Book Review: Total Truth

Read this book. 

I wanted to make sure that this important message did not get lost in the remainder of my review, so let me say it again--read this book.  Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey (2004) is an excellent, broad-sweeping, intellectual rich treatment of understanding Christian worldview.  Pearcey has clearly been influenced by Francis Schaeffer, a former mentor of hers, as she discusses philosophy, science, and culture (though influences of Kuyper are present as well).  She employs Schaeffer's upper story/lower story model for understanding culture.  Although I was beginning to understand this information when I read Schaeffer's trilogy, I seem to understand it more deeply after reading Total Truth. 

Pearcey sets out to encourage Christians to step outside of their private faith and to engage with all of culture.  She rightly points out that a fault of modern evangelicalism is the idea that we focus almost exclusively upon individual souls rather than also seeking to transform culture.  Too often, in the modern Christian church, the Great Commission is about getting people to accept Christ without recognizing that the call to "make disciples" may involve more than indvidual assent to the truths of Christianity. 

Unfortunately, we are losing our young people in the process.  In her introduction, Pearcey writes, "If all we give them is a 'heart' religion, it will not be strong enough to counter the lure of attractive but dangerous ideas. Young believers also need a 'brain' religion--training in worldview and apologetics--to equip them to analyze and critique the competing worldviews they will encounter when they leave home" (p. 19).  Without a doubt, young people are leaving the church.  Without a doubt, parents often feel ill-equipped to answer tough questions about the relevance of Christianity for the modern world.  Yet I still discover that when I talk with fellow believers about the importance of developing the Christian mind, too many assume it will be too difficult or worse that it is unnecessary. 

Pearcey spends her time showing her readers how our views of science, religion, philosophy, and humanity have gradually morphed.  Both theists and non-theists seem unaware of how subtle historic shifts are often the impetus for the culture we currently see.  Her twelfth chapter, "How Women Started the Culture War" is an excellent example of how this change has taken place.  She unfolds how during colonial times, families worked together.  Fathers were involved in child rearing and mothers were involved in the family business.  With the advent of the industrial revolution, things gradually began to change in the church and in the home.  She identifies the root causes of the feminization of Christianity and the impact it has had upon men in the church.  In other words, there are fewer and fewer men because of these 18th and 19th century culture shifts.  She writes, "the truth is that men will be drawn back into family life only when they are convinced that being a good husband and father is a manly thing to do; that parental duty and sacrifice are masculine virtues; that marital love and fidelity are not female standards imposed upon men externally, but an integral part of the male character--something inherent and original, created by God" (p. 343).  The way she presents this chapter does not degrade men or women, but seems to call us back to more of what God had intended.

On the whole, I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.  She addresses science, evolution, education, and a host of other topics with intellectual rigor and engaging prose.  Everyone should read this book.  5 stars.