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The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World
Six of today's leading pastor-theologians-John Piper, Voddie Baucham, D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, and David Wells-have joined together to offer Christians a practical, biblical vision of Christ's supremacy, so they will be better prepared to present the undeniable truth to a searching society. After grounding readers in the important truths of Christ's deity and the gospel, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World strives to help believers understand how to share these truths in a postmodern society. As readers begin to apply the lessons from this book, they will gain a practical, biblical vision of ministry for the twenty-first century.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
45 people are currently reading
1073 people want to read
About the author
John Piper
609 books4,620 followersJohn Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
December 29, 2015
This is an excellent book that will teach Christians how to respond reasonably to the unbelief in today’s postmodern world. Each chapter is by a well known theologian. I was familiar with all of them except Voddie Baughan, Jr. He wrote Chapter 2 Truth and the Supremacy of Christ and this chapter was particularly helpful to me – so helpful that I wrote up a summary of the chapter and shared it with my granddaughter who is a freshman in college and will be taking a philosophy class next semester. This chapter is highlighted with Colossians 1:15-21 insights. And I discovered in my own bible the section is called The Supremacy of Christ!
Here’s my summary of Chapter 2 using many of the words of the author:
The two major competing worldviews today are Christian theism and secular humanism. How do they each answer: the question of God, the question of man, the question of truth, and the question of ethics?
The question of God:
Christian theism – God is necessary, intelligent and all powerful.
Humanism – There is no supernatural being, no god.
The question of Man:
Christian – Man was made in the image of God, a special creation.
Humanism – A single-celled organism run amuck – a glorified ape who has lost most of his hair and gained two opposable thumbs, a cosmic accident with no rhyme or reason.
The question of truth:
Christian – Truth is absolute, it is true for all people in all places at all times.
Humanism – Classic Humanism rejects truth and believes nature is a closed system. There is nothing supernatural. Postmodern Humanism rejects “naturalistic materialism” in favor of philosophical pluralism and experientialism. Postmodern Humanism rejects truth in favor of experience.
The question of ethics:
Christian – Ethics, moral rights and wrongs are absolute, morality is rooted in the eternal, unchanging character of God
Humanism – Ethics are completely cultural and negotiable. There are no absolute truths.
Humanism’s Answers to Life’s Ultimate Questions:
Who Am I? Humanism says you are an accident. You are a mistake. You are a glorified ape. You are the result of random evolutionary processes.
Why Am I Here? You are here to consume and enjoy.
What is Wrong with the World? People are insufficiently educated or insufficiently governed.
How Can What is Wrong be Made Right? The solution to our woes is more education and more government. The world is far more educated than it was during World War I. Are we seeing fewer wars? No. So is the answer in more government? Man doesn’t improve by being governed. We just find more loop holes and exploit them.
Christian Answers to Life’s Ultimate Questions:
Who Am I? You can’t figure out who you are until you decide who Jesus is. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is the exact representation of the Father. He is God with us, God among us. He is the Almighty, “for by him all things were created.” (Col 1: 12-21) When you believe in the supremacy of God you will know who you are. You will say
“I am the crowning glory of the creation of God.”
Why Am I Here? The ultimate purpose of all things is to bring Christ glory and honor. He is to have supremacy and preeminence in your life. The reason for my existence goes far beyond consumption and enjoyment
What is Wrong with the World? You are hostile to the One by whom and for whom you were created. All of us are. In short, sin is what’s wrong with the world. The problem is I start with myself as the measure of all things. I judge God based on how well he carries out my agenda for the world. I want a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign. If he is both, I am at his mercy.
How Can What is Wrong be Made Right?
Here’s what Colossians 1: 21-23 NLT says:
“You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result he has brought you into the presence of God and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.”
What is wrong can be made right by the substitutionary, atoning death of Christ. There is no other means by which man may be justified.
Every other religion in the world says “You need to have a religious experience, and from that moment on you need to do more good things than bad and then hope for the best when you die.”
