society) by not checking things off concerning it but by trying to essentially walk in its shoes, to be open to it and let it affect us, to see through its eyes and not merely look at it through our own lense. Then and only then can we know if it is "good" or "worthy", and can we evaluate it and accept or reject it (or aspects thereof). This has merit but it is difficult in a culture where so much is demanded of our attention and there is so much that is insidious. Only an adult mind maturely grounded in their faithwalk with God can accomplish this lest people of all levels of faith be snookered and while admirable, this fact is not really taken into account or addressed adequately IMO.
All in all there are some worthy thoughts in this book though they aren't necessarily presented coherently and the process of getting to them is overly long (and therefore adds to the confusion...I'm sure, just like my review!). I'll end with Scharen's closing quote:
"Yet too often Christians seek with all their might to hold on to their life in Christ. They run from "secular" culture, reject the popular arts in all their beauty and terror, and seek the purity and safety of their own Christian ghetto. As we have found through trying on C.S. Lewis's "experiment" in engaging pop culture, such a fearful response fails to fully answer our Lord's call to follow. In trusting that Christ's mercy is sufficient, we are enabled to give ourselves away to a broken and hurting world, seeking to understand it, love it, and ultimately share in its midst God's ongoing work of reconciliation."
After exploring a faith that points directly to the God of Israel through the works of Leonard Cohen Scharen moves along to a brief history of blues music and of the life of Billie Holiday and others. Scharen contends that "the devil's music" is an extreme misnomer (I agree) and that God can be found here, in the echoes of the cries of the heartbroken and lost, those reaching out and those who have lived hard lives. Scharen's point is really that God can be found here because here are people who are broken reflections of God's powerful creation and God loves them immensely and desires to save them and so hears their cries and is active in pursuit of them. Their cries, in particular, is what Scharen finds purposeful and powerful and with what God is concerned with and would be responding to. To underscore these points Scharen dives into the cries of the Psalms and the sufferings of Christ and how these are connected to God. At one point he states, "The action of God to reconcile and make new does not erase the brokenness to which God is responding. Rather, God's actions point to the place of brokenness, to the locatin of the cry, as the sure place of God's presence and work." Now at this point one may be wondering, "...what?" And if you are that person then this book probably isn't for you.
Scharen goes on to criticize a popular, Americanized Christian culture that he proposes uses a "checklist Christianity", a moral compass if you will that while good-intentioned ultimately ends up creating what he calls a "constricted imagination" amongst Christians. While I believe his criticisms of Focus on the Family are too harsh I do understand and agree with his point; Christians, who have been taught to avoid and be separate from the evil popular culture at large, have usually imitated aspects of that same culture after several years (seen frequently in musical styles being adopted only years after they appeared). Fundamental and even evangelical mainstream American Christianity has been stand-offish toward the culture rather than seeking to understand what it is expressing and how that might echo God in some way; this has been a hallmark of fear (not just the desire to try to keep pure) and Scharen calls it out. If Scharen's point isn't quite clear (and it isn't) I think that it boils down to this: that in order for Christians, who are free and strong in the love of God, to effectively engage and bring God's love and transformation to others they must engage the culture and they cannot do that until they seek to understand it, its POV, and what it is saying and how it can (even in its brokenness) still reflect the Creator.
Scharen suggests that we might take a model from C.S. Lewis in how to accomplish this, to approach art (which is a speculative term at best anymore in our society) by not checking things off concerning it but by trying to essentially walk in its shoes, to be open to it and let it affect us, to see through its eyes and not merely look at it through our own lense. Then and only then can we know if it is "good" or "worthy", and can we evaluate it and accept or reject it (or aspects thereof). This has merit but it is difficult in a culture where so much is demanded of our attention and there is so much that is insidious. Only an adult mind maturely grounded in their faithwalk with God can accomplish this lest people of all levels of faith be snookered and while admirable, this fact is not really taken into account or addressed adequately IMO.
All in all there are some worthy thoughts in this book though they aren't necessarily presented coherently and the process of getting to them is overly long (and therefore adds to the confusion...I'm sure, just like my review!). I'll end with Scharen's closing quote:
"Yet too often Christians seek with all their might to hold on to their life in Christ. They run from "secular" culture, reject the popular arts in all their beauty and terror, and seek the purity and safety of their own Christian ghetto. As we have found through trying on C.S. Lewis's "experiment" in engaging pop culture, such a fearful response fails to fully answer our Lord's call to follow. In trusting that Christ's mercy is sufficient, we are enabled to give ourselves away to a broken and hurting world, seeking to understand it, love it, and ultimately share in its midst God's ongoing work of reconciliation."
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Dan Allison
Format:Paperback
Some excellent ideas here, especially the concept of "constricted imagination" and how American evangelicals have no appreciation or understanding of blues artists. My problem is that the book is really wordy and the author has trouble getting to the point. He needs to be tougher on the James Dobson-types; he keeps apologizing for criticizing them. I wish the same book had been written by a journalist rather than an academic.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sound theology for popular culture engagement
This work is an exceptional theological argument for engaging "with" instead of "at" popular culture! Read more
Published 5 months ago by ~Amy
1.0 out of 5 stars
Confused and Frustrated
This is a book that many Christians will use to excuse themselves and their conscience. God told us "be not conformed to this world. Read more
Published 10 months ago by nursing student
5.0 out of 5 stars
Faith seeking understanding in and of popular music
Scharen, in Broken Hallelujahs, invites readers to engage and explore popular music with a lens shaped by a theology of the cross and a Christian imagination. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mike Rusert
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