What is Total Truth? It's nothing more thanthe Christian faith applied to all of life. Our modern, secularized society is rigorously committed to dichotomy—religion is separated from science, belief and facts are divided, what you do in your private life can and even should be different than the face you wear in your public life. And this isn't just the secular view anymore, it's thoroughly saturated Christians within the Church as well.
The subtitle of Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth is "Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity," and this is what sets the book apart from other volumes on worldview. While the typical approach is to present a variety of competing worldviews balanced by the distinctive Christian worldview, Pearcey demonstrates how secular ideas have infiltrated the Church and how the Christian worldview needs to be wrenched back and applied to every aspect of our lives.
A fair amount of the book is devoted to modern views of science, and this makes sense for a couple reasons: one, Pearcey is a science writer, and two, the modern view of science has influenced our society and culture so dramatically that any discussion of worldview which ignores or diminishes its role is incomplete at best. Fortunately, you don't have to be a science professional to understand Pearcey's analysis....though you will have to read carefully and thoughtfully.
Pearcey begins with an exploration of the concept of worldview, proceeds to a lengthy discussion of evolution and creation, outlines the history of the secularization of Western (particularly American) culture, and finishes with a call for action and true Christian spirituality. For many, the section on the history of our current worldview will be the most useful, helping as it does to uncover the roots of the present chaos.
In such a long book, it's inevitable that there will be some mistakes. For instance, near the beginning Pearcey says that the term "postmodernism" wasn't yet coined while Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) was writing and ministering, but the word"postmodern" emerged as a word and concept in the 1870s, nearly half a century before Schaeffer began writing. (It is true that it took several decades fortheterm to take root.)Such statements may be a stumbling block for some, though they are infrequent and don't really affect the content of the book.
This current edition includes a foreward by apologetics heavyweight Phillip E. Johnson, several appendices including a lengthy "Recommended Reading" list, and a study guide to facilitate discussion, thought, and application. Total Truth would make an excellent text for areading group or adult Sunday school; while this is a great introduction to a weighty topic and is just as good for individual reading as for a group format, having others to discuss it with is invaluable.
Don't approach this book expecting a cakewalk. It's long, it's intellectually demanding, and for many it will be emotionally and spiritually challenging. The secularization of the Church has been so thorough and so prolonged that many of us are in its grasp without even realizing that we are. Pearcey's Total Truth is well written and incisive, rooted in God's Word, and the perfect tool to help you unearth the true Christian worldview while throwing out the secular dross we've adopted.
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Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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