Recently I had the opportunity to read and review a very great book called Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey.
If you've never read a book on worldview or apologetics, then you are in for a treat because this is just what the doctor ordered. Many books that are published in the Christian world are cotton ball fluff. Total Truth is the medicine, and Crossway Publishers hit the ball out of the park with this book.
Pearcey's credentials no one can argue with. She is the Francis A. Schaeffer scholar at the World Journalism Institute where Total Truth serves as the basis for a worldview curriculum. She earned her M.A. from Covenant Theological Seminary and was pursuing a doctorate when she was blessed to have children. She does have other graduate level education in philosophy and she currently serves as the Visiting Scholar at the Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University. And you can read more of her bio and education here.
In a nutshell, Total Truth addresses the idea of worldview and why it is important for Christians to carry their worldview into every area of their lives. Pearcey skillfully examines the ideas of the culture and explains why the definition of values and social contract theory are important to recognize and then engage.
She masterfully lays out a critique of Western civilization and how we have fallen from where we were once called; and she gives a clarion call to the mass of Christians who need to learn to understand what they believe and why.
Some chapter titles include: Darwin Meets the Berenstain Bears, The Science of Common Sense, What's So Good About Evangelicalism? and How Women Started the Culture War.
She also has four appendices including one on Modern Islam and the New Age movement. And the footnotes are itself a small book.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Aaman
Interesting:
The Ministry of Propaganda rules!
Also,
Very unbiased and honest, I'm sure
2 - Aaman
Nice reference to Google Print, Stacy. First time I've seen it used in a review
Quite an experienced author too, leastways in the field she is writing in.
3 - Temple Stark
The world institute also seems to implicate that there are no Christians in journalism. Pretty much absurd.
Maybe there's a particular type of Christian they're after. Rhetorical.
4 - Stacy L. Harp
You guys really should read the book and then comment on what she writes. That would make for very interesting comments.
5 - Temple Stark
I have.
I figured my comments would ruin your PR schtick.
It's much too simplistic. To get anything useful out of the bok you already have to agree with the focus and the premises and buy into an already established belief set system.
As an aside, the book really has very little to do with journalism which at its core is about curiosity not conformity (Most corporate media excepted)
6 - Temple Stark
out of the book too
7 - Stacy L. Harp
What? The book isn't about journalism. Temple?
8 - swingingpuss
So, if I disagree with the Christain viewpoint then I'm doomed to rot in eternal hell...interesting.
And I thought this book was about liberating Christianity from its dogmatic blinders not cloistering it further.
9 - Temple Stark
That was the "aside" part. It seemed earlier commentators were thinking that it did have something to do with journnalism. It seemed, I could be wrong. Just trying to be helpful.
And yes, it is interesting that I've read the book. Glad you commented on that.
10 - Stacy L. Harp
Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't believe for a second you've read the book.
11 - Bennett
Is there more than one way to take that statement, Stacy?
Let's see... "Temple, you're a liar."
12 - George P. Wood
I'd be interested in reading Temple's review of the book.
13 - Stacy L Harp
George, good one! :)
I would too. Temple, show us your review of the book. I'd be interested in seeing it also.
14 - Phillip Winn
I'm really not interested in seeing Blogcritics accused of lying. Without any evidence to the contrary or even the ability to get evidence to the contrary, respect would suggest taking Temple at his word. Please do so.
15 - gonzo marx
ok..let me get this straight
Stacy sez..
*In a nutshell, Total Truth addresses the idea of worldview and why it is important for Christians to carry their worldview into every area of their lives.*
so we are to understand that this Book advocates slanting any "objective journalism" towards the worldview of fundamentalist christian dogma?
does this require that changing or ignoring of Objectively observed Facts when they conflict with said dogma?
does this mean an "adjustment" to any Facts that pre-date the founding of said dogma? (as in historical information and facts that pre-date the christian era)
does this preclude the usage of ANY other worldview as well as an Objective view in reporting, journalism and history?
i am interested in hearing from those proponents for this "book" on these topics...
from the text of the Article, it seems to be espousing a co-ordinated propaganda effort disguised as "journalism"...a complete rejection of any kind of "objective" standard or goal...
can we get some clarification?
also...very rude and bad form to say shit like that about Temple without ANY shred of "proof" to the accusation
is this a prime example of the type of "journalism" proposed by this "book"?
eschew Facts and go right for baseless attack whenever anything disagrees with the "accepted" worldview?
thanks in advance for Answering..
Excelsior!
16 - Lightning
From the review it seems to me that the only real Christians in the world would reside in the Western Hemisphere (particularly the US) What about other cultures that have avid Christians but don't buy the Western Philosophical method of Christianity?
ex. China (Fastest growing Christian population on the planet)
If the title of the book includes the words "Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity” It should really be about liberating Christians from our Western mindsets. Jesus was not a Westerner. He was from the Middle East. Want a culture shock? Go there.
Christians can in no way compare the US to a Captive Israel or even a present day China.
