All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture (Turning Point Christian Worldview) (Paperback)

~ Kenneth A. Myers (Author), Marvin Olasky (Series Editor) "A family moves to a new city..." (more)
Key Phrases: holy culture, rock myth, dominant idiom, The Sixties, Pop Art, Daniel Bell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A magnificent and timely book. Fresh, witty, informative, trenchant, and eminently sane, Ken Myers's book is a must for thoughtful evangelicals... I only hope there are enough of them left to read it."
—Os Guinness, Author of The Call

"In All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes Ken Myers looks at the entire phenomenon of popular culture--its roots, assumptions, practices, and effects. The result is a provocative book that shows how our thought, communication, and living have all been affected by popular culture's omnipresence. It should make us take a hard look at what we've accepted as harmless entertainment."
—Ted PrescottSculptor, former president of Christians in the Visual Arts

"Ken Myers has made an excellent contribution here, dealing not only with the roots of popular culture in social history and philosophy but also with its ultimate impact on character."
—Dick KeyesL'Abri Fellowship

Product Description

A magnificent and timely book. Fresh, witty, informative, trenchant, and eminently sane, Ken Myers's book is a must for thoughtful evangelicals....I only hope there are enough of them left to read it.--Os Guinness.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (October 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891075380
• ISBN-13: 978-0891075387
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #368,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine and much-needed look at pop culture and the Church, October 5, 2002

By A Customer

This is one terrific book. Ken Myers delves deeply into popular culture. He does a great job of grounding his research and findings in a theological framework. He cites everyone from C.S. Lewis to Bob Dylan to G.K. Chesterton to Bo Diddley.

This book is so needed today. So much of pop evangelicalism and even the mainline churches have unwisely and unthinkingly schmaltzed the Church's glorious message into a dumbed-down, styrofoam, homogenized pop culture framework and are submerging the Church's heritage into it. (See Marva Dawn's book "Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down"). I refuse to listen to my local Christian radio station because they've pretty much pancaked their format to just watered-down pop Christian music, pretty much devoid of hymnody or anything with any history to it. What if the World War II generation had demanded that the Church's glorious history and hymnody be replaced by Lawrence Welk-style tunes? That's exactly what's happening today.

Read Myers' book to find out the values of popular culture and how they compare to high and folk cultures. This book will provide you with much great background, and, most importantly, helps you to think Christianly. It's creative, intelligent and a very enjoyable read.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Popular Culture and a Declining Country, August 3, 2000

By A Customer

Ken Myers explores what popular culture really promotes. This is not a book for those who are seeking reasons to put down secular rock n' roll and replace it with Christian rock n' roll. The discussion focuses mainly upon the medium of information, not just the content. The book is documented thoroughly and he strongly supports each of his points. He examines what values/aesthetics popular culture rallies around, and what values/aesthetics Christian should support. Is there something about TV, rock music, MTV, etc that is against Christian values? Do they support instant gratification and lower disciplie? Ken Myers offers something everyone needs to see.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Expose on Culture & Christians Role in It, January 11, 2001

By	rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

From telling us what culture is and the various levels of it to what it means to be "in the world but not of it," Myers delivers the best to date analysis of culture and Christianity. Of the numerous insights he gives, one of the favorites is: schools do not just give knowledge, they do cultural assimilation. And we wonder why our schools are letting us down! This is a must read for Christians and those into popular culture!