By Steve Wilkens & Mark L. Sanford. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009

Many Christian books on worldviews fall into one of two general categories of interest. There are those whose main interest is in identifying rival worldviews through expose-and-refute tactics with a strongly apologetic impetus. Often these other worldviews are characterized from a no-holds-barred, adversarial perspective. Another approach deals with worldview formation, seeking to integrate a biblical, Christian theism into all sectors of life, often with special interests in politics, law, and the public square. The goal here is to recapture the influence upon greater society that held sway in earlier periods of western and especially American culture.

In Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories that Shape Our Lives, Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford had taken a different tack. While they do enumerate and explain eight worldview competitors to biblical theism, the ones that they have chosen are not merely the standard categories of the scholars and philosophers, but the popular-level versions which are far more pervasive and subtle. It is popular culture, not the academy, which exerts most pressure on Christians to drift from biblical moorings into adopting other modes of thinking, behaving, and perceiving. “[F]or most of us, worldviews are not primarily systems of interlinked ideas and beliefs, but they are experienced, absorbed and expressed in the midst of life” (p. 15). Wilkens and Sanford prefer the term “cultural story” to “worldview,” since people normally understand and come to experience these not so much as a series of propositions or questions-and-answers or philosophical systems, but as broad narratives or life stories in which they see themselves.

Each of these cultural stories receives a chapter-length treatment (of approximately fifteen pages). Our authors, both of whom teach at Azusa Pacific University (Wilkens in theology and ethics, Sanford in practical theology), begin each chapter with an explanation and description of the cultural story. Following that, they point out some of the strengths and positive aspects that the cultural story might offer to Christian theists. The tone that is struck in this section for each chapter is irenic and charitable, largely free of condescension and open to learning from others. This is followed by a section of “potential problems,” a delicately-named treatment of the weaknesses of that story at either the levels of its conceptual coherence and/or its practical livability. Each chapter ends with a conclusion that draws out implications from the overall discussion.

The first of these eight chapters addresses the cultural story of individualism, which perceives reality through the lens of the autonomous self pursuing personal achievement and success. While we would all acknowledge the presence of this trend in society, most worldview textbooks have not addressed it as a distinct cultural story per se. This well illustrates the point that cultural stories are not imparted through formal teaching of frameworks, but absorbed through osmosis from the ubiquitous voices of pop culture. In this view, corporate bodies and other individuals are deemed good only to the degree that they enable me to achieve my own personal goals. The authors point out that “[o]ne of the first questions we need to ask about any worldview is, Who gets to be God?” (p. 41-42). In this cultural story that figure is the idiotes, the self-imploded individual.

The next chapter deals with consumerism, belief that fulfillment is dependent upon the acquisition of wealth and the lifestyle it offers. This is followed by (religious) nationalism, a surprising selection for inclusion given the fact that this rival cultural story is most prevalent among conservative Christians. Their point, though undoubtedly controversial within conservative churches, is that because of “belief in some sort of superiority, … nationalists claim that God has given their country a special mission to the rest of the world” (p. 64), with the result that we fail fully to recognize that God’s work transcends any particular social structure. “History reveals that far more have suffered and died under nationalism’s banner of God and country than under relativism’s rallying cry of ‘whatever’” (p. 76). We must resist the temptation to use God to subsidize the political purposes of any given nation.

Under moral relativism, the authors distinguish the relatively small number of (principled?) moral relativists who are convinced by philosophical arguments from the far more common “moral relativists” (in quotation marks) who are simply anti-legalistic or anti-absolutist from a reactionary stance. The weak link here is that relativism’s insistence upon tolerance toward all perspectives implies an appeal to a non-negotiable, universal good, an irony now widely recognized. They also point out that, practically speaking, relativism concerning right and wrong flies out the window when we find ourselves victims of others’ wrongdoing—the laws by which every society chooses to live indicates that there are always limits to acceptable tolerance.

The belief that the essence of the universe is matter—and nothing else—is addressed in the chapter on scientific naturalism (a less cumbersome moniker than the more accurate term anti-supernaturalism). While I find myself in agreement with nearly everything in this chapter, I am somewhat troubled acceding the term “scientific” over to the naturalists. It is certainly true that atheistic humanists or secularists usually claim that science is on their side, but I would resist granting that point. Our authors rightly argue that the “laws” which describe the material world are themselves immaterial, and thereby fail to meet naturalism’s own criteria for reality. They also maintain that the conceptually necessary corollary to this view is determinism, which most people find unsatisfying in explaining all human behavior.

