Review: Worldview Power
Second Quarter 2000
How Now Shall We Live?
by Keith Pavlischek
Charles Colson confesses to being plagued by doubts about whether this book needed to be written—even after signing the contract for its publication. But after visiting a friend's evangelical church, well-known for its biblical preaching, all lingering doubts evaporated. The pastor's message was scriptural and well-delivered until he outlined his definition of the church's mission: to prepare for Jesus' return through prayer, Bible study, worship, fellowship and witnessing. That is simply not enough, as becomes clear in How Now Shall We Live?
Colson and coauthor Nancy Pearcey, an authority on worldviews, believe that "the church's singular failure in recent decades has been the failure to see Christianity as a life system, or worldview, that governs every area of existence. This failure has been crippling in many ways. For one thing, we cannot answer the questions our children bring home from school, so we are incapable of preparing them to meet the challenges they face. For ourselves, we cannot explain to our friends and neighbors why we believe, and we often cannot defend our faith. And we do not know how to organize our lives correctly. . . ."
Drawing on the writings and insights of Christian thinkers such as Abraham Kuyper, C.S. Lewis, and Francis Schaeffer, Colson and Pearcey argue that a debilitating weakness of modern evangelicalism is "that we have been fighting cultural skirmishes on all sides without knowing what the war itself is all about." "The culture war is not just about abortion, homosexual rights, or the decline of public education. These are only skirmishes. The real war is a cosmic struggle between worldviews—between the Christian worldview and the various secular and spiritual worldviews arrayed against it."
Charles Colson, of Watergate fame, the founder and leader of Prison Fellowship, and author of Born Again, Loving God, Kingdoms in Conflict, and other books, is well-known. Less well-known is coauthor Nancy Pearcey, who studied under Francis Schaeffer at L'Abri Fellowship, earned a master's degree from Covenant Theological Seminary, and pursued graduate study at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. A remarkable writer, Pearcey not only edited Colson's BreakPoint radio commentaries and coauthored a monthly column in Christianity Today, but also wrote, with Charles Thaxton, The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy, and has published articles in First Things, Books and Culture, and other journals and magazines.
Colson and Pearcey admit that the term "worldview" may sound abstract or philosophical, "a topic discussed by pipe-smoking, tweed-jacketed professors in academic settings." (And it must be admitted that too often Christian professors have failed to articulate the practical importance of a Christian mind for the non-scholar and typical visitor to the local Christian bookstore.) But that need not be the case. A person's worldview is "intensely practical. It is simply the sum total of our beliefs about the world, the 'big picture' that directs our daily decisions and actions." And that "big picture" for Christians ought to be the biblical one of creation, fall and redemption.
The book is divided into five parts: 1) Worldview: Why it Matters; 2) Creation: Where Did We Come From, and Who are We?; 3) The Fall: What Has Gone Wrong with the World?; 4) Redemption: What Can We Do to Fix It?; and 5) Restoration: How Now Shall We Live? In each part of the book, the authors show in very practical ways how a biblical understanding of creation, fall, and redemption is distinct from secular and other religious ways of viewing the world.
One might imagine that there would be great demand for a book like this. Over the past two decades, ministries such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade for Christ have flourished on college campuses. During the same time, there has also been a growth in Christian scholarly societies such as Christians in Political Science, the Society of Christian Philosophers, Christians in Social Work, and the Association of Christian Economists. Enrollments at Christian colleges have been rising and a wide variety of evangelical nonprofit service organizations have prospered. During the same period, numerous scholarly books have been written on the arts and literature, science, philosophy and politics. And political activism by Christians has also dramatically increased. All of this would seem to indicate that American Evangelicals have come to realize that their faith cannot be restricted to a narrow realm of personal piety and church life. Millions must be hungry for a deeper and broader worldview perspective. However, a tour through your nearest Christian bookstore is likely to leave you with the impression that something is still amiss. The best-selling books of the past few years have been rather awful apocalyptic novels and narrowly personal self-help manuals, not books of substance about a Christian worldview.
How Now Shall We Live? may help to fill this vacuum and encourage the general reader to take the plunge. Colson and Pearcey bring philosophy down to earth, so to speak, most effectively by telling very readable personal stories, showing how, for example, a rejection of the biblical doctrine of creation in favor of a naturalist philosophy undermines the basis human dignity. Or, how certain political ideologies and psychological theories rest on a denial or diminishment of the pervasive reality of sin. Or, how several types of political ideologies and movements serve as secular substitutes (idolatries) for the biblical teaching of redemption in Christ. But the authors also insist that Christians must move beyond mere criticism of non-Christian worldviews to become creative in demonstrating the positive, practical significance of the Christian worldview.
The book would serve well as a foundational text for a year-long adult Sunday School curriculum. And it could very easily be adapted for use as a core text for a year-long course in Christian worldview at a Christian high-school or college. The authors also point the way toward more advanced reading with an excellent bibliography.
"How now shall we live?" The authors answer their question at the end with this simple summary: "By embracing God's truth, understanding the physical and moral order he has created, lovingly contending for that truth with our neighbors, then having the courage to live it out in every walk of life."
[Dr. Pavlischek directs the Civitas Program in Faith and Public Affairs and serves as a Fellow at the Center for Public Justice.]
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Excerpts from the Book
In every action we take, we are doing one of two things: we are either helping to create a hell on earth or helping to bring down a foretaste of heaven. We are either contributing to the broken condition of the world or participating with God in transforming the world to reflect his righteousness. We are either advancing the rule of Satan or establishing the reign of God.
-----Our choices are shaped by what we believe is real and true, right and wrong, good and beautiful. Our choices are shaped by our worldview.
-----Morality is not just about an intellectual acknowledgment of ultimate standards, of what ought to be; morality is also about developing virtue—that is, the full range of habits and dispositions that constitute good character. We must not merely assent mentally to certain principles; we must become people who are just, courageous, patient, kind, loyal, loving, persistent, and devoted to duty.
-----How should Christians work to renew our political and legal structures? If we have learned anything in recent decades, it is that we should not roll out heavy-handed political movements that recklessly toss around God-and-country clichés and scare off our secular neighbors. Our goal is not to grab power and impose our views. Instead, we should act through principled persuasion and responsible participation.
What is the fundamental scriptural teaching on the state? On one hand, we are to live in submission to the state. For our benefit God has appointed kings and rulers to carry out the ordained duties of the state: to restrain evil, to preserve order, and to promote justice. Thus, we are to "honor the king" and to submit ourselves "to the governing authorities, for . . . the authorities that exist have been established by God" (Rom. 13:1; see also Dan. 2:21; Rom. 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; I Pet. 2:13-14,17).
Some people have interpreted these passages as an absolute grant of authority, meaning that government is to be obeyed at all times and in all circumstances. But the injunction to obey is conditional on the assumption that officials and magistrates are carrying out the purposes for which God has ordained government....
