Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 512 pages
- Published by: Crossway Books; Stg edition September 2, 2005
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1581347464
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1581347463
-
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 1.6 inches
- Weighs: 1.8 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
As a religiously adrift young adult in the 1960s, Pearcey found her way to the Swiss retreat, and the intellectually rigorous faith, of the Calvinist maverick Francis Schaeffer. This book continues the Schaeffer-inspired project that Pearcey and Chuck Colson began in
How Now Shall We Live?—awakening evangelical Christians to the need for a Christian "worldview," which Pearcey defines as "a biblically informed perspective on all reality." Pearcey gives credibly argued perspectives on everything from Rousseau's rebellion against the Enlightenment, to the roots of feminism, to the spiritual poverty of celebrity-driven Christianity. She also provides a layperson's guide to the history of America's anti-intellectual strain of evangelicalism. Unfortunately for the book's chance at a wide audience, several chapters are devoted to a critique of Darwinism and defense of Intelligent Design—with no substantive engagement with the many thoughtful Christians (John Polkinghorne, Ken Miller, Nancey Murphy, etc.) who dissent from Intelligent Design's scientific and philosophical program. Still, Pearcey deftly applies Schaeffer's core insight that modernity has been built on a "two-story" view of reality—with "facts" on the ground floor and "values" up in the air. Her critique of this view is compelling, and her final chapters, which begin to sketch an integrated Christian way of living and thinking, are exceptional. This is the rare long book that leaves one wanting to read more.
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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Christian Education and Publications, November 2004
An outstanding writer… If you buy only one book this year, this would be at the top of the list."
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Hardcover)
This book is must reading for all Christians and Christian critics. Pearcey's mastery of the material, her clear thinking, her outstanding ability to express herself, and her compelling arguments are all a major reason why I predict that this book will become the standard work in the area. Pearcey makes a persuasive case for Christian involvement in society (to become the salt of the Earth). In my opinion, as a professional biologist very interested in the Darwinian controversies, the strongest part of the book (and the main reason why I bought it) is the section on Intelligent Design. She makes an excellent case for this world view and why it is critically important. I believe that her well done critique of Darwinism and her defense of Intelligent Design will improve the book's chances at achieving a wide audience. Many works exist that go into detail about the many problems with the conclusions of John Polkinghorne, Nancy Murphy and, especially, Ken Miller, as well as others who dissent from Intelligent Design's scientific and philosophical conclusions. To conclude that God may have created the laws of the universe and sat by watching as the creation created itself due to mutations being selected in the struggle for life, as does Ken Miller, suffers from major theological and, from my prospective, even more serious problems with the evidence from biology, genetics and, especially, molecular biology. My work is on mutations and it is clear that mutations have a limited ability to create. They may damage ribosome receptors in bacteria and, as a result, confer resistance to an antibiotic, but even here a fitness cost usually results.
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