Given all of the effusive advance praise for this book, one would think it is the best treatment of Christian cultural engagement since Augustine's City of God. The book doesn't quite meet that standard, but it is definitely worth the extended time necessary to read it if you are interested in how Christianity provides an alternative and superior way of looking at the world as compared to competing secular approaches to reality.
The book begins by considering the main elements of the book of Genesis and continues through the book of Revelation, following the storyline of biblical redemptive history (creation > sin > Babel > Abraham > Moses > wisdom > incarnation > cross > resurrection > last days) to draw out implications for how the Bible makes sense of reality. "One way of evaluating a view of the world is to examine whether it can integrate multiple realities effectively or whether it has one umbilical mold into which it attempts to pour all other perspectives." (328).
For instance, the fact that God has created the world means the universe is essentially personal, which makes sense of human dignity; if we are not made in the image of God, then we are made in the image of something less than God, which will necessarily be dehumanizing; the doctrine of sin means no one is inherently superior to any other, because we all stand before God guilty, whether a beggar or a king; since the fall comes after creation, this means evil is not essential or intrinsic to the universe, and there is hope that it can be overcome; the Christian view of linear time gives meaning to the flow of world history; Christianity is not tied to any one culture but is truly multicultural, while also refusing to affirm every culture as equally good. At every point of the Biblical story, these are the kinds of observations Watkin makes.
There are places where this book is not an easy read. Watkin interacts with many ancient and contemporary thinkers and philosophers, so some paragraphs will require repeated readings. But Watkin brings a humble posture to the material, never sounding condescending or pretentious. He obviously possesses a brilliant intellect, but seems like a guy you'd be comfortable having lunch with.
However challenging the book might be in places, there is no doubt that it is of essential importance for Christians to examine the world through the lens of a "biblical critical theory,” because all of us have a view of the world, whether we know it or not. As Watkin puts it: "People do not differ according to whether they are guided by a cultural and social theory but by whether they realize it or not, and to go through life not realizing the theoretical assumptions and commitments that are shaping you is like letting a stranger decorate your house, choose your clothes, select your children's school, and drive your car without having to ask your permission."