If these two worldviews – postmodern secular humanism and Christian theism are compared – with the former you are left empty and hopeless, man is worthless, and you are left to pursue your own satisfaction and never find it. But with the latter you are precious, you have purpose and you are powerless – but it’s okay because you were purchased. In the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ we find a resolution to the question, “How can what is wrong be made right?” God is both just and the justifier. The spotless, sinless Lamb of God was crushed, rejected and killed to pay a debt he did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay him back. We possess the answer and we are possessed by the Answer. The Answer is Christ and his supremacy in truth.
Every chapter of The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World is profound both in offering an understanding of our culture and in the need for Christians to communicate the supremacy of Christ in winsome ways. The role of the church in this is also addressed. At the end of the book is a conversation with the authors which is also insightful. This is a book that must be read and studied and reread. Beware though, it will transform you own thinking and understanding of Christ Jesus.
Here’s my summary of Chapter 2 using many of the words of the author:
The two major competing worldviews today are Christian theism and secular humanism. How do they each answer: the question of God, the question of man, the question of truth, and the question of ethics?
The question of God:
Christian theism – God is necessary, intelligent and all powerful.
Humanism – There is no supernatural being, no god.
The question of Man:
Christian – Man was made in the image of God, a special creation.
Humanism – A single-celled organism run amuck – a glorified ape who has lost most of his hair and gained two opposable thumbs, a cosmic accident with no rhyme or reason.
The question of truth:
Christian – Truth is absolute, it is true for all people in all places at all times.
Humanism – Classic Humanism rejects truth and believes nature is a closed system. There is nothing supernatural. Postmodern Humanism rejects “naturalistic materialism” in favor of philosophical pluralism and experientialism. Postmodern Humanism rejects truth in favor of experience.
The question of ethics:
Christian – Ethics, moral rights and wrongs are absolute, morality is rooted in the eternal, unchanging character of God
Humanism – Ethics are completely cultural and negotiable. There are no absolute truths.
Humanism’s Answers to Life’s Ultimate Questions:
Who Am I? Humanism says you are an accident. You are a mistake. You are a glorified ape. You are the result of random evolutionary processes.
Why Am I Here? You are here to consume and enjoy.
What is Wrong with the World? People are insufficiently educated or insufficiently governed.
How Can What is Wrong be Made Right? The solution to our woes is more education and more government. The world is far more educated than it was during World War I. Are we seeing fewer wars? No. So is the answer in more government? Man doesn’t improve by being governed. We just find more loop holes and exploit them.
Christian Answers to Life’s Ultimate Questions:
Who Am I? You can’t figure out who you are until you decide who Jesus is. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is the exact representation of the Father. He is God with us, God among us. He is the Almighty, “for by him all things were created.” (Col 1: 12-21) When you believe in the supremacy of God you will know who you are. You will say
“I am the crowning glory of the creation of God.”
Why Am I Here? The ultimate purpose of all things is to bring Christ glory and honor. He is to have supremacy and preeminence in your life. The reason for my existence goes far beyond consumption and enjoyment
What is Wrong with the World? You are hostile to the One by whom and for whom you were created. All of us are. In short, sin is what’s wrong with the world. The problem is I start with myself as the measure of all things. I judge God based on how well he carries out my agenda for the world. I want a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign. If he is both, I am at his mercy.
How Can What is Wrong be Made Right?
Here’s what Colossians 1: 21-23 NLT says:
“You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result he has brought you into the presence of God and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.”
What is wrong can be made right by the substitutionary, atoning death of Christ. There is no other means by which man may be justified.
Every other religion in the world says “You need to have a religious experience, and from that moment on you need to do more good things than bad and then hope for the best when you die.”
If these two worldviews – postmodern secular humanism and Christian theism are compared – with the former you are left empty and hopeless, man is worthless, and you are left to pursue your own satisfaction and never find it. But with the latter you are precious, you have purpose and you are powerless – but it’s okay because you were purchased. In the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ we find a resolution to the question, “How can what is wrong be made right?” God is both just and the justifier. The spotless, sinless Lamb of God was crushed, rejected and killed to pay a debt he did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay him back. We possess the answer and we are possessed by the Answer. The Answer is Christ and his supremacy in truth.
