10 of those

Thought-provoking and motivating

I was glad to receive a review copy of this book and herein leave my comments gratis. The book’s content is compelling. Tinker cites examples of denominations, so-called Christian organizations, and key leaders in global ‘Christianity’ who have left biblical moorings and embraced critical theory. Citing public and private speeches, conversations, and scores of publications, he shows how Western civilization has shifted from a mostly biblical understanding of freedoms—personal, biblical, societal—to disturbingly unbiblical, even totalitarian, viewpoint and policies. Atheist Karl Marx not only promulgated godless ‘solutions’ but advanced them as the lens through which to view the world and humanity, which he re-categorized in terms of oppressors and the oppressed. Though often unrecognized as his legacy, his views are now accepted in much of the world and are intrinsic to the book subtitle’s ‘gospel’ of change. Over time, the proverbial ‘camel’ got its nose into the tent—with now a good deal more of its body inside. Godlessness and deception have infiltrated most Western institutions so as to “subvert society” and thus change its culture (p. 60). Accordingly, “Over the last 60 years or so in the West, there has effectively occurred the death of one culture, rooted in the Judeo-Christian world view, and the rise of another more secular one.” Increasingly larger segments of the global Church have failed to communicate biblical ideals in ways that remain “inwardly compelling” (p. 60), with ‘zero tolerance’ required for ‘conservative’ positions (p. 61). “Destabilizing” language has enabled acceptance of new ‘language’ and the seeming propriety of elites to exert increasingly more power. Tinker’s detailed accounts of this in modern Christendom affirm the validity of his propositions. Especially valuable are quotations from many authors, some of whose writings have impacted me favorably: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis [of course—Tinker ‘stole’ his title], Rodney Stark, Os Guiness, William Wilberforce, D. A. Carson. (The book is dedicated “To Don and Joy Carson: With gratitude for modeling how to apply the whole of Bible to the whole of life.”) Tinker avers that the silence of some evangelical leaders on major issues and culture as described in the book must end. More than stating problems, he affirms solutions: (1) “a praying people,” (2) “a literate leadership”—both biblical literacy and cultural literacy (pp. 158-159), and (3) “a changed community” (p. 160). The Kingdom of God/Christ is distinct from the kingdom of this world. Living biblically as citizens of God’s Kingdom means we model a culture that is an alternative to the world’s (p. 168). Quoting Os Guiness, Tinker says we must trust God, share and demonstrate the Gospel, follow and live out Christ’s call in all spheres of life, “and then leave the outcome to him” (p. 171). My initial impression of the book wasn't favorable due to myriad errors in punctuation, grammar, and mechanics, plus stylistic quirks. In dozens of places throughout, the word which was incorrectly used instead of that. (They are grammatically different.) Other disturbances are wrong use of possessive pronouns, absence of notation about which Bible translation was used for specific verses, spacing errors, and missing word(s) in Scripture quotations. (These and other oddities account for my 4 rather than 5.) After reading more than a third of the book, I mused that maybe publishing rules in the UK or Denmark (printing site) don’t parallel those found in the USA—which perhaps accounted for some of the ‘errors.’ I'm glad I kept reading until the content captivated my thinking. Though the book is definitely read-worthy, I suggest using a different editor for any future edition.

Carol