Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology Speaks to a Postmodern World

by Gene Edward Veith Jr.

Burnt-out believers and spiritual secularists have given up any hope that an engaging and meaningful spirituality can be found in a single Christian denomination. So rather than attending worship at a local church, they attend to their spiritual needs elsewhere. Instead of being fed by a single denomination, they feast upon a smorgasbord of spiritual beliefs. And while these disaffected believers have not rejected the existence of God or the need for meaningful spirituality, they have strongly rejected whatever it is they think the church today has to offer. To counter this trend, churches across America are constantly updating their culture to accord with the culture outside the church. But is this the best framework for recovering authentic Christian spirituality?  

Genres: Christianity, Theology, Religion

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 10, 2017

About the author

Gene Edward Veith Jr., is the Culture Editor of WORLD MAGAZINE. He was formerly Professor of English at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he has also served as Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. He is the author of numerous books, including Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture, The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, and God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life.

Postmodern Times received a Christianity Today Book Award as one of the top 25 religious books of 1994. He was named Concordia's Adult Learning Teacher of the Year in 1993 and received the Faculty Laureate Award as outstanding faculty member in 1994. He was a Salvatori Fellow with the Heritage Foundation in 1994-1995 and is a Senior Fellow with the Capital Research Center. He was given the layman’s 2002 Robert D. Preus Award by the Association of Confessional Lutherans as “Confessional Lutheran of the Year.”

Dr. Veith was born in Oklahoma in 1951. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1973 and received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 1979. He has taught at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and was a Visiting Professor at Wheaton College in Illinois. He was also a Visiting Lecturer at the Estonian Institute of Humanities in Tallinn, Estonia. He and his wife Jackquelyn have three grown children and live in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Wilhelm Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. This is a very good book and well worth your time and effort to read. I think, that he addresses contemporary "Zeitgeist" with a straightforward and convincing argumentation starting with Gottfried Hammann taking on Kant and rationalistic so called Enlightenment and then taking us right back into Lutheran basics and Christian fundamentals. There's nothing really novel in this approach, but that rather speaks for it. I like the way, he unabashedly stands for being a confessional Lutheran in times, when that is seen as a red flag by most. If you have friends or family, who have serious questions about where they come from and where they're going and perhaps even question their very being- this book might just be a good place to start to get back onto solid ground and off that sinking sand of postmodernity and its many fluid ideologies.

[Peter Hoft · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Spirituality of the Cross” by G.E. Veith made a lasting impact on me twenty years ago. “Authentic Christianity” unpacks the same themes, applying them to our current situation. Lutheran theology speaks the truth of God’s Word to every generation.

[Diogenes the Dog · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing bad—just didn’t really make the case, or at least not a very good one, in my opinion, of how Lutheranism specifically speaks to a postmodern world.

[Fraser Coltman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gene Veith and Trevor Sutton have written a winsome, convincing call for renewed Reformation in the Christian Church of North America. Counter to the plethora of prescriptions for making the Church more culturally relevant to counteract secularism, this book presents the teachings of the Lutheran Reformation as God’s voice calling people who are weary and burdened by modernity, post-modernity, moral relativism, and every other movement that falsely offers truth and life to people. The book is clear and convincing its call.

[Manuel Marbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authentic Christian is Lutheran.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardcopy
This book was edifying! I underlined so much. It’s worth a second read, even if only all the underlined parts.

[Bette Stanek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will give new hope and encouragement to anyone struggling in their faith. Who have become disillusioned with their church/denomination, or organized religion. Authentic Christianity gives a path forward to those who have not rejected God or the need for Him, but have rejected what the church has become. It explains how and why many churches have become more influenced by culture rather than the true Gospel of Christ. In some ways, this book is an updated version of Veith’s Spirituality of the Cross. Lutheran theology presents the truth of God’s Word, a truth that is timeless and dates back to the apostolic era. Authentic Christianity offers a respite from the noise found in too many American churches today. It takes you back to the roots of Christianity, which are never outdated and are always constant.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! I'll admit my bias...I'm Lutheran and enjoy reading books written from a Lutheran perspective that discuss the role of the church (and of Christians) as they interact with each other and with society. The authors discuss the importance of the church, being connected to a church and being active in your faith. Not for yourself, but for the good of the community. I highly recommend this book and adding it to your collection.

[Nancy Pretty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bible study. Enjoyed the class very much. Book was a little too heady for me - especially in the summer. But it was the summer of covid. Bleh. Its always good to get into the WORD

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent and worthwhile read for those seeking safe harbor in the teachings of Bible