Every chapter of The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World is profound both in offering an understanding of our culture and in the need for Christians to communicate the supremacy of Christ in winsome ways. The role of the church in this is also addressed. At the end of the book is a conversation with the authors which is also insightful. This is a book that must be read and studied and reread. Beware though, it will transform you own thinking and understanding of Christ Jesus.
January 11, 2026
every chapter is by a different person, so not sure how to rate. appreciated some perspectives more than others.
January 6, 2020
I recently came up with a template for reviews (please critic in the comments of you think of some type of change). I have 5 categories all measured on a scale from 1-10, receiving a 10 on a category would be one whole star. Final tally for this book is a 3.6/5.
1. Quality of writing: to audience and grammatically.
2. Presentation of concepts: how well the concepts were related or articulated as well as the novelty of the concepts.
3. Coherency: does it accomplish its intended purpose and how well does it gibe together.
4. Relevancy and Consistency of arguments: the quality of arguments and how well they are developed and formulated. Also applies to concepts and notions, but separate from #3.
5. My overall enjoyment/likeness of the book: this is entirely subjective. I put this last due to it being probably the least relevant measure.
Overall this book was pretty good. Not the most enjoyable read, and I think there was one main point almost entirely missing or not well articulated. This has multiple contributors so I will review each authors contribution (there are 6 in order: David Wells, Voddie Baucham, John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and Mark Driscoll) rather than the book as a systematic piece.
Chapter #1 (David Wells): I think this was the 4th best chapter, which does not mean it's bad (only one chapter in this book is worth disregarding). This was by far the most academically oriented chapter, it seems to talk to an intellectual audience. Firstly, as this pertains to postmodernism, I think his most helpful point was an introspective one. He expressed that we are so quick to look to culture and say "this is sin" and "that is sin", while inwardly believing we are free from the sins of culture. Thus, we have a strong distaste for the world's sin without even acknowledging the fact that we are ourselves sinners and we should not be ignorant of acknowledging our own sin. This changes the way we approach postmodernism as we are humbled by our own sin. Secondly, he talks about the "Eros", which is one who finds God and the "Agape", one whom God finds. The distinction between these is needed most desperately in the context of hope. Hope is a product of meaning that occurs outside of oneself, "This downward movement of Agape, this majestic condescension of God as he graciously makes himself known to us and in that knowledge gives to us an understanding of life's meaning, and therefore hope, is developed in the New Testament in terms of an eschatological redemption." I think that, in the discussion of postmodernism, the most convincing point to look for truth is one of hope and here Wells did an excellent job of expressing and articulating this.
Chapter #2 (Voddie Baucham Jr.): This is by far the worst chapter and could easily be disregarded, which is unfortunate too, because he was given probably the best topic to speak on: "Truth". I have also heard a lot of other Voddie Baucham stuff and have found it helpful, and with these combined, it was especially disappointing. It appeared to me that his main goal here was to replace the lies of postmodernism AND naturalism (an unfortunate conjunction he calls secular humanism), with the truths of the bible. I absolutely believe that the bible is God's spoken word and is thus absolutely true, however I found that his need to articulate aspects of what God said to what the world says was not helpful whatsoever. This isn't because it's unhelpful to compare the truths of scripture to the ideas of the world, rather it's the misrepresentation of worldviews and the attitude towards these ideas that is problematic. I suppose a Christian with little gospel knowledge or an unbeliever might find these juxtapositions as novel and possibly helpful, but overall I really don't think so, I think he touches on hard topics and puts a flare of intellectual superiority over those who oppose his thinking (refer to the discussion with students - pg. 61), which I do not find is helpful. Regardless of all this, I think the biggest and only noteworthy flaw of this whole chapter is the misrepresentation of the views of secular humanism, which arises due to the oversimplification of these views that he, in all fairness, admits too, but I think it's too overdone even with admitting it. This isn't because they are wrong, it's because he attempts to take the "worst" aspects of secular humanism and add a pejorative tone to each one. This method of fallacy ridden condescendence is something an atheist or Frank Turek often attempt to portray: it's not speaking the truth in love, it appears to be out of forcibly changing minds. Aside from the main negative, I do think his best point here is that we humans are God's "crown jewel in creation". In light of postmodernism, what a beautiful truth that we are God's most prized creation. In a world of meaninglessness, we don't have to try and usurp greater value by being consumed within ourselves, rather we have God who establishes us a value far superior to whatever we might muster on our own accord. Although a great point, I wish it was articulated more thoroughly than merely stated a dozen times, It also might be better suited for the evangelism chapter than the truth chapter.