Their chapter on New Age is cleverly subtitled, “Are We Gods or Are We God’s?” I’m not convinced that the name “new age” should continue to be used when, in my contact with those embracing these beliefs, they do not use this term for themselves (“so 1970’s!”), preferring to accept the term “spiritualist.” Wilkens and Sanford cast the two-tiered epistemology of spiritualism as “logos” (an acceptance of much left-brained logical and scientific thought regarding the material world) and “gnosis” (becoming attuned to the metaphysical alternative realities through nonscientific, mystical, and intuitive means). They helpfully point out that “New Age and naturalism are monistic” in that while naturalism reduces all reality to the material world, New Age reduces all reality to the divine—everything is god (p. 127).

Their chapter on Postmodern Tribalism may be the strongest chapter in the book in that it explains postmodernism, a term widely used but poorly understood, in a manner easily grasped by nonprofessionals. Truth here is seen as socially constructed, dependent neither upon the autonomous, objectively rational individual (neither possible nor desirable) nor upon the grand totalizing schemes that lay claim to universality (which have given rise to oppression and war), but upon the values embraced by one’s own like-minded tribe. The authors demonstrate that they are neither enamored with the cultural story postmodern tribalism nor merely reactionary against it. The both draw insights from its critiques of modernism and enumerate its shortcomings.

In the chapter on salvation by therapy, the reject the oft-encountered wholesale rejection of psychology of some conservatives while pointing out how the models of Freud, Skinner, and Rogers proceed from assumptions incompatible with biblical anthropology—they pose an alternative religion. Wilkens and Sanford also describe the Family Systems approach, allowing for a more direct appropriation within the field of Christian counseling.

In the concluding two chapters they address Christian theism, laying out its contours along narrative rather than propositional lines, followed by guidelines for developing a worldview using the Wesleyan “quadrilateral” resources of Scripture, reason, experience, and tradition.

For this reviewer, it is an encouraging sight to see Christian worldview studies developing in new directions. While Naugle and Sire have both rightly pointed out that worldviews are better conceived as life narratives than systems of thought, Wilkens and Sanford have here joined the emerging ranks of others (e.g. Bartholomew & Goheen, Mohler, Walsh & Middleton, Newbigin, MacIntyre, Wright) who are making fresh contributions using this dimension. Coupling this together with the insight that most people acquire their own world-story through encounter with popular culture(s) rather philosophical systems yields a much more accessible, realistic, and readable picture for their targeted audience. This kind of “cultural exegesis” (Vanhoozer) is a skill which Christians will need to gain if they wish to enter into actual conversation with those outside our circles rather than merely lobbing critiques in the general direction of the “enemy.” Kudos to Wilkens and Sanford for a thought-provoking, current, and enjoyable text!

— Dr. Ray Lubeck

This story begins with an elderly man, Eddie, living out the last hour of his life unbeknownst to him.  He dies a tragic, sacrificial death and then is transported to heaven where the real journey of the story begins.  In heaven he moves from one world to the next meeting different people and learning a lesson from each person he meets. He is able to see things that he never knew about himself and others, and also he is able to forgive, love, and heal. The end of the story brings startling facts to light and then leaves us watching Eddie wait in his ideal heaven or “home” until it is his turn to be one of the five people.

After the completion of Mitch Albom’s book titled The Five People You Meet in Heaven, I walked away with a feeling of uncertainty and forced happiness. The lessons taught to the main character, Eddie, through the five people that he either knew or was associated with on earth, in some way, shape or form, left me pondering what life was about but not of what heaven will be like. I think this was Albom’s point too. 

Throughout the story Albom constantly is making statements through his characters that I believe present his worldview about the purpose of life here on earth and an imaginative picture of what “heaven” will be like.  The gist of the story is put at the very end and stated as the “secret of heaven.” The narrator says, “…the secret of heaven: that each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one” (196).  We are all interconnected and not one of us is separate from another. How we live and breathe is going to affect one person and ultimately everyone whether or not we accept that fate.

Another interesting statement made by the first person Eddie meets in heaven is “Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth” (35).  The same character then explains that understanding your life is the greatest gift that God can give and that is what heaven is all about.  One critic said that the book “explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place, it’s an answer…”

God is mentioned around four times in the book but as a very far away distant figure of superiority (Deism). He is not involved in the process of learning, and the only thing he says in the whole book is “Home” when Eddie reaches his heaven after he is done visiting the five people’s heavens. The book as a whole is very creative, captivating, and a good read.  However, the twist comes in when people start adopting this view of eternity and the purpose of life: there is an afterlife, a heaven that reveals all about the mysteries of life on earth, and everyone goes to heaven to meet their five people and then become one for someone else.  After reading this, I felt that Albom was saying that we cannot know or understand anything while we are here on earth and that’s ok. We shouldn’t worry about it because it will all be explained to us when we get to heaven.

