iCrucified

The Disappearance of God by R. Albert Mohler Jr

While I don’t have a problem with this book per se, I disagree with the premise:

“More faulty information about God swirls around us today than ever before. No wonder so many followers of Christ are unsure of what they really believe in the face of the new spiritual openness attempting to alter unchanging truth.” (from the back cover of the book)

Faulty information about God has swirled around “us” since the beginning of humanity; faulty information about God, Jesus, and Christianity since the earliest days of the Church. Because the population of earth is significantly higher and the dissemination of information is more prolific, it may seem that faulty information is more prevalent…seem…doesn’t mean it is so.

I’m not quite sure what the purpose of books like this is either; and I’m not really sure who the intended audience is. It is probably just me, but I’m feeling as though I’m missing the point. Much of the book seems like a biased low-key rant. Yes, some of it is based in truth, but certainly it is slanted to favor Dr. Mohler’s position. A lot of the information found in this book is available from polls and surveys from Pew Research and the Barna Group; by this I mean information regarding cultural and social trends. I get the sense that Dr. Mohler takes this information and shapes it around his doctrinal preferences using it to support a “sky is falling” alarm. I think this is unfair, especially in the light that the Greek influenced North American church is probably not exactly what Jesus had in mind when he described “The Church” to his disciples. I don’t know…it’s really difficult for me to take this writing seriously when all I get out of it is a sense of hand wringing despair over the way things are versus the way they used to be.

Following Jesus is our mandate. The Church is many people, many cultures, and many different personalities with different preferences regarding styles of worship and expressions of “being the people of God.” While I’m sure I’d probably get along with Dr. Mohler and we’d find much to agree upon, I just don’t particularly find a lot of value in this book. It seems overly negative and openly biased, but that is just my opinion.

Summary:

More faulty information about God swirls around us today than ever before. No wonder so many followers of Christ are unsure of what they really believe in the face of the new spiritual openness attempting to alter unchanging truth.

For centuries the church has taught and guarded the core Christian beliefs that make up the essential foundations of the faith. But in our postmodern age, sloppy teaching and outright lies create rampant confusion, and many Christians are free-falling for “feel-good” theology.

We need to know the truth to save ourselves from errors that will derail our faith.

As biblical scholar, author, and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, writes, “The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack.” With wit and wisdom he tackles the most important aspects of these modern issues:
Is God changing His mind about sin?
Why is hell off limits for many pastors?
What’s good or bad about the “dangerous” emergent movement?
Have Christians stopped seeing God as God?
Is the social justice movement misguided?
Could the role of beauty be critical to our theology?
Is liberal faith any less destructive than atheism?
Are churches pandering to their members to survive?

In the age-old battle to preserve the foundations of faith, it’s up to a new generation to confront and disarm the contemporary shams and fight for the truth. Dr. Mohler provides the scriptural answers to show you how.