Product Details

• Published on: 2006-03
• Formats: Abridged, Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 6
• Binding: Audio CD

Amazon.co.uk Review
Charles Colson became famous back in the 1970s as President Nixon's hatchet man, who then "got religion" of the evangelical Christian kind. In How Now Shall We Live Colson with his co-author Pearcey lays his hatchet to the roots of modern Western culture. Colson believes there is a great battle to be fought between opposing world views, and this book is his attack on secular atheistic materialism.

The first section establishes the conflict between Christianity and all forms of godless materialism. Section two traces the problem back to Darwinism. Section three pinpoints the root problem as original sin, while sections four and five call for the redemption and restoration of a truly Christian culture. The historical analysis and intellectual content are mixed with inspirational stories of Christian victory, and the whole package is delivered in a readable and cogent style. Plenty of notes, reading lists and a hefty index give the enterprise a smooth academic veneer.

Most conservative Christians will agree with Colson's questions and most of his answers, while those of other beliefs may be intrigued to find the case for traditional Christianity so confidently argued. However, many will come away disappointed with an apologetic that is big on Christian triumphalism, while not asking the hard questions as to why Christianity is losing the culture wars. Colson nods in the direction of world Christianity, but never looks much further than American evangelicalism. The book is thus limited by Colson's particular brand of home-grown Christianity. He argues for a Christian world view, but only offers a Billy Graham form of religion. As a result he has produced a big book limited by a narrow vision. --Dwight Longenecker

From the Back Cover
This important book is a major new title from one of the foremost evangelicals in the United States. Looking at a wide range of ethical and cultural issues, Charles Colson shows how the truth of Christianity can change the world. Internationally known author Charles Colson believes this to be the most significant book of his career. It carries a profound message needed by the church today and by individual Christians. The central theme is that faith in Jesus Christ is more than a private relationship with God; it is a way of seeing, understanding and changing the world. Christian faith brings with it basic ideas and beliefs that are the answers and counters to the world's philosophies. Christians often feel a loss of confidence in the face of secular philosophy as expressed in the culture of our age. The claims of scientists, New Age beliefs, shifting morality and so on can confuse. Colson provides the tools to interpret and confront the false, bankrupt ideas of the world and to use the truth of Christianity to make a difference for good. He helps his readers to evaluate their own lives and values. He offers the challenge -- How Now Shall We Live? This is a message for the church in the new millennium. Change in the world and in culture will not be achieved chiefly through political or social means, but by individual Christians knowing their faith and daring to be agents of God's grace.

Customer Reviews

The Best Christian book I've yet read.
Any Christian in the modern world, at least in the western hemisphere, is continually challenged over their beliefs, both rationally and culturally. Too often Christians have been seen to lose the various small arguments because they did not recognise the bigger picture. It is for this reason that this book should be read by all those interested in the fields of law, politics and the social sciences. While the theme of the book centres mainly on the United States, the discerning reader will recognise the common patterns of influence on our own country, and western culture as a whole. It supplies the reader with a tool no other book has hitherto done; the intellectual means to develop a comprehensive Christian social and political agenda as an alternative to the secular one. In recognising the fundamentals behind the issues, it undermines the credibility of the secular philosophies in a manner that will galvanise anybody seeking Christian perspectives on the role of the state, the purpose of law, and the way to create a better society. In short, it pieces together the jigsaw of the Christian worldview and shows us what to do with it.

Clear and challenging questions and answers about living hap
This book deserves a wide readership. Chuch Colson went from White House advisor to prison then became a Christian. With hul=mour and clarity he explains why the post-modern attitudes pervade our society and how they are harming our peace with each other and with God. He teaches about worldviews and shows how the Christian worldview has the answers that post-modern man wants, but does not get from the prevailing mind set. Real life stories fix the subject matter firmly in reality. It is an easy to read book with a challenge for each person.

A must for Christians serious about impacting their society.
Charles Colson's book shows that Christianity provides the most rational and persuasive view of who we are, where we are going wrong and how we can put things right. It comprehensively debunks the idols of the new age, the state, consumerism and sex insofar as they are worshipped as sources of truth. It is a challenge to those Christians who have retreated into the ghetto. How Now Shall We Live? equips Christians to fight for a God-centred view across all of Creation.