Synopses & Reviews
In this book Ralph Wood calls for churches to offer a sustained an unapologetically Christian witness to a postmodern world. Wood carefully chronicles how the church is watching the complete destruction of post-Christian institutions and practices that once shaped human character toward fulfillment in goods larger than humanity's own self-interest - the chief of these being the worship and service of God. Wood contends that Christian existence can never be taken for granted, and so the church itself must seek to create a Christian culture that offers the world a drastic alternative to its own cultureless existence.
Review
Ralph Wood's clarity, passion, and integrity as an essayist are justly renowned. What a feat for should and mind. This is intellectual edification of absolutely the best kind.
—Mark Noll, McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College
Review
Ralph Wood gifts us with this powerful book... He forcefully engages our confused culture and helps us face the challenges of being God's people.
—Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School
About the Author
Ralph C. Wood is University Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor University. He is the author of Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South and Literature and Theology.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The Crisis Afflicting Church and Culture Alike
2. A Neo-Conservative Alternative
3. A Neo-Liberal Alternative
4. The Inadequacy of the Evangelical Engagement with Culture
5. The Challenge Facing the Church's Colleges
6. Creating a Christian Educational Culture
7. Christian Skepticism vs. Religious Sentimentality
8. The Ugly, the Beautiful, and the Holy in Christian Worship
9. A Christian Regard for Romance in an Eroticized World
10. The Outward Faithfulness of Inward Christian Piety
Conclusion
Notes
Index