Chapter #3 (John Piper): This is third in my ranking of chapters. This chapter is on "joy" (who would have guessed) and I'd say this is a classic John Piper approach: contrasting true hedonism that God gives to the false hedonism that we try to obtain by doing whatever is "best" for us. My favorite point, which I also think is his main point, is that we find true joy and happiness through SELF-DENIAL!! How antithetical to pursuits of postmodernism?! "The enjoyment of God in Christ is the spring of all visible acts of self-denying, sacrificial love that display to others the worth of God in our lives." This is probably my favorite part of the whole book. The only complaint I have is that it wasn't expanded upon a ton and it may be more helpful to identify certain aspects of postmodernism of which self-denial is undoubtedly the better option.
Chapter #4 (D.A. Carson): This chapter was overall really good and helpful, however I did rank it 5/6 in the chapters just due to it missing a piece I think would have served better. The best point is also the largest chunk of the chapter and that is the "Supremacy of Jesus Christ in the Mediation of God's Love". Carson beautifully illustrates glory as a word with a rich meaning. I won't spoil it here, but he connects glory to the "goodness of God" and sates that "all of this manifestation of glory, of the goodness of God, is displayed because the Father loved Jesus before the creation of the world." I find this a really beautiful theological thought. However, the only thing that holds this chapter back is that it hardly discussed postmodernism. He talks about how postmodernists attempt to be loving juxtaposed with how proper loving is shown by the love between the Father and Christ, but there is no articulated contrast between these ideas. I think it would have served a much more enriching purpose if he attempted to explain how postmodernism views love and how they attempt to be loving. Since love is, in their view, a non-objectionable action that stems from them doing whatever they wish. If this was expressed, I think the beauty of the theological exposition would be much better applied to the context of book and chapter. That is really my only complaint.
Chapter #5 (Tim Keller): Keller's chapter is the very best in the whole book. If anyone were wondering whether to read this book or not, I would say "yes" and only recommend them read this one chapter. He gets the "gospel" chapter and he applies this incredibly well to evangelism: the ultimate purpose in writing this book and he does this by using the story of Jonah as an illustration to our evangelism of postmodernists. His first point I think is noteworthy is that the people of postmodernism are so attuned to phoniness that when we speak of the gospel and act in a separate manner they see right through our hypocrisy and disregard it as fake. Within this attenuation of the gospel, we are constantly losing the war in explanations and winning in action. Behind Pipers point on hedonism, I think this is the second most helpful point in the whole book and Keller does really well at explaining the ideas and views within postmodernism. He continues on certain aspects of postmodernism that the gospel either affirms and/or disagrees, and whatever he's distinguishing, he is very insightful and incredibly helpful. I think the greatest summary of the all of the concepts of this chapter, while also being the most convicting, is this statement on pg. 121.
This is a picture of the church's problem in a postmodern world. We simply don't like the
unwashed pagans. Jonah went to the city but didn't love the city. Likewise, we don't love
the postmodern world in the way we should. We disdain people who don't believe in Truth.
We create our subculture and we invite people to join us inside, but we don't take our time,
gifts, and money and pour ourselves out in deeds of love and service to our city.
