Review: Coffeehouse Theology

You can read Coffeehouse Theology and never fully understand what the title has to do with the content. And you can read it and wonder why author Ed Cyzewski spent so much space restating points he’d already made. But don’t miss what the book really is: A welcomed addition to the discussions about Christian theology in a postmodern world. The talk about the “emergent” church in the “postmodern” era often drifts into heretical, anything goes, all roads lead the heaven belief systems that, in the end, have little to do with Jesus. Cyzewski brings much-needed balance by arguing that students of God can practice contextual theology without abandoning certain fundamental beliefs. So what if he never establishes the “coffeehouse” metaphor and doesn’t use the analogy as a thread to bring the reader along? And so what if he beats a few horses to death? Perhaps a few overly rigid theologians will read this work and approach God with more of an open mind in light of other viewpoints. And perhaps those who are sliding down the slippery slope of relativism will read it and recognize the value of dropping a few anchors. There are dangers to Cyzewski’s approach, primarily that personal experience will edge out the Bible and the Holy Spirit as the ultimate authority on understanding God. But there’s much to be gained by listening to theologians from different cultures and different points in history and from acknowledging our own biases. Cyzewski’s sees this never strays from the most important aspect of theology, to know God and make Him known. We can never hear that too often.