Furthermore, Jesus did not argue like the Apologetics do. Jesus waited for the right timing to give answers to questions that were asked of him, or to face lies that he was accused of. He did not need to defend himself, and did not wish to.
Something we could all learn from.
To be quite honest the accusation of Temple not reading the book bothers me.
Who is the accuser as taught by your own faith?
WWJD
17 - Shark
"Total Truth addresses the idea of worldview and why it is important for Christians to carry their worldview into every area of their lives."
Lemmee know when you fuckers:
* start giving away all of your possessions
* encourage world peace,
* begin to "judge not"
* pray in private behind closed doors
* and "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth"
HYPOCRITES.
=========
PS: Stacy, you need to pray that God helps you with your cliche infection:
...you are in for a treat...
...because this is just what the doctor ordered...
...Crossway Publishers hit the ball out of the park...
...she was blessed to have children....
...In a nutshell...
...She masterfully lays out a critique...
...we have fallen from where we were once
...she gives a clarion call...
...This is a must read book...
...it is a book you will return to over and over again...
...get a taste of this masterpiece...
...If you do not read any book this year, this is the one book you MUST read...
...Do it today!...
==========
Although I find it appropriate that your writing sounds like advertising copy from the 19th century.
You should try:
"Jesus! Tastes Better! Less Filling!"
18 - Phillip Winn
Gozno, I believe that the general idea behind Nancy's book (which I have not read) is that we are all driven by our "worldview," it isn't even a conscious thing. In one sense, pure objectivity is a myth. Our beliefs dictate (to a certain extent) how we act in any given situation. If my worldview includes a concept of personal morality that includes a prohibition against something and an idea that it matters, I'm probably not going to do that thing, while someone else whose worldview may or may not include a similar prohibition but doesn't believe that in the end it really matters is more likely to do that thing.
It is that general idea in the world of politics that causes so many to cry out about media bias. It isn't that most people believe that hard-core partisans are deliberately skewing their reporting to point a certain way, but that each reporter's worldview informs their reporting, and the stories that are reported and the questions that are asked and so on are all a result of that person's beliefs, whether they intend it to be so or not.
To give a concrete example tied to journalism, since it has come up in the comments, someone who believes that abortion ends a human life is going to report on an abortion-related story differently from someone who believes that abortion is a personal medical procedure involving a woman's body. I've already bypassed whether or not such a story is even noticed or covered, which is actually probably the primary first element into which a worldview plays.
Of course, most of us cannot articulate our worldview very well, which is something about which Nancy Pearcey and others are concerned. For example, surrounded by a culture which has a heavy religious element but not a very Christian one (in tems of what is taught in the Bible, not just labels claimed), it is pretty easy for Christian, they fear, to develop a worldview indistinguishable from that of a non-Christian (despite a few differen vocabulary words here and there), even though in theory the Christian's underlying beliefs should result in a radically different outlook on life.
So I don't think that the idea is that Christians are to prosyletize in the newsroom, per se, but that they should be aware of how their views are shaped (or not) by their Christian beliefs. They should be consistent, in other words, which many people are not.
19 - Phillip Winn
Lightning, one of the biggest complaints among Christians about American Christianity right now is how bound up with Western culture it has become. In theory, that's exactly what an approach like Pearcey's is designed to help undo. By separating out one's core beliefs from the cultural filters one has tended to pile on them, one improves one's worldview. In theory.
20 - Stacy L. Harp
I was thinking, I should apologize for implying that Temple was lying. So I'm sorry Temple. I would like to hear your honest review of Nancy's book, despite the fact that you think it might ruin my publicity schtick.
Because as you know, any PR is good PR.
So please accept my apology, and let us hear your thoughts.
21 - Stacy L. Harp
And thanks for pointing out my cliches, I had no idea I used that many. Hmm.
22 - John Matthews
Stacy, you're like a huge cargo plane dropping propaganda fliers over a third world country. Do you really think this is the correct place to shovel all of your religious beliefs? I mean, do you ever post anything that doesn't involve God or Jesus?
To balance this all out, I recommend you give Jesus some pajamas instead. You'll feel better about this terrible sin-o-plex we live in.
23 - Phillip Winn
John, it's a book review, no? It's a book review posted in the Books section, so I don't see a problem. I saw a problem with silly accusations, but Stacy has magnaminously apologized for that.
Are you suggesting that we discriminate against Stacy because of her religious beliefs? Wow, and here I thought we didn't do that sort of thing any more...
24 - jarboy
john & shark -- too effin hell-larious, dudes.
25 - Lightning
After reading some reviews on Amazon, I'm actually understanding some of what Stacy was saying in her review Phillip. Thank you for starting to point it out.
This line confused me a little bit.
"She masterfully lays out a critique of Western civilization and how we have fallen from where we were once called; and she gives a clarion call to the mass of Christians who need to learn to understand what they believe and why."
I took this to mean something different than what you meant Stacy. After reading a few more reviews it got through my thick skull. I may actually read this book to get an idea of what she has to say.
I'm still not into the apologetics.