Chapter #6 (Mark Driscoll): First I want to say, that it feels really weird to have Mark Driscoll in this very reformed book and to have such praise for his work here. That aside, this is my second favorite chapter. This is one of the best because he talks about the culture of postmodernism in the most detail. This is super helpful because it illuminates so much on an application level while also highlighting the supremacy of Christ. The only point I think is worth holding onto is what he calls relevantism, instead of relativism. He states:
Rather, I am arguing for Relevantism, by which doctrinal principles remain in a closed
hand and cultural methods remain in an open hand... The Bible itself models this two-
handed approach by giving us four Gospels. Each Gospel is written both to contend for the
truth of the person and work of Jesus and to contextualize that truth to varying cultural
groups so that the gospel is mos easily understood by people in that culture.
I think this quote is so relevant (no pun intended), especially because we are talking about a culture that deems itself COMPLETELY open-minded. As a side note, I've always wondered why we ought to think open-mindedness is a "good" thing, who says that it is? Complete open-mindedness is a self-defeating idea, and if it could be lived out it would look nothing like how it is attempted to be lived out now. One needs to look no further than the distaste postmodernists have for anyone that opposes, let's say, pro-choice. Dichotomization between concepts results in at least some close-mindedness: I can't be an atheist and a theist of the same God. Thus, I think this point is really helpful, relevant, and necessary for the Church and for evangelism.
All in all this book was pretty good. I think it missed a few points here and there and I think each person had different things that they did well or did poorly. Overall, my main issue with this whole book is this: postmodernism is about self everything, the gospel is about God. I think this point was NOT expressed enough throughout, it was touched on here and there, but was rarely, if at all, articulated well. Especially considering that this whole book is one giant juxtaposition, if only we could, in light of all these concepts (truth, gospel, joy, church, etc.), have had a proper theme that encapsulates the entirety of postmodernism. This I think is it's biggest drawback. Understanding their idea of self especially through identity (which would have been an awesome chapter to discuss) as contrasted to the beauty of the gospel would lead one, without any doubt in their mind, to the awe surpassing supremacy of Christ.
*Read Keller's chapter. It's my greatest endorsement in this book.
1. Quality of writing: to audience and grammatically.
2. Presentation of concepts: how well the concepts were related or articulated as well as the novelty of the concepts.
3. Coherency: does it accomplish its intended purpose and how well does it gibe together.
4. Relevancy and Consistency of arguments: the quality of arguments and how well they are developed and formulated. Also applies to concepts and notions, but separate from #3.
5. My overall enjoyment/likeness of the book: this is entirely subjective. I put this last due to it being probably the least relevant measure.
Overall this book was pretty good. Not the most enjoyable read, and I think there was one main point almost entirely missing or not well articulated. This has multiple contributors so I will review each authors contribution (there are 6 in order: David Wells, Voddie Baucham, John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and Mark Driscoll) rather than the book as a systematic piece.
Chapter #1 (David Wells): I think this was the 4th best chapter, which does not mean it's bad (only one chapter in this book is worth disregarding). This was by far the most academically oriented chapter, it seems to talk to an intellectual audience. Firstly, as this pertains to postmodernism, I think his most helpful point was an introspective one. He expressed that we are so quick to look to culture and say "this is sin" and "that is sin", while inwardly believing we are free from the sins of culture. Thus, we have a strong distaste for the world's sin without even acknowledging the fact that we are ourselves sinners and we should not be ignorant of acknowledging our own sin. This changes the way we approach postmodernism as we are humbled by our own sin. Secondly, he talks about the "Eros", which is one who finds God and the "Agape", one whom God finds. The distinction between these is needed most desperately in the context of hope. Hope is a product of meaning that occurs outside of oneself, "This downward movement of Agape, this majestic condescension of God as he graciously makes himself known to us and in that knowledge gives to us an understanding of life's meaning, and therefore hope, is developed in the New Testament in terms of an eschatological redemption." I think that, in the discussion of postmodernism, the most convincing point to look for truth is one of hope and here Wells did an excellent job of expressing and articulating this.
