Book Review of Total Truth

Here is a review of Total Truth at a book review site called Coffee Swirls.

This will be a different sort of book review than I have given in the past, primarily because “Total Truth” is a different sort of book from the ones I have reviewed before. I realize that I am extremely tardy in this review, but I was not content to post anything until I had finished the book and allowed it to sink in just a bit. Allow me to recap my reading experience for you. It may not sound like a good way to review a book, but I believe you will see what I am getting at before too long.

I received the book and began to read it. I was reading the way I usually read a book, flipping pages and writing down a note or two at the end of each chapter. Before I had finished the introduction, I could tell that this would not be the best way to approach such a book. Being the stubborn guy I am though, I plowed through to chapter three and looked back to what I had read versus what I had noted. My notes were many, but I knew that there were so many points made in the book that I had to have missed something that needed to be said. So I started over.

My second take on this book involved noting as I went along. This really helped me get through those three chapters and gain a firmer foothold. I even considered using the notes for the review with a little elaboration. By the end of that third chapter, I had what would have been a post that would be way too long to be effective. To break it into a series would have bordered on plagiarism, but I didn’t want to leave anything out. Back to the drawing board.

I approached the book a third time and took it section by section, comparing my own experiences with what Nancy had to say. I took a few notes, but spent more time in thought about how unbiblical many of my own views have been and how this has blunted my own public testimony. Even when I am not found to be in sin, as my methods mimic those of the world around me I undercut my message

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

My mind bears too much similarity with the mind of our culture, regulating things such as faith and values to a private sphere that is subjective and interchangeable while things such as science, economics and other matters are in the public sphere of agreement and are thus incontestable. I have thought of certain values that are right and good, but determined that alternate values are either harmless or not worth debate. I have determined that creativity cannot be used to worship God in any way. I have felt that I must check my faith at the door when I enter the workplace and have grieved that my work is not done for any religious organization. I have envied pastors who have large followings, not caring about their methods just so long as they can point to statistics that show how successful they are.

I could go on for quite a while, but I won’t. Let me just say that this is a book that everybody should read. The accompanying study guide is absolutely superb and can be used in a classroom setting or for blog post ideas (cough, cough) to stimulate intelligent conversation that is both edifying and uplifting. This book is not meant to be read in an afternoon, as I discovered. Rather, it is meant to be read with continuous reflection and an honest verdict of your own worldview structure.

It is a page turner, but you will be better served contemplating it section by section. You will be forced to take a biblical look at every aspect of your life, no matter your occupation. You will gain insight that will help you understand why certain aspects of culture operate as they do. You will recognize worldly methods used in the service of God and will be empowered with knowledge to voice objections that are loving and also firm in conviction. The hairs on the back of your neck will bristle at the thought that I just separated love and conviction!

I have made book recommendations on this blog before, and they are all valid. Total Truth is one recommendation that I make with an extra measure of urgency. Please read this book. Give it as a late Christmas present to your friends. Buy a few copies to place within the Book Crossing realm. Add this book to your church library and don’t forget to request that a copy be placed in your local public library. Christianity is not only true on Sundays and holidays. It is not to be relegated to the sphere of emotion only. Christianity is Total Truth, and is the only worldview that does not have to deny itself to remain valid in the world of ideas.

After reading this book, you will understand that only Christians are able to remain consistent and that we are under an obligation set before us by God to affect changes in our culture through example.

Further reviews of this book can be found at the Diet of Bookworms

Part 2 of Total Truth

Part 2 of Total Truth reveals how Darwinism and evolutionary psychology have seeped into almost every arena of thought. This effects the way we see Christianity, live Christianity and interact with the unbelieving world. This effecst you and me and our children. Here's a quote from the book. "Today evolutionary psychologists are putting out books with all-encompassing titles like The Evolution of Culture and Darwinizing Culture, which contend that culture can no longer be separated from biology, but is itself merely a product of evolutionary forces." Have you ever wondered why people seem so hopeless or why they are obsessed with living for themselves and for the moment? This philosophy has a lot to do with it.
Here's a link to Nancy Pearcey's web site.

Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

I can't put this book down! The author, Nancy Pearcey, worked closely with Francis Shaeffer the well-known Christian philosopher who wrote the book How Shall We Then Live? Schaeffer also started the L'Abri Fellowship that has many campuses, but the most well-known is in Switzerland. This book addresses many intellectual issues but does so in language that is understandable. As I read through Part one of the book which discusses worldviews it seemed as though Nancy was answering the questions, "Where did these American ideas come from?" and "Why do we see the world as we see it?" She sheds light on those questions by walking us through historical events and philosophical influences that changed the way Christianity was viewed and also changed the educational system. Her description of Christianity being in the upper-story and science being in the lower-story was very clear to me. I think I may even have fallen to this dualistic approach to life. She says, "Human reason was regarded as perfectly competent on its own for understanding the state, society, science, economics, philosophy-infact, everything outside of theology. Thus the Christian mind itself began to be split. God's Word was limited to the upperstory, but was deemed irrelevant and unnecessary in directing the lower story." Christianity is itself a complete worldview. True Christianity is total truth for every area of life, both spiritually and materialistically. Christians must learn how influenced we have been by liberalism and naturalism. Here is another quote, "The crucial flaw in liberalism is that it adopts the two-layer concept of truth. It accepts a naturalistic account of science and history in the lower story, while relegating theology to the upper story where it is reduced to personal, noncognitive experience."