A Theology As Big As the City

Rating:
Summary: Cities througout Scripture
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Cities througout Scripture
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Good Urban Theology
Review: Bakke is one of the best when it comes to urban mission. In this book he draws from his many years in ministry and provides the biblical and theological framework from which to construct practical urban ministry.

Rating:
Summary: A misleading title, but good content
Review: The biggest downfall of Bakke's book is the title. When I read Bakke's 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. Bakke's commentary reminded me about God's love for the city and God's 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 God's 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 God's 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 Bakke's 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 else's eyes, and Bakke's eyes, attuned to urban poverty and hopelessness, are a great place to start.

Rating:
Summary: A misleading title, but good content
Review: The biggest downfall of Bakke�s book is the title. When I read Bakke�s 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. Bakke�s commentary reminded me about God�s love for the city and God�s 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 God�s 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 God�s 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 Bakke�s 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 else�s eyes, and Bakke�s eyes, attuned to urban poverty and hopelessness, are a great place to start.

Rating:
Summary: A Theology for Urban Missions and Ministry
Review: 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!