Chapter #2 (Voddie Baucham Jr.): This is by far the worst chapter and could easily be disregarded, which is unfortunate too, because he was given probably the best topic to speak on: "Truth". I have also heard a lot of other Voddie Baucham stuff and have found it helpful, and with these combined, it was especially disappointing. It appeared to me that his main goal here was to replace the lies of postmodernism AND naturalism (an unfortunate conjunction he calls secular humanism), with the truths of the bible. I absolutely believe that the bible is God's spoken word and is thus absolutely true, however I found that his need to articulate aspects of what God said to what the world says was not helpful whatsoever. This isn't because it's unhelpful to compare the truths of scripture to the ideas of the world, rather it's the misrepresentation of worldviews and the attitude towards these ideas that is problematic. I suppose a Christian with little gospel knowledge or an unbeliever might find these juxtapositions as novel and possibly helpful, but overall I really don't think so, I think he touches on hard topics and puts a flare of intellectual superiority over those who oppose his thinking (refer to the discussion with students - pg. 61), which I do not find is helpful. Regardless of all this, I think the biggest and only noteworthy flaw of this whole chapter is the misrepresentation of the views of secular humanism, which arises due to the oversimplification of these views that he, in all fairness, admits too, but I think it's too overdone even with admitting it. This isn't because they are wrong, it's because he attempts to take the "worst" aspects of secular humanism and add a pejorative tone to each one. This method of fallacy ridden condescendence is something an atheist or Frank Turek often attempt to portray: it's not speaking the truth in love, it appears to be out of forcibly changing minds. Aside from the main negative, I do think his best point here is that we humans are God's "crown jewel in creation". In light of postmodernism, what a beautiful truth that we are God's most prized creation. In a world of meaninglessness, we don't have to try and usurp greater value by being consumed within ourselves, rather we have God who establishes us a value far superior to whatever we might muster on our own accord. Although a great point, I wish it was articulated more thoroughly than merely stated a dozen times, It also might be better suited for the evangelism chapter than the truth chapter.
Chapter #3 (John Piper): This is third in my ranking of chapters. This chapter is on "joy" (who would have guessed) and I'd say this is a classic John Piper approach: contrasting true hedonism that God gives to the false hedonism that we try to obtain by doing whatever is "best" for us. My favorite point, which I also think is his main point, is that we find true joy and happiness through SELF-DENIAL!! How antithetical to pursuits of postmodernism?! "The enjoyment of God in Christ is the spring of all visible acts of self-denying, sacrificial love that display to others the worth of God in our lives." This is probably my favorite part of the whole book. The only complaint I have is that it wasn't expanded upon a ton and it may be more helpful to identify certain aspects of postmodernism of which self-denial is undoubtedly the better option.
Chapter #4 (D.A. Carson): This chapter was overall really good and helpful, however I did rank it 5/6 in the chapters just due to it missing a piece I think would have served better. The best point is also the largest chunk of the chapter and that is the "Supremacy of Jesus Christ in the Mediation of God's Love". Carson beautifully illustrates glory as a word with a rich meaning. I won't spoil it here, but he connects glory to the "goodness of God" and sates that "all of this manifestation of glory, of the goodness of God, is displayed because the Father loved Jesus before the creation of the world." I find this a really beautiful theological thought. However, the only thing that holds this chapter back is that it hardly discussed postmodernism. He talks about how postmodernists attempt to be loving juxtaposed with how proper loving is shown by the love between the Father and Christ, but there is no articulated contrast between these ideas. I think it would have served a much more enriching purpose if he attempted to explain how postmodernism views love and how they attempt to be loving. Since love is, in their view, a non-objectionable action that stems from them doing whatever they wish. If this was expressed, I think the beauty of the theological exposition would be much better applied to the context of book and chapter. That is really my only complaint.
