Book Review: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World
Pages: 179
Publisher: Crossway
Year: 2007
Editors: John Piper & Justin Taylor
Authors: David Wells, Voddie Baucham Jr., John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll
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I'm really not sure what to think of this book. I think it's because I was expecting something other than what I found; something with a bit more postmodernism in it. What I was expecting when I bought this book was a collection of essays that all dealt, specifically, with some facet of postmodernism, I suppose as a presentation and refutation of sorts. That's not exactly what this book is at all, as I understand it, though I'm not sure if that's my own fault, having read a number of books on the subject prior to reading this. That said, this book is good for what it is, though it's perhaps more apparent in this book, than in others of similar format, that the essays are of varying quality compared to each other.
Some very recognizable names have submitted essays for this collection--John Piper, D.A. Carson, Mark Driscoll, et al. According to the introduction:
"The chapters in this volume [grew] out of a conference convened in Minneapolis in the fall of 2006 to explore the supremacy of Christ in a postmodern world... Whether addressing culture, truth, joy, love, the gospel, or the church, each seeks to sharpen our thinking and motivate our ministry by considering how each of these intersects with the truth of Christ in our contemporary world"
The authors present essays which deal with a wide variety of topics: joy, love, truth, the gospel. And for the most part, they all succeed at their tasks. Some essays seem really short, and I think it's because the author has tried to cover too much information in so little space. Mark Driscoll's essay is an example of this, though the advice he offers is invaluable. Other essays seem more like sermons, such as John Piper's. The remainder of the essays are, all in all, good and profitable. At the end of the book there is a round table discussion between the authors, and here postmodernism is given more of a treatment, but again, nothing as in depth as I would have liked, or was expecting.
All of that said, this is a book which is intended for Christians, and can be used to broaden our knowledge of how society is changing and where it's going, how people think (their worldview) and how to best evangelize those around us. If you're looking at this book because of your interest in postmodernism, don't expect to find much of a discussion outside of some very general interactions with postmodern, such as the denial of absolute truth, our entrapment by language and the unknowableness of reality. However, if you're looking at this book because you want to learn how to engage with an ever changing society, and don't really care for an in-depth discussion of postmodernism, this is a good choice and worth the hour or two of reading time.
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- Book Review: God is Great, God is Good
- Book Review: Introduction to the Christian Delusion
- Book Review: Between Heaven and Hell
- Book Review: How Should We Then Live?
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