The website for the book opens with a flash media of the following statements: “Each person is in your life for a reason….all endings are beginnings…there are five people you meet in heaven…life has to end, love doesn’t.”

http://www.albomfivepeople.com

--Laurie

When painter Paul Gauguin entitled his masterpiece Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, he identified some of the precise questions raised by John Whitehead in this study.  Whitehead, a civil liberties attorney and editor of the magazine Gadfly, very capably presents an interdisciplinary investigation which traces the interplay of history, philosophy, literature, art, science, music, film, and culture.

Written immediately at the close of the millennium, Whitehead offers a history of 20th Century culture-where we've been, what it means to be human, and where we are going-all as viewed from the perspective of one clearly adhering to a biblical theistic worldview.

He provides an historical context for the 20th century by backing up into the 1700's and the philosophical and artistic movements which gave impetus to the movements and styles of the last century.  Against the backdrop of Voltaire and Rousseau, Oscar Wilde and Arthur Rimbaud, he traces contemporary culture through to computers, MTV, and cloning.

Along the way he provides a fascinating tour of the styles, techniques, and messages of the artists and figures which have so shaped contemporary society.  With 32 color plates in addition to over 50 black and white photos, this book is a literary scrapbook of 20th century politics (McCarthy, JFK, Watergate, Reagan), philosophy (Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus), social science (Freud, Jung, Margaret Mead), music (Chuck Berry, Elvis, Dylan, the Beatles, John Cage, Springsteen, Cobain, Madonna, Spears), literature (Huxley, Kafka, Elliot, Fitzgerald, Orwell, Hemingway, Ginsberg), art (Picasso, Goya, Dali, Warhol), film (Hitchcock, James Dean, Clockwork Orange, Apocalypse Now, Forrest Gump, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Fight Club), television (I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, The Simpsons),  social activists (Margaret Sanger, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jane Fonda, Abbie Hoffman, SDS, Betty Friedan), and other notable figures (Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Heffner, Marshall McLuhan).

While necessarily selective (for example, his focus is clearly upon Western and especially American developments), this book is superbly suited as a general introduction to the symbiotic relationship between the arts and culture at large.  I would highly recommend it to those seeking to understand how those in the 20th century sought to understand the meaning of life.

For those who would rather "wait for the movie," there is good news.  Whitehead has also produced a 7-part video series by the same name which has won several awards.

[written by] Ray Lubeck

Rarely in the medium of Christian fiction has a book been written with such beauty, depth, and spiritual significance as Ted Dekker’s and Bill Bright’s Blessed Child.  First published in 2001, the novel sold rapidly in religious and secular bookstores alike, and has been revered by giants such as Max Lucado and Tim LaHaye as being one of the finest works of inspirational fiction ever written.  Set in the context of the present day against the contrasting backdrops of the African desert and suburban America, this novel follows the remarkable story of one special child and his amazing gift from God.  From a remote monastery in Ethiopia to westernized California, this moving tale of God’s love and joy takes the reader on a journey to the farthest corners of the earth and back again.

Having been raised in monastery since infancy, ten-year-old Caleb has never ventured beyond the walls of his Ethiopian sanctuary.  Now, he must run for his life and abandon everything he has ever known; his home is under attack.  Fleeing to America with his rescuer, Jason Marker, Caleb is hardly ready for life in the United States.  More importantly, the United States is hardly ready for Caleb.

It does not take Jason long to realize that Caleb has the amazing power of healing the sick and raising the dead, but the young boy is taken away from him and put under the care of a Greek Orthodox priest, who sees Caleb as a way to earn some serious money.  Labeling the child as a “psychic phenomenon,” his advertisements result in thousands of Americans flocking to the young boy’s “shows.” Most often, every person in the room is healed in a matter of minutes.  Though Caleb is adamant that his power comes from God alone, his claims are dismissed as the ramblings of a young child too involved in religion to understand that the power truly comes from his mind.

In the midst of Caleb’s rise as a celebrity, he is singled out as a potential threat to a presidential candidate when he calls the man a “tempest” in front of the American public.  Assassins are hired to kill the boy, but God continually protects him from poisoning, being shot at, etc.  The situation climaxes at a showdown of sorts, when the power of God moves in ways never seen before in any previous generation.

This book is clearly theistic in nature, focusing on the Christian faith found in the Bible.  Beneath the story’s gripping plot lie parallels and allegories that illustrate profound Biblical truths and their implications.  On the surface, Blessed Child is a remarkable story of adventure, treachery, faith and love.  On a deeper level, Ted Dekker and Bill Bright have crafted a story so chock-full of spiritual truth and the amazing love and power of God that it is truly awe-inspiring.

As an avid reader of fiction, I have come across many books that have touched my heart and captured my mind.  However, Blessed Child surpassed my expectations in ways I did not know were possible.  In the words of Chuck Colson, Blessed Child is “a fast-paced thriller of apocalyptic dimensions.  The book will move you to wonder...”