Chapter #5 (Tim Keller): Keller's chapter is the very best in the whole book. If anyone were wondering whether to read this book or not, I would say "yes" and only recommend them read this one chapter. He gets the "gospel" chapter and he applies this incredibly well to evangelism: the ultimate purpose in writing this book and he does this by using the story of Jonah as an illustration to our evangelism of postmodernists. His first point I think is noteworthy is that the people of postmodernism are so attuned to phoniness that when we speak of the gospel and act in a separate manner they see right through our hypocrisy and disregard it as fake. Within this attenuation of the gospel, we are constantly losing the war in explanations and winning in action. Behind Pipers point on hedonism, I think this is the second most helpful point in the whole book and Keller does really well at explaining the ideas and views within postmodernism. He continues on certain aspects of postmodernism that the gospel either affirms and/or disagrees, and whatever he's distinguishing, he is very insightful and incredibly helpful. I think the greatest summary of the all of the concepts of this chapter, while also being the most convicting, is this statement on pg. 121.
This is a picture of the church's problem in a postmodern world. We simply don't like the
unwashed pagans. Jonah went to the city but didn't love the city. Likewise, we don't love
the postmodern world in the way we should. We disdain people who don't believe in Truth.
We create our subculture and we invite people to join us inside, but we don't take our time,
gifts, and money and pour ourselves out in deeds of love and service to our city.
Chapter #6 (Mark Driscoll): First I want to say, that it feels really weird to have Mark Driscoll in this very reformed book and to have such praise for his work here. That aside, this is my second favorite chapter. This is one of the best because he talks about the culture of postmodernism in the most detail. This is super helpful because it illuminates so much on an application level while also highlighting the supremacy of Christ. The only point I think is worth holding onto is what he calls relevantism, instead of relativism. He states:
Rather, I am arguing for Relevantism, by which doctrinal principles remain in a closed
hand and cultural methods remain in an open hand... The Bible itself models this two-
handed approach by giving us four Gospels. Each Gospel is written both to contend for the
truth of the person and work of Jesus and to contextualize that truth to varying cultural
groups so that the gospel is mos easily understood by people in that culture.
I think this quote is so relevant (no pun intended), especially because we are talking about a culture that deems itself COMPLETELY open-minded. As a side note, I've always wondered why we ought to think open-mindedness is a "good" thing, who says that it is? Complete open-mindedness is a self-defeating idea, and if it could be lived out it would look nothing like how it is attempted to be lived out now. One needs to look no further than the distaste postmodernists have for anyone that opposes, let's say, pro-choice. Dichotomization between concepts results in at least some close-mindedness: I can't be an atheist and a theist of the same God. Thus, I think this point is really helpful, relevant, and necessary for the Church and for evangelism.
All in all this book was pretty good. I think it missed a few points here and there and I think each person had different things that they did well or did poorly. Overall, my main issue with this whole book is this: postmodernism is about self everything, the gospel is about God. I think this point was NOT expressed enough throughout, it was touched on here and there, but was rarely, if at all, articulated well. Especially considering that this whole book is one giant juxtaposition, if only we could, in light of all these concepts (truth, gospel, joy, church, etc.), have had a proper theme that encapsulates the entirety of postmodernism. This I think is it's biggest drawback. Understanding their idea of self especially through identity (which would have been an awesome chapter to discuss) as contrasted to the beauty of the gospel would lead one, without any doubt in their mind, to the awe surpassing supremacy of Christ.
*Read Keller's chapter. It's my greatest endorsement in this book.
November 20, 2021
A surprisingly good analysis of the topic--evangelism in the post-modern era. In my experience, collections of essays often fail to hang together, leaving a confused mishmash of partially addressed and sometimes too narrowly focused contributions.
Piper and Taylor here do a much better job in this case. After the various contributors' essays are presented, Taylor asks the contributors--who are among the leading US Evangelical brain trust--a number of questions bringing the views more into a synthesized whole.
Among the top takeaways:
1) There is a crying lack of meaning in the post-Modern life. Urgings that we should all self-realize and look "within" to find meaning can only lead to existentialism/materialism and dada-ism. Instead, if we seek to function in accordance with our maker's instructions--doing good for others as Jesus sought to do, we will find much greater meaning ourselves.
2) a corollary is that the post-modernist love is all about EROS--our own effort to love in order to satisfy our selfish interests, whereas a Christian should reflect the AGAPE love of the Father--a love cheering the other's success and happiness instead of putting our own pleasure to the fore.
