Customer Reviews

How Now Shall We Live? Devotional (Colson, Charles)

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Typically if you like Chuck Colson's stuff, you like all of his stuff. This is no exception; however, if you have found Colson a bit dry and analytical in the past don't assume that is true for this book. Having Nancy Pearcy as a co-writer has improved the readability of this book markedly over previous volumes.

As far as content, this book is a winner. Colson looks at how Christians must relate Christ to a world that no longer shares a similar worldview. He structures this in a classic Reformed pattern of Creation, Fall, & Redemption.

Some of the material covered in this book is expanded from Colson's previous book *Kingdoms in Conflict* but this book is far more readable, passionate, and practical. This is one of the best books I have read in three years. A must read for every Christian wanting to intelligently deal with the issues of our day.

For over a century the secular world has stolen, distorted, and then discarded the culture that Christians spent 1500 years creating. Its time we return our lives to the Christian culture and turned our backs on the distorted worldview Satan has crafted in its place. For someone who grew up in a fundamentalist church this is a major, but welcome, break in my thinking. How shall we live? We shall live, in every aspect of life, in the way God has placed in nature. Families need to learn again how to function God's way, businesses need to learn again *truly* compassionate capitalism, medicine needs to learn again from God right and wrong instead of ethics and legalities, and the church needs to support more than the winning of souls but the reclaiming of Western culture as Christian intead of Western.

Colson starts with the ways our views of creation and fall shape us and builds to a crescendo showing us how those ideas should cause us to build a culture that can restore the world as God would have it.

Along with Richard Foster and Dallas Willard, Chuck Colson is one of the most important thinkers and writers in this newly emerging, but very necessary, Christian Renaissance

Colson does a good job of conducting a rather exhaustive examination of various worldviews that run contrary to Christianity that have gained acceptance through the media, schools, and assorted literature. He then describes ways that Christians can lovingly project the Christian worldview in society in an effort to regain some footing in the marketplace of ideas.

His major emphasis is on naturalism, which includes a significant portion of the book devoted to examining evolution. I felt that this examination of naturalism was very good and fairly exhaustive. Naturalism is a complex belief system with various facets emanating from a core belief that there is no God. Colson didn't intend for this book to be purely an academic study of naturalism, and that's not what the reader will find when reading the book. Colson's emphasis is on explaining this belief understandably in order to show how pervasive it has become in the everyday messages that are being sent by the culture in terms of how people should live and what their perspective should be. In this way, Colson does a very good job.

I didn't totally agree with everything written in the last section where he describes how we as Christians should counteract naturalism and set the record straight. But I did agree with much of what he said here, and even though I didn't agree with certain things, the whole section was nonetheless well written and well thought out. I respect what Colson had to say here, even though I didn't totally agree with everything he said.

I consider this to be a very good book and a "must have" for parents in particular who are concerned about the messages their children may be receiving in schools and on television and the internet. This book clearly demonstrates that the culture is not on the side of the Christian worldview at present, and that it is a mistake for Christians, especially Christian parents, to assume that the culture is merely neutral towards the Christian faith. In fact, much of the culture's "gospel" is actively hostile to Christian ideas and ideals and while regretable, we must be diligent to correct the undercutting of Christianity in our society and lovingly stand up to this particularly where our children are concerned. I think this book provides many solids tools and facts to give Christians a formidable strategy for combatting many of the ideas held sacred by many in the culture.

At the end of the 1949 film noir classic, White Heat, James Cagney's character Cody Jarett, trapped and surrounded by cops, stands atop a huge tank of flammable liquid. "It's a stack of dynamite," a horror stricken officer mutters. Bullet-ridden Cagney insanely fires into the tank and cries heavenward, "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" before plummeting into the white-hot inferno below. The dying words of this criminally demented character remind us to remain on top of our world or risk being swept up in its madness.

Now Charles Colson can be added to the list of intellectual prophets (like Francis Scheffer, Os Guinness, Malcolm Muggeridge, and James Sire) who dare to remind us that there's a dangerous world of false ideas and true ideas that need to be sorted through if we are to remain on top of our world. The world of ideas requires a critical understanding to keep from tumbling into an inferno of deceit and falsehood.

When James Sire developed his world view catalog, _The Universe Next Door_, he spurred a great number of Christians to consider the deeper issues behind human thought. He wrote: "I am now convinced that for a person to be fully conscious intellectually he should not only be able to detect the world views of others but be aware of his own--why it is his and why in the light of so many options he thinks it is true." Sires list of basic questions to consider in discerning one's worldview included:

1. What is the prime reality? 2. Who is man? 3. What happens to man at death? 4. What is the basis for morality? 5. And what is the meaning of human history?

In his new book, Charles Colson also pares the essential questions down to four, but with a new twist: "How Now Shall We Live."

1. Where did we come from and who are we? 2. What has gone wrong with the world? 3. What can we do to fix it? 4. How now shall we live?

