From the glittering tinsel of Hollywood to the advertising slogan you can’t get out of your head, we are surrounded by popular culture. In contrast to some traditional Christian responses, which have been to shun aspects of popular culture, Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor offer an insightful treatise on its value in A Matrix of Meanings.

Rather than offering a theology for pop culture, the authors create a constructive theology out of pop culture. Instead of passing judgment on popular culture the authors analyze its elements and ask "What are they doing?" "What do they represent?" and "What do they say about the world in which we live?" Detweiler and Taylor ask what the phenomena of celebrity idolization means. They do not examine whether Nike’s "Just do it" campaign is morally questionable; instead, they ask what its success says about our society.

A Matrix of Meanings can be read in at least three ways: as a study of the marketplace driven by consumerism and fueled by advertising; as a study of isolated artistic forms–music, movies, television, fashion, sports, art–and what they may tell us about our world, ourselves, and our God; and as a broad survey of our culture that reveals trends that cross art forms. These cultural shifts create a lived theology that reveals the very nature of Christ and his kingdom.

Most of us look to pop culture to comment on how bad it is and how countercultural we need to be. A Matrix of Meanings takes us a few levels deeper to find a surprising and provocative search for spiritual meaning in places we would never expect. This book helps us get connected.–Robert Webber, Myers Professor of Ministry, Northern Seminary

Popular culture has become the environment in which we live, move, and have our being. The authors of this analysis and evaluation have the advantage of being professional practitioners–one in music, one in filmmaking–as well as acute observers of popular culture. One does not have to agree with all their judgments or responses to commend this book as the most insightful and stimulating recent Christian study of the subject.–Robert Banks, director and dean, Macquarie Christian Studies Institute, Sydney, Australia