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Since its inception, television has captured the cultural imagination. Indeed, TV is now so ingrained in the fabric of everyday life that it can't help but function as one of the primary means through which we make sense of our lives and the world.

Kutter Callaway and Dean Batali's Watching TV Religiously: Television and Theology in Dialogue, a volume from the Engaging Culture Series, demonstrates that television--as a technology, a narrative art form, a commodity, and a portal for our ritual lives--contronts viewers theologically. Whether its content is explicitly spiritual or not, TV routinely invites (and sometimes demands) theological reflection.

Watching TV Religiously articulates something of the presence and activity of God in the golden age of TV and forges an appropriate response to an ever-changing cultural form. Callaway and Batali construct a theology of television that allows for both celebration and critique, helping Christians more fully understand and appreciate the power and meaning of TV. A supplemental website provides additional resources, conversations, and close readings of TV programs.

About the Series

The Engaging Culture series is designed to help Christians respond with theological discernment to our contemporary culture. Each volume explores particular cultural expressions, seeking to discover God's presence in the world and to involve readers in sympathetic dialogue and active discipleship.