Colson's discussion of these important questions takes us through the biblical view of linear history progressing through the Creation, the Fall, God's Redemption of mankind, and God's Restoration of His intended order for all creation.

The biblical view of Creation lets us know who we are and where we came from. The discussion of origins and human nature is critical to understanding the Christian worldview and being able to contrast it with opposing worldviews.

Everyone believes there are some things wrong with this world but many worldviews do not know how to answer this question. Colson pulls no punches in illustrating how sin has infected the world. An understanding of the historic human fall--the doctrine of original sin--is essential to understanding human nature and evil that is so pervasive in our world.

But he does not neglect the Christian message of hope: Redemption. Having years of experience in his Breakpoint radio ministry to weave storied essays providing this message of hope, Colson with the masterful help of his Breakpoint editor, Nancy Pearcy, provides unique perspectives on the gospel message. The biographical redemption of former abortionist Bernard Nathanson compels the reader to see that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real and true.

Finally, Colson's insights into contemporary culture reveal that he is on top of our post-Modernistic world. He's nailed our turn into the new millennium right on the head in his model for "restoration." Christians need to engage their culture at every aspect in order to restore a modicum of civility to civilization, to restore beauty and historic principles of aesthetics to music and art, to restore ethical treatment of human beings in the medical professions, to restore humane treatment of the weak and dispossessed until Christ brings final restoration to His Creation.

Read How Now Shall We Live to find out about the Christian worldview. Study it for it's penetrating analysis of contemporary culture. Enjoy it for its provision of hope in a fallen world. Discuss it with others so that as a group you can engage it from different perspectives and glean thoughts you may have missed on your own. But most of all, live it, and use it's biblical insights to give you a fresh start in applying the Christian worldview to all of life--in your home, at work, in your entertainment and diversions, in your relations and ministry to others. Use it to remain on top of the world.

This book does an excellent job in serving two primary purposes. The first is in making the intellectual case for Christ. The second is presenting Biblical Christianity, not as something that involves only spiritual side, but as an entire worldview that involves every aspect of our lives. For those of us who have a difficult time making the case for Christ except in spiritual terms, this book can be a big help (beginning with such fundamentals as the case for the existence of God). And, perhaps more importantly, it helps us better understand our role as Christians in the world at large. I heartily recommend it. And a final note. As much as I admire Chuck Colson, and whereas he provided the anecdotes, I suspect that Nancy Pearcey did most of the heavy lifting in writing this book.

Colson is right on target in identifying the root causes of our cultural dilemmas as well as providing active solutions. His story telling throughout the book add to its readability. As with many other of his books, the systematic and compelling logical approach to each issue give the "average Christian" useful arguments when in the daily debates we all face. The Catholic/ Evangelical Christian oneness issue doesn't dominate, thus evading a potential controversy. A great treatise which I recommend to all.

Excellent book for those "Sunday Only" Christians. This book challenges you to go beyond the four walls of the church sancturary to broaden your view of Christianity to a universal concept that includes every part of your life, society around you, the world and the entire cosmos. With intriguing, relative stories the author Charles Colson applies real life events to prove how a Christian world view is a philosophy that works best for ourselves and the world around us. Whether you are a Christian or not, it is hard to argue with the reality and truth Colson uncovers in this book. I would recommend it to Christian and non-Christian alike. But especially for the doubting Christian, or the "content to live as you are" Christian.

This book had the same effect on me that lightning has on a tree. My mind has never been the same since. This book reminds Christians that Christianity goes beyond the walls of the Church into the secular arena. Its mandate is for Christians to engage secular culture with the demands of God.

The outline of the book is simple: How did we get here (the debate on creation vs. evolution)? What is wrong with us (here they show the fallacy of any worldview that denies the sinfulness of man and builds a worldview on human goodness as opposed to biblical morality)? And finally, How do we fix it (Showing that redemption is found in Jesus Christ alone)? After addressing and answering these questions Colson this shows how we, as orthodox Christians, should live. The Chapter. "Soli Deo Gloria" I read on my knees in worship of such a God.

This chapter has offended several reviewers, namely the reader from Oakbrook, IL. This reader claims that Colson's list of "classical offerings" has "lyrics or imagery" as bad as the (I won't use an adjective) rock bands. First, the reader provided no source; secondly, and I have personally checked the "classical offerings" that Chuck presents and very few, if any, have lyrics at all (so much for the reprehensible lyrics Colson is guilty of presenting. Honestly, how many classical music songs have lyrics?)!