-- Jenn W

A Matrix of Meanings, co-authored by Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor can be read in at least three ways: as a study of the marketplace driven by consumerism and fueled by advertising, whose highest aspirations are attained in celebrity; as a study of isolated artistic forms--music, movies, television, fashion, sports, art--and what they may tell us about our world, ourselves, and our God; and as a broad survey of our culture that reveals trends that cross art forms. These cultural shifts, studied in the marketplace and manifested across pop cultural forms, create a lived theology that reveals the very nature of Christ and his kingdom.

Viewing pop culture from the inside out enables one to find patterns of meaning within, a matrix, which further allows one to comprehend the theological contribution of a pop cultural event. Bernard Lonergan, a Catholic theologian who is quoted in the first chapter of A Matrix of Meanings, believes a shift from the modern empirical approach to theology to a postmodern approach "requires that theology be conceived, not as a permanent achievement, but as an ongoing process of mediation between...a cultural matrix of meanings and values and a religion within that matrix." Detweiler and Taylor stress "only after careful inspection and reflection do we dare to locate values and religion within that matrix" (31).

Rather than offering a theology for pop culture, as some recent commentators have, the Detweiler and Taylor create a constructive theology out of pop culture. Instead of passing judgment on popular culture the authors analyze its elements and ask "What are they doing?" "What do they represent?" and "What do they say about the world in which we live?" Rather than deciding whether Bono, Britney, and the cast of "Friends" deserve our admiration, Detweiler and Taylor ask what the phenomena of celebrity idolization means. They do not examine whether Nike's "Just do it" campaign is morally questionable; instead, they ask what its success says about our society.

In conclusion, the penetrating and embracing analysis of pop culture as the expression of the deepest yearnings of the human heart makes this book a worth while read. 

--Olatoye

How do Christians share truth with a culture that denies truth’s very existence?  Apologetics seems to be an outdated way to spread the gospel, but in his book Tearing Down Strongholds and Defending the Truth, R.C. Sproul, Jr. brings it to life again.  The purpose of his book is threefold: to destroy falsehood, proclaim truth, and defend the truth.  His book outlines the history of thinking, and how the Enlightenment, rationalism, Communism, the world wars, etc. have affected how America responds to truth and reason in general, then moves on to explain epistemology (the study of knowledge).  With that as his foundation, he then critiques Naturalism, behaviorism/Freudianism, pragmatism, skepticism, relativism, and existentialism at the core of how that worldview affects daily life and how each is lacking in its reason.  That is how he destroys falsehood.  Then he moves on to proclaim the truth through laying the foundation of logic, reliability through the senses, and how language has meaning, and using those to make the case for God (defending the truth).  His entire premise is that logic points to the Christian worldview, and he explains a very philosophical concept in laymen’s terms, so that the everyday Joe and Jane can reason for the truth through logic and the creation around them.

--Liz

An emotionally gripping work of theological fiction, The Shack, by William P. Young, sold over a million copies in around its first year. The Shack remains at the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list for paperback trade fiction.

The story deals with down- to-earth and close-to-heart issues: dealing with tragedy, the problem of good and evil, forgiveness, healing, family and hope. The story’s main character, Mackenzie Philips, encounters God at the scene of his young daughter’s murder. The majority of the story takes place at the ominous shack where Mackenzie spends time with God, or more specifically, time interacting with the different members of the Trinity.

The Shack is clearly written from a Christian Theistic perspective. However, since its content does not conform to orthodox theology in its depiction of God, it has sparked questions, criticism, and controversy. The theology it presents can be misleading, which is not surprising since it is theological fiction.

Readers should read it critically and be willing to question the ideas Young presents. The story is interesting and stretches the familiar boundaries of describing God—it certainly shakes conventional theological thinking to its core—especially in relation to the Trinity. For example, God is portrayed as a warm and caring African-American woman who is called “Papa.” Young challenges readers to think about their own norms for how God might legitimately be portrayed within the genre of fiction.

The story is emotionally gripping. The different parts can cause a range of responses: recoil, sad, perplexed, and feel-good-all-over. Readers must be wary in letting their emotions determine what is accurate about what is presented in the story.

A blurb on the book’s cover by Eugene Peterson reads, “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!” This description is probably hyperbolic: it is at least debatable whether it can hold its own against Bunyan’s allegorical classic, or of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

Overall, it is an interesting and inspiring story that has the potential to promote healing. Though it may not be theologically sound, it does encourage readers to expand their ideas about who God is, and what he (or she?) might be like.(Indeed, if Lewis can get away with portraying the Son as an animal (the great lion Aslan), is it really any more heretical to portray the Father as a (female) human?