Ebook God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, by David F. Wells
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God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, by David F. Wells
Ebook God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, by David F. Wells
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From the Back Cover
David F. Wells's award-winning book No Place for Truth--called 'a stinging indictment of evangelicalism's theological corruption' by TIME magazine--woke many evangelicals to the fact that their tradition has slowly but surely capitulated to the values and structures of the modern world. In God in the Wasteland Wells continues his work on a biblical antidote to the modernity that has invaded today's church.
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Product details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co; 2nd Paperback Edition edition (July 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802841791
ISBN-13: 978-0802841797
Product Dimensions:
6.2 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
Average Customer Review:
4.7 out of 5 stars
21 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#582,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
God in the Wasteland has one primary thesis - to demonstrate the ongoing corruptive nature that modernity has on the Christian Church today.David F. Wells provides a well-researched, convincing argument. He briefly defines modernity, differentiating it from modernism and then delves to explore how this has dramatically caused God to become "weightless".I have to confess that, as interesting as I found this topic, at times I put down the book with my "ears ringing" for the chapters are somewhat repetitive in content and frequently the whole books feels like a rant.Another small criticism is that David Wells does not really provide any concrete solutions to the problem. He does cite some research linking growth of the church with return to orthodoxy but there are no concrete, practical solutions .Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to any Christian. Certainly, David's thesis is well mirrored in the church today.- sermons are pathetically therapeutic, light and void of theology; Christians are superficial in their understanding.
The primary concern of God in the Wasteland is the influence modernism and modernity has had on the Christian Church as a whole. Wells, a theology professor, offers a look at the trend of mega-church building, its emphasis on marketing, and its effects on theology. He discusses how the philosophies of Christianity, postmodernism, and New Age spiritualism have reacted to modernism and its perhaps prematurely called death - the end of the "Enlightenment project." In the wake of the centuries old endeavor, a progression towards the ideal of man, the effects are still felt in the church. Christians are faced with re-establishing their relationship with God after distancing themselves for those centuries.There are two methods of modernism that the Church has incorporated: marketing and giving the people what they want. This results from an attitude shared with capitalism: the people are consumers. This, consequently, makes God the product and the Church the salesman. The terms are irreligious, but as Wells point out, they are used by those practicing a church growth doctrine. The exemplar of this doctrine is George Barna, who applies business models to churches to make them grow. He states that pastors would do better to have a Master of Business Administration degree, rather than a Master of Divinity. Modern pastors need "gifts" of delegation, confidence, interaction, decision-making, visibility, practicality, accountability, and discernment. Barna suggests the power of visual realization, envisioning the large church and making it happen. The greatest controversy is over his idea of adapting the product to the customer's needs. Another advocate of a more `pragmatic' approach to church building is David Macavran, who published Understanding Church Growth and established the American Institute for Church Growth in the 1970's. Macavran used psychology, marketing, and behavio9ral health research for his theories. Theology was conspicuously missing.Giving the people what they want prompts the question what should the Church compromise? As modernism dominates in society at large, or the reactionary postmodernism or New Age spiritualism among segments of society, the Church may embrace the influence in order to attract members of society. Teachings on God's transcendence, holiness, providence are taught much less than it once was. Condemnation of sin, emphasizing God's judgment, and the reality of Hell are minimized as these do not appeal to the consumer as sovereign, another philosophy some modern churches share with capitalism, along with ideas finding legitimacy and value in the marketplace. Instead a multi-media presentation is made to self-interest. Wells writes of this environment, "It is here that entertainment and worship are not merely interspersed but often indistinguishable. And it is here, where life should be receiving its most serious and sustained analysis, that tons of literature and countless hours of television and radio programming are being produced that contain nothing more than the sorts of empty clichés and hollow comforts that are available everywhere else in the modernized world ... at this very moment, evangelicalism has bought cultural acceptability by emptying itself of serious thought, serious theology, serious worship, and serious practice in the larger culture" (27).Modernization within the church has fostered two approaches: the therapeutic and the managerial. The therapeutic approach sees sin as a sickness, and the right technique is available in the marketplace to heal people. The manifestation of this is the support group. The managerial approach looks for efficient techniques for happiness.Another way modernism may affect the Church, though not by purposeful program, but by a pervasive philosophy in society, is the elevation of the individual, beyond the appeal to consumer or patient. Modernism replaced God with self. Philosophers such as Kant, Nietzsche, Rority, and Fish not only put self on the throne as legislator and arbiter of truth and justice, but elevate the self to become creator of reality. They bring into question whether there is an external reality, which brings into doubt any external God to whose image the self should conform. "Thus thwarted in their effort to find meaning outside themselves, moderns have sought to relocate all reality internally, detached from any fixed moral norms" (94).Wells recognizes effects of modernism in general, but we can spot them within the Church too. One effect is the attitude and language of victimhood. "This spiral into pervasive victimhood... marks a corresponding erosion of personal responsibility, and suggests that genuine moral discourse about what is right and wrong, irrespective of private interests, is increasingly less possible. Contemporary culture has so diminished our moral capacity, so robbed us of a concern to act responsibly, that we tend to resent moral demands from without or simply to dismiss them out of hand" (135).The appeal to self-interest, the adaptation of the Church, the emphasis of certain socially accepted traits of God and a suppression or denial of the unpopular traits, all elevate the value of self while diminishing the values of God. God becomes weightless. "...what was once objective in God's being, what once stood over against the sinner, is either being lost or transformed into something we discover first and foremost in ourselves in such a way that God's immanence is typically psychologized. ...A God with whom we are on such easy terms and whose reality is little different from our own - a God who is merely there to satisfy our needs - has no real authority to compel and will soon bore us" (92-93). This passage, the last line especially, is a bleak prophecy that appears to be taking place now.
In "God in the Wasteland..." David Wells continues the examination of the decline of evangelicalism he began in "No Place for Truth" taking it to such a depth of content and analysis that there is no doubt in my mind that we are in trouble. Modernity (or Post-modernity depending on your view) has infiltrated the church to such a degree that we are more worldly than not. Dr. Wells calls us to let God "weigh heavily" on us and the Church. He calls us to be turn away from the worldliness that we have adopted and turn toward God. Only then can we truly be the Church, an alternate culture in a decaying world. There is so much to this argument that it would be hard to even scratch the surface in this review. I can only urge you to read and consider Dr. Wells' observations and how you need to respond to the crisis at hand. In addition to his penetrating observations Dr. Wells also includes the raw data from a study of two groups of seminarians eleven years apart and their responses to a battery of questions designed to assess their world-view. This fascinating book is a must read for all those concerned with the state of the Church.
Great analysis of Evangelicalism from 25 ago that is still very relevant today. The author wrote prophetically about the church and its relation with this fallen world we live in. We all must read this and those who are not still aware of the problem must have their eyes opened. Necessary reading for the Christian.
I was not familiar with David Wells until this year, but having read "No Place for Truth," I could not wait to read this one. I am now on my fourth book by David Wells since May and looking forward to two more this summer. His work is well documented, thought provoking, and well written. If you like to think, then I highly recommend David F. Wells, "God in the Wastelands."
This book is extremely important to read. It's hard- that is, it is to be read slowly and a bit at a time. However, its message is critical to our day. Though it was published almost 20 years ago, its message is even more true and significant today.One of the best books I have ever read.
I received my book immediately! Thanks!
This is an outstanding book about what is happening in today's churches. It explains why so many Christians are being born-again but so few disciples are being made. It is a book that is right on the mark and a must-read for anyone who is in church leadership.
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