All of this notwithstanding, this is one of the finest books written this decade. It has permanently changed my thinking and possibly my future. Now that I have praised it I will now critique it. Colson, and I will keep my criticism low because he has heard this complaint many times, came very close to betraying orthodox Christianity when he and Neauhus devised the Evangelicals and Catholics Together Document. I rejoice that Catholics oppose the modern day holocaust known as abortion, and their deviant doctrine notwithstanding, they strive to maintain a biblical worldview. But surely Colson realizes that Rome conceded nothing in the document and he and the Evangelicals surrendered the high ground. Fortunately this document does not speak for mainstream Evangelicalism. Please understand, Colson is my second favorite author (after John Piper) and he is a modern day prophet and I will read everything he writes, but I felt obligated to show where he erred. All in all, this is the book to read for the counter-cultural Christian. Soli Deo Gloria!

Obviously I am being a little facetious with my title, but this is Colson's point in what a previous reviewer called a "heavy" book. I grew up with Francis Schaeffer's "How Shall We Then Live?" so I compare Colson's to that classic.

Colson doesn't deviate much from what Schaeffer was warning in the 1970s -- what started out as a Christian worldview thousands of years ago is slowly being eroded away by situational ethics, naturalism, political correctness, multiculturalism, whatever you want to call it.What is sad, as Colson points out, is that in the 30 years since Schaeffer did his analysis things haven't gotten any better.

Some reviews say Colson is pushing his Christian worldview or bias. I agree -- Truth is biased. There is no gray area with the Truth. As Christians, we are to have all areas of our lives transformed into God's image. All means all -- music, entertainment, literature, education, finances, our personal lives, work, etc. A non-Christian, and I would warrant that even a not-very-dedicated believer, would have a hard time swallowing Colson's viewpoints. To the unbeleiver wisdom is as foolishness.

But this is exactly Colson's point -- and the point that the Bible makes. The world is on a fast track to hell and time is running out. Things are only going to get worse, especially when people harden their hearts to the Truth and continue to be bamboozled by what the secular worldview has to offer -- compromise, deceit, misplaced and nonexistent values.

I don't expect complete agreement with my analysis or Colson's, and maybe it is the height of arrogance to say that what we believe is the only truth. But whether we or you believe it or not does not make God's Word Truth -- His Truth (the only Truth) stands by itself awaiting our answer to the question "How Now Shall We Live?"

Colson and Pearcey have produced a masterful work examining in minute and comprehensive detail how the Christian worldview incorporates answers to fundamental questions and provides guidance on handling issues that did not exist when biblical texts were written.

The book is divided into five sections. The first defines what a worldview is and how the Christian worldview is different from all others. In this section and at times later throughout the book, Colson and Pearcey illustrate how various non-Christian groups, while diverging on superficial details, often share common answers to fundamental questions. The authors describe three fundamental, transcendent questions: Where did we come from? What is wrong with human society? How do we fix what is wrong with human society? Christian Scripture has answers to each of these questions, but so do the competing worldviews. The authors show how, while often differing in their answers to the second and third questions, most non-Christian worldviews share a common answer on the first.

Sections two, three, and four each address in detail one of the transcendent questions. Colson and Pearcey compare the theistic and atheistic explanations for how life, including human life originated. The evolutionist model is compared and contrasted with the intelligent cause, or intelligent design model. The chapters on intelligent design begin with the cosmological issues and focus on the prior philosophical commitments of various scientists as related to the cosmological models they proposed. The cosmological discussion begins with Einstein and carries on with various astronomers' and cosmologists' reactions to the implications of General Relativity. The rest of the discussion on intelligent design vs evolution is concentrated on biological systems. Young earth creationists should be advised that they will find scientific support for the idea of creation, in that the universe had a beginning, but not for the idea of a young universe. So, if you think your faith is threatened or undermined by the idea that the universe is older than 10K years, this book, or at least Chapter Seven, might not be for you.

After addressing the various arguments on why anything exists, the authors examine the various competing explanations for what is wrong with human society. Clearly, we can all agree that human society leaves much to be desired, with our propensity for greed and to prey upon one another. The exact nature of what is wrong, however, is a subject of great disagreement. Similarly, there is disagreement over how to correct what ails us. Colson and Pearcey appeal to explanatory power, the same form of epistemic support relied upon by intelligent design theory. Explanatory power as a form of epistemic support essentially says that the best explanation is that which would result in observed phenomena as a matter of course were that explanation true. It leaves the door open for new information that might force a change in what is accepted as the best explanation, and so does not lock one rigidly into a particular opinion. In this context, Colson and Pearcey appeal to the explanatory power of the Christian answer to the question of what is wrong with us. If the reader accepts that the Christian explanation of what is wrong with us is correct, then the Christian solution to that problem would also follow almost as a matter of course.

In the last section, Colson and Pearcey discuss the implications of the Christian worldview on how we are to conduct ourselves in our daily lives. Given the breadth and depth of consideration of their subject, it is hard to imagine how they could have crafted a more incisive or comprehensive treatment of that subject. I cannot recommend this book too strongly for anyone who would like to be confirmed in his faith or is seeking to understand the basic assumptions of Christianity.