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Summary: The book that will underpin the marketplace movement!
Review: I bought this book on the recommendation from a friend. I have been looking for a book that would give a theological framework to what is now called the "marketplace movement". I was also looking for a book to encourage bussiness people and university students that their "work" is of real significance to God. I have not been dissapointed.What is significant about "The Other Six days" is it's approach. This is not a popular critque of the seperation between work and worship, mission and ministry, clergy and laity. Instead it reconstructs a unifying theology welling up out of scripture, flowing out of the Trininty providing a paradigm of vocation, work, ministry and mission as an intergrated whole. The outcome is all the people of God participate in the Trinities work, mission and ministry. The book is broken into three parts. Part 1 A people without "Laity and Clergy" Part 2 Summoned and equipped by God and Part 3 For the life of the world. Each part traces ideas down through the church`s history which now discolour our thinking and practice on the issues addressed. Secondly the contemporary context is explored. The author then gets under the skin of these issues through sound biblical exgesis and an applied theology of the Trinity. What resulted for me is a dynamic new way of understanding "calling" , work, ministry and mission. It has revitalised my understanding of the church and its work in society. I found the discussion questions at the end of each chapter to be excellent. There are readings to examine, contemporary case studies to explore, situations to evaluate and examples to analyse. These are excellent for group or individual study, reflection and interaction. If you are wanting to explore further the issues the book has raised the author provides a fantastic selected bibliograhy, index of authors, biblical references and subjects. The footnotes also provde a rich source for further research. Overall I'm deeply impacted by the thought, devotion and reflection which has gone into this book. I fully recommend it to anyone wanting to grapple with the intergration of faith and daily life.
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Summary: foundational book ~ from a novice in theology
Review: I came to read Dr. Stevens book as one who did not realize the extent to which I had dichotomistic thinking in my approach to deeds. I will be the first to admit that I am a beginner theologian who happens to work in the marketplace. So, as an untrained theologian I just made it through the book (but the word "just" is not meant to discourage anyone). The reading, first and foremost, challenged my definition of mission. I realized that the posture of my heart is more than doing deeds (evangelizing, etc). In the book I can remember reading (and I paraphrase) "you can preach on the corner with a prideful heart, or do computer programming to the glory of God, what is more pleasing to God?" These types of statements combined with a sound trinitarian perspective of work, helped reshape my thinking. Yet after reading the book for the last two years I have sought more answers. I have begun skimming through the book again to begin to answer some of my questions. For instance, in practice, I have tried to not solely validate people's occupation based on the good it produces to society. This is tough... In actuality, in engaging the marketplace in how they perceive work, the horizontal (God and your work), should be introduced and flushed out as the primary motivator and paradigm through which Christians in the marketplace should view their work, RATHER than how much time they have to evangelize, how many people they employ, etc. This is a real struggle, and I seek answers on how to present a theology that is practical and can be communicated easily and effectively to the average follower of Christ. So, consider that a request for "A dummies guidebook on how to flush out a theology of work in the life of the church." Well done Dr. Stevens!
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