Books & Culture

Books & Culture
Editor John Wilson
Categories Literary magazines, Christianity
Frequency Bimonthly
Format Tabloid
Circulation 11,000
First issue September 1995 (1995-09)
Final issue
— Number		 November 2016 (2016-11)
Vol 22 No 6
Company Christianity Today International
Country United States
Based in Carol Stream, Illinois
Language English
Website www.booksandculture.com
ISSN 1082-8931
OCLC number 32609725

Books & Culture: A Christian Review (B&C) was a bimonthly book review journal published by Christianity Today International from 1995 to 2016.[1] The journal was launched a year after the publication of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll, and it sought to address that scandal by providing a vehicle for Christian intellectual engagement with ideas and culture, modeled on the New York Review of Books.[2] It was launched and subsidized through its early years with the help of grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts.[3] John Wilson edited the publication and Noll and Philip Yancey served as cochairs of the editorial board.[4]

While the publisher and the majority of Books & Culture's writers were evangelical, the magazine was not limited to evangelical perspectives. "Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jews, and a few nonbelievers" could be found among the publication's contributors, according to the New York Times.[2] In 2000, Alan Wolfe observed in The Atlantic that "In addition to evangelicals, figures as diverse as the economist Glenn C. Loury; the historian Eugene Genovese; Richard Bernstein, of New School University; and the novelist Larry Woiwode have written for the magazine, which has featured interviews with Stanley Crouch, Adam Michnik, and Francis Fukuyama."[5]

Books & Culture was considered "the leading journal of evangelical Protestant engagement with the scholarly disciplines and the arts"[6] and enjoyed a loyal following among both self-styled evangelical intellectuals and the wider publishing industry,[7][8] but it was never financially self-sustaining.[9][3] In 2013 it narrowly avoided closure through a Twitter-driven fundraising push that secured sufficient donations and pledges to keep the magazine afloat into the following year and beyond.[10] Wilson speculated in an interview after the closure was announced that it might have been easier to attract donors if the magazine had functioned as "sort of a culture war vehicle," but that had never been the vision of the publication.[3]

In the Books & Culture podcast, Wilson regularly highlighted other periodicals that he believed would appeal to readers of Books & Culture, including The Other Journal, The Englewood Review of Books, and Image.[11] Commentators discussing the demise of Books & Culture identified these and other publications that might be considered successors to the journal, such as Mars Hill Audio Journal, Touchstone, and Sojourners.[9][12] In December 2016, it was announced that Wilson would be editing a new publication starting in spring 2017 called Education & Culture.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "About B&C". Booksandculture.com. n.d. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 Steinfels, Peter (September 3, 2005). "Provocative and Open-Minded, an Evangelical Journal Celebrates 10 Years of Breaking Stereotypes". New York Times – via ProQuest Central.
  3. 1 2 3 "Should Evangelical Intellectuals Despair 'Books and Culture's' Demise?". Christianity Today. October 20, 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Masthead". Books & Culture. November–December 2016.
  5. ↑ Wolfe, Alan (October 2000). "The Opening of the Evangelical Mind". The Atlantic. 286.4: 55ff.
  6. ↑ Torode, Sam (2014). "Books & Culture". In Frohnen, Bruce; Beer, Jeremy; Jeffrey, Nathan. American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia. Open Road Media. ISBN 1497651573.
  7. ↑ Jacobs, Alan (October 11, 2016). "John Wilson and Books & Culture". Snakes and Ladders. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Coddington, Mark (Oct 14, 2016). "What Books & Culture Meant". Medium. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 Schmalzbauer, John (January 12, 2017). "The Life and Death of Evangelicalism's Little Magazine". Comment. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Bailey, Sarah Pulliam (September 9, 2013). "Books & Culture survives financial crisis". The Christian Century.
  11. ↑ Wilson, John (October 20, 2014) "the other journal: Everyday theology"; (August 18, 2014) "Rooted Hope for the Church: The Englewood Review of Books"; (August 5, 2013) "A New Look for Image: With the same great content as always." Books & Culture Podcast.
  12. ↑ Loftus, Matthew (October 20, 2016). "After Books and Culture: 9 Ways to Share the Cost of Cultural Engagement". Christ and Pop Culture. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "John Wilson of Books & Culture at Christianity Today to join TheBestSchools.org". The Best Schools. December 9, 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
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