Below is a list of books I have personally reviewed. They are all of value to those interested in Bible truth, worldviews, and the ongoing culture wars. In fact, most are uncommonly good and are essential references on the bookshelves of the informed.
All the books mentioned below can be purchased online, 24-hours a day, by clicking on the links provided. In addition, the amazon.com search engine at the bottom of this page will allow you to do your own search for a book or author in the earth's largest virtual bookstore.
Is a religion based on revealed truth still relevant in a postmodern world guided by existentialism and anti-philosophy? Dr. Francis Schaeffer, the author of The God Who Is There, answers this question in the affirmative. Shaeffer, a reformed theologian, contends that it is only historic Christianity, rightly understood and fearlessly applied, that can solve the dilemmas of modern man. His conclusions may not be the ones modern man expects, or even wants, but they cannot be ignored. Although Schaeffer and I disagreed on some very basic Bible doctrines, he had a very precise and accurate Biblical worldview, and articulated this view superbly in all his writings.
In making his point, Schaeffer analyzes the powerful influences of modern philosophers, artists, writers, and musicians (including such diverse examples as Sartre, the exponents of Dada, Henry Miller, Dylan Thomas, and the Beatles), and shows himself alive to the trends that shape our thinking, as was the apostle Paul to the philosophical trends of his day. Like the apostle Paul, Schaeffer does not believe true Christianity consists of a thoughtless, unreasonable faith, as many seem to think.
Schaeffer, like the apostle Paul, was a profound thinker who “sometimes wrote things hard to be understood.” But it is equally true that Schaeffer worked hard to write in a way so as not to be misunderstood. I always like that in him. One never had to wonder where Schaeffer stood. He also challenged my thinking, and I respected him deeply for his willingness to do it. Francis Schaeffer has had a marked influence on my thinking. As I read behind others, I realize the marked influence he had on so many people. Before his death, Francis A. Schaeffer, theologian and philosopher, had become the foremost evangelical thinker of our era. In the middle 1970s, he wrote: “I believe people are as they think. The choices we make in the next decade will mold irrevocably the direction of our culture...and the lives of our children.” Standing here at the close of the 1990s, what reasonable thinking man or woman is there that doesn't think we have reaped the whirlwind of which Schaeffer wrote?
Many of Dr. Schaeffer's books, classics every one, are, I'm sorry to say, no longer in print. If you ever come across any of his out-of-print books, buy and read them. You will not be sorry you did. Even so, The God Who Is There, first published in 1968, presents the basic position on which all of his other books rest. You can securely order this book online by clicking on the cover graphic above or the “Buy the book” graphic below.
In the concluding words of this book, Modern Art & The Death Of A Culture, the author writes: “As Christians today we realize that we are living in hard times. It is hard to keep to the right path; temptations are legion. And as we look around, it is hard to see a great culture breaking down around us, even though, as we have seen, it is not really based on Christian principles, but on those of the Enlightenment. But for that very reason, these are exciting times. God has called us to bear witness to Him at a critical point of history. It is not only exciting and interesting to be a Christian now, it is a great privilege and responsibility. And it is vital.” I would that more New Testament Christians believed as did the author of this book, Dr. H. R. Rookmaaker.
Rookmaaker, a former associate of Francis A. Schaeffer, has written a highly original book that shows how modern art reflects a whole culture—a dying culture. With his analysis of both well-known and lesser-known works of art, his broad understanding of contemporary cultures and sub-cultures, pop and op, happenings and hippies, jazz and beat, protest and revolution, Dr. Rookmaaker presents a message for our time that is devastating, but also profoundly helpful and positive. According to Rookmaaker, restoring a biblical worldview is the answer to our modern ailments. The book lacks some postmodern relevancy, as it was first published in 1970, but it does an excellent job telling and showing how we got to be where we are culturally. You can securely order this book online by clicking on the cover graphic above or the “Buy the book” graphic below.
This book, Darwin On Trial, has ignited a firestorm in the scientific community. Although there has been a concerted effort to marginalize the views expressed in this book, it has succeeded in providing the basis for serious criticism of the General Theory of Evolution, the prevailing orthodoxy of the scientific “establishment.” This alone makes this book, by all accounts, very successful. But, in addition, it is probably the best critique of Darwinism ever written—careful, reasoned, and scientifically sound. Consequently, critics have not actually responded to the arguments set forth in this book; instead, they have resorted to the normal ad hominem attacks we have come to expect from the scientific establishment. Prominent among the name-calling and impugning of the book's author is the fact that he is a “non-scientist.” It is true that the author is not a scientist, but what does this have to do with anything, particularly the General Theory of Evolution, which has absolutely no confirming evidence, and is, therefore, a philosophical construct for Naturalism? Even so, the author, Dr. Phillip A Johnson, is not without his own unique set of credentials. He is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago and clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren of the United States Supreme Court before becoming a Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkely, where he has taught for more than 20 years.
Darwin On Trial is a tour de force that articulates the basis for a fundamental change in the way people regard themselves, their origins, and their ultimate destiny. This book can be securely ordered online by clicking on the cover graphic above or the “Buy the book” graphic below.
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