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A Theology as Big as the City

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The church must learn to minister in an increasingly urban world. Recruitment and motivation for this task involves theologically based worldview change. Bakke renders an important contribution in contextualizing biblical theology to the urban context. His is not a literalist biblical hermeneutic; instead Bakke models theological reflection, bringing to the text questions raised by his own unique traditions and social context (Bakke 1997:29). Insofar as this context is an urban one largely abandoned by much of the Evangelical community and insufficiently explored theologically, he renders a great service. The Trinity doctrine forms the proper foundation for urban ministry: "God lives in community and works in partnership for both the creation and the redemption of the world."

Modern cities are marked by economic classism and social stratification which are the same injustices for which ancient Sodom was judged. Yet because "God's hands are in the mud" and actively involved with both redemption and re-creation even the most corrupt of cities is eminently redeemable. Bakke believes a principle from Nehemiah, the relocation of a "tithe" of godly people into the urban context would have a profound preservative and regenerative effect on cities. Even the weak, imprisoned and powerless faithful in remarkably small numbers have often transformed entire cities. The task of urban ministry must be viewed soberly yet hopefully. Bakke provides an important antidote to the predominant causes of attrition among urban workers: burnout and compassion fatigue.

Proclamation remains at the center of urban evangelism but the gospel's social implications must be fulfilled. Bakke gently and insightfully exposes the inconsistency of a well-meaning suburbanite's criticism of a "social gospel" on the basis that primarily social criteria had been the grounds upon which the suburbs were chosen as his neighborhood. The city's urbanizing influence cannot be avoided by living extramurally. Moreover, the physical presence of godly people within a city is essential for confronting its strongholds.

Bakke demonstrates that mission has been brought near to us through urbanization but urges readers to take the final incarnational step of engaging urban contexts theologically and diaconally. In response, missiology must increasingly support cross-cultural ministries in the pluralistic urban context. The church must increasingly adapt its forms in response to 24/7 urban pluralism. Our hermeneutic historically has reflected a rural, agrarian or even anti-urban bias (Bakke 1997:14) but now theology must grapple with an increasingly urban world context. An urban theology should take into account God's concern for places as well as people. Bakke will motivate many suburbanite and rural Christian readers to emulate the Christ of Philippians 2, by practicing "downward social mobility" (Bakke 1997:46) as they establish a righteous witness in an often corrupt urban community. If urban ministry is better caught than taught, reading this book makes one susceptible to a virulent strain!

Ray Bakke is a biblical theologian whose passion for history makes a wonderful combination for those serving or studying urban ministry. Having been a student of Dr. Bakke while in Chicago I can tell you that his sage advice and insights will stick with you and give you the kind of vision that is trans formative. This book is full of wonderful true stories and a theology that is both biblical and born of blood and sweat. God is working out a grand salvation story, and cities and their people are loved by God. In my estimate, Dr. Bakke offers great hope for those battling in the trenches of urban ministry, his vision is Christ-centered.
- Dr. Scott Arnold (Flint School of Urban Ministry)

The biggest downfall of Bakkes book is the title. When I read Bakkes book for an urban ministry and missions course, I expected a systematic approach in which traditional theology was reinterpreted into the urban context. Instead, Bakke used his urban paradigm to exegete a sampling of biblical texts. Better titles for his book would have been Ministry in Urban Chicago Changed How I Read the Bible or A Hermeneutic as Big as the City. Unfortunately, hermeneutic is a scary word for most people, nearly devoid of the romance of theology.
Aside from the misleading title, the book is a great starting point for anyone wondering how God views the city or what scripture says about urban settings. Bakke allows the reader to follow him as he reads through the Bible and to see how a veteran inner-city worker reads scripture and applies it to the urban context. Bakkes commentary reminded me about Gods love for the city and Gods plan for the city. Too often, Christians have the mindset that the city is inherently dangerous and evil, while suburban and rural settings are inherently good. Bakke unmasks this myth and reminds us of Gods love for the city. When Christians flee the city, the world hears that God does not love the city and it is irredeemable. Bakke proclaims Gods love for the city and especially for the forsaken urban poor. He launches a direct attack on comfortable suburban Christians as they flee the shockingly broken and sinful cities for the suburbs with their hidden brokenness and culturally acceptable sin.
I would recommend this book to anyone contemplating urban ministry or engaged in urban ministry, but I really wish that suburban Christians would read this book. I think that suburban Christians would be confronted by two important ideas, which are easily overlooked. First, they would confront the evidence that the evangelical church seems to be retreating further from seeing our God as One who engages external-world reality to seeing only One who meets our personal needs and solves our personal problems (14). Second, I think that encountering Bakkes urban inspired reading of the Bible would challenge the myth that we can just read the Bible and do what it says without seriously examining the eyes with which we read. Most affluent Christians desperately need to see the Bible through someone elses eyes, and Bakkes eyes, attuned to urban poverty and hopelessness, are a great place to start.

