Understanding and Engaging the Culture: Book Reviews
Article by Jack Mumford
1 Chronicles 12:32 says, “From the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do…” (NASB). As important as knowing the Scriptures are a secondary goal is grasping the culture we are trying to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see the Apostle Paul’s example in Acts 17 where he appealed to Scripture when he went to the synagogues and spoke with the Jews and where he appealed to the stoic and epicurean philosophers to reach the Greeks when he went to the Areopagus of Mars Hill. He spoke differently to different cultures, but it was essentially the same Gospel message. In our day and age there are a host of difficulties when reaching our culture, but these works will serve to assist in understanding the ever changing world we find ourselves in. You will not only be able to understand what the issue is but what influenced it so that you can graciously, and truthfully, help those who have been taken “captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ (Col. 2:8, NASB).
Top 5 Books in Order of Importance
This work by Dr. Trueman is a condensed version of his eminent tome, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. Easily one of the most important books of the decade Trueman analyzes, evaluates, and offers critiques of our current cultural milieu concerning identity, politics, sexuality, and socialization. If you are in the death throes of trying to put a finger on what went wrong in our world, look no further.
Noteworthy quote, “The task of the Christian is not to whine about the moment in which he or she lives but to understand its problems and respond appropriately to them.”
This timely book aids the reader in putting their finger on the tipping points that led to the social justice movement, wokeness, CRT, intersectionality, and BLM developments that are prevalent in much of our culture as well as our churches. Dr. Baucham offers wonderful citations, and points of evidence that lead to a masterful conclusion for what it is that lurks just beneath the surface of these ideologies and how they prop up a counterfeit Gospel. Instead of buzzwords you will get the data, documentation, and well-reasoned argumentation.
Noteworthy quote, “It is both ironic and sad that CSJ’s [Critical Social Justice] attack on the Gospel is so clear that an atheist can see it, yet many churches, denominations, seminaries, leading ministries, and ministers have fallen prey to this movement.”
Dr. Kreeft has written many books, but this one is likely the best of them all. As a good doctor, Kreeft offers the diagnosis and the prescription for what ails western civilization. A proper understanding of sex, sexual liberty, abortion and how the arrows in our quiver will help to side step societies doom. Tolle lege!
Noteworthy quote, “Religious liberty is being attacked in the name of sexual liberty. … It’s not their behavior we threaten (because people can do as they please), but their consciences. Therefore, we are being coerced (by taxes, devastating lawsuits, and ‘retraining’) to approve of their spiritually harmful behavior.”
Machen was a lion of orthodox (right belief) protestant Christianity. As Higher Criticism made its way into Western Culture, Machen was at the heart of countering the liberalism in the early 1900s and his work still speaks in our day and age. It is perhaps more accurate today than when it was first penned.
Noteworthy quote, “…by showing what Christianity is not we hope to be able to show what Christianity is, in order that men may be led to turn from the weak and beggarly elements and have recourse again to the grace of God.”
Dreher sounds the alarm against totalitarianism that many Christians fail to recognize. In this book Dreher shares many real-life examples of those who have survived, and some who did not, tyrannical governments and held to the faith.
Noteworthy quote, “Too many of us are sleeping through the erosion of our freedom, assuming that totalitarianism can’t happen in America. Live Not by Lies is the wake-up call we need-and will equip us for the long resistance.”
Jack Mumford, “Understanding and Engaging the Culture: Book Reviews,” The Advent Christian Witness, Winter 2023