Following his graduation from Moody Bible Institute, Ray Bakke found himself propelled from "rural Washington to inner-city Chicago". This book traces his journey, and combines his experience of the city -- Chicago in particular -- with his own theological reflection. The end product is an unusual mix -- yet it works. Being an inner-city minister myself, I felt that Bakke deeply understands ministry in the city.

The city, considers Bakke, is no bad place. It is not the case that "all cities are evil". Rather, a city might be described as a "magnificent ruin'". It is a ruin on account of its being "sin-scarred", yet it is magnificent for the reason that, in the city, "there have been ministries of such splendor and significance". This having been said, city ministry is not merely about human activity, as so many theologies would seem to imply. Above all, it is about "our God as One who engages in external-world activity". The city is the story of "God's surprising interventions".

"I acknowledge Scripture to be the final test", writes Bakke. With this in mind, he considers that there are two distinct "spiritualities" in the Bible -- both evangelism and social engagement. Therefore "what God has brought together, let no one put asunder". The righteous, he writes, "are called to be both salt and light . . . the twin vocations of the Christian". He broadly surveys the theology of Scripture, its example, and the example of Church history, to make what would seem to be a strong case for the Christian's twofold calling. He considers that this is, on the whole, "beneficial to the security and salvation of individual persons".

A modern city, writes Bakke, will typically contain many ethnicities. He approaches the subject from the point of view that God makes loving and providential use of ethnicity to proclaim salvation to the world. One need only think of Pentecost, or the prophets and teachers at Antioch (Acts 13:1). He suggests modern examples, and further welcomes the influx to Western cities of many who belong to "the Orthodox family of Churches". He comments: "Isn't it amazingly gracious of our God to bring our ancient Christian leaders to be side by side with us in Western cities . . . ?" We can be greatly enriched through them.

"Over 50% of people on the planet", notes Bakke, will by now live in cities. For this reason, it is crucial to develop an appropriate attitude towards ministry in the city. In this, I feel that he succeeded. This was a warm-hearted and refreshing book. My sentiment on completing it is: "Thank God for Ray Bakke." He has surely done city ministry a great service. My only question is why this book should not yet have reached a Second Edition.

I needed some copies of this book, and went to Amazon. The response was excellent. The book was in good shape, arrived on time, and met all my expectations. Thanks for excellent service.

This is an excellent treatment of a theology of place. The author's personal experiences are interwoven in an interesting and relevant way. I highly recommend this work by Dr. Ray Bakke for those seeking to understand "mission" in relationship to ministry among urban populations.

I've long been a fan of Ray Bakke, and his passion for seeing God's kingdom come in this world as it is in heaven. In this great book, he notes how today's USAmerican evangelical has too often seen the 'burbs and even the remote "rural" kind of life as more pointing to God, more relevant to those who follow Jesus. But, as he shows throughout the remainder of the book, the Bible from beginning to end is often about cities, and those who live in them. This book is a great Bible study, moving from Genesis to Revelation, and pointing out God's passion for the city--and challenging us to have that passion as well. Scattered throughout are great stories of Ray's own experiences in urban ministry. This book is a must read for anyone living in an urban world.

Excellent starter in thinking about living like Jesus in an urban setting. Good individual action steps and overall theology about living in the city.

Ray Bakke writes with passion and gives insight into how we should reach our cities. His personal experience of being a Pastor in the city shapes his Theology and gives us an insight on how we should minister and reach the cities for God. Read it and you will be both challenged and hopefully enthusiastic about being a Pastor in the city.

As part of an Urban Missions course at a university, I read Bakke's A Theology as Big as the City. In this book, Bakke offers his interpretations of biblical pictures of the city in combination with personal experiences, church life, and history/tradition. Claiming that the primary challenge for urban ministry is theological, Bakke hopes to lay a solid biblical foundation for urban ministry. Throughout the book, he supports his claim that God cares about the cities, and He has called Christian men and women to give their lives to the service of ministry in these places. While his approach is a bit scattered, Bakke does look at many biblical pictures of the city and God's relationship to it. He finds a considerable amount of references in the Old Testament concerning the city. He is even able to show that one can go to the Old Testament for examples of confronting street gangs, distributing public welfare, directing religious education, and the power of multiple gifts in holistic urban ministry. He finds that cities are a major theme in the prophets, that Jesus spent much of his time in the city, and that Paul's ministry spread through cities. While all of the proofs are clearly recorded in scripture, the reader senses that Bakke is working through a list of every time "city" appears in scripture to show a running theme of God's interaction with it. He tends to stretch scriptural references to show how every mention of the city is ultimately calling for urban ministry. Yet, he does convincingly demonstrate that urban settings are important in scripture and should be important to Christians today. His experience offers great credibility, wisdom, and insight, and he offers new lenses through which a Christian can view the city. Ultimately, I simply found the title to be misleading. I was expecting a study on God, and how he interacts with humanity, especially the condensed humanity of the city. Rather, I found a study on the city and how it is important in the Bible. If this were a theology book, it should have begun with God as a missionary God, but the book begins and ends with the city. A more appropriate title might have been God and Cities through Scripture. Under this title, I could say that this is a worthwhile read.