3) in this sense, New Age is a form of paganism--where the utility of the gods/approach is all about our own happiness--doomed to fail because we cannot know what will lead to our own happiness. God has made us and we need to remember we are His creatures, so He will know what our intended function/walk is, and it is there we should be most fulfilled and happy.
4) evangelisation in the post-Modern era is difficult in large part because most people in the US/Europe do not know the Bible--in contrast to those growing up before 1965. The concepts of "sin" and "repentance" are alien now--yet preaching the God is all love without wisdom and principle is not authentic and doomed to failure. Syncretism and secularism are the dangers.
5) Christians need to remain humble and self-aware of their own faults and sins---but they must also stand up for the notion that there is objective truth and that any effort to define truth leads us to Raskolnikovian torment.
6) Voddie Baucham, a famous African American pastor who for many years was lead pastor of a predominantly white Texan church, noted that Christianity is the only major religion that has (not without some imperfect detours and incorrect interpretations) condemned slavery and discrimination--noting as fundamental the Biblical notion that we are all formed in the image of God, and that ultimately, it was the Christians who moved to abolish slavery and the notion that women were inferior to men. Yet this important message was not getting out.
7) The essence of Christianity is that love and salvation are gifts from God. All other major religions seem to have a somewhat arbitrary god who, if one's "good works" outweigh one's "bad" deeds, may or may likely accept that we have "earned" a nice hereafter. By contrast, God's love/salvation and Jesus's acceptance of our sins is a gift which we need only receive and accept.
The final discussion shows the complexity of keeping to an effective, contextually authentic and digestible orthodoxy. For those interested, this book helps delineate what such an orthodoxy can be even in today's world.
Piper and Taylor here do a much better job in this case. After the various contributors' essays are presented, Taylor asks the contributors--who are among the leading US Evangelical brain trust--a number of questions bringing the views more into a synthesized whole.
Among the top takeaways:
1) There is a crying lack of meaning in the post-Modern life. Urgings that we should all self-realize and look "within" to find meaning can only lead to existentialism/materialism and dada-ism. Instead, if we seek to function in accordance with our maker's instructions--doing good for others as Jesus sought to do, we will find much greater meaning ourselves.
2) a corollary is that the post-modernist love is all about EROS--our own effort to love in order to satisfy our selfish interests, whereas a Christian should reflect the AGAPE love of the Father--a love cheering the other's success and happiness instead of putting our own pleasure to the fore.
3) in this sense, New Age is a form of paganism--where the utility of the gods/approach is all about our own happiness--doomed to fail because we cannot know what will lead to our own happiness. God has made us and we need to remember we are His creatures, so He will know what our intended function/walk is, and it is there we should be most fulfilled and happy.
4) evangelisation in the post-Modern era is difficult in large part because most people in the US/Europe do not know the Bible--in contrast to those growing up before 1965. The concepts of "sin" and "repentance" are alien now--yet preaching the God is all love without wisdom and principle is not authentic and doomed to failure. Syncretism and secularism are the dangers.
5) Christians need to remain humble and self-aware of their own faults and sins---but they must also stand up for the notion that there is objective truth and that any effort to define truth leads us to Raskolnikovian torment.
6) Voddie Baucham, a famous African American pastor who for many years was lead pastor of a predominantly white Texan church, noted that Christianity is the only major religion that has (not without some imperfect detours and incorrect interpretations) condemned slavery and discrimination--noting as fundamental the Biblical notion that we are all formed in the image of God, and that ultimately, it was the Christians who moved to abolish slavery and the notion that women were inferior to men. Yet this important message was not getting out.
7) The essence of Christianity is that love and salvation are gifts from God. All other major religions seem to have a somewhat arbitrary god who, if one's "good works" outweigh one's "bad" deeds, may or may likely accept that we have "earned" a nice hereafter. By contrast, God's love/salvation and Jesus's acceptance of our sins is a gift which we need only receive and accept.
The final discussion shows the complexity of keeping to an effective, contextually authentic and digestible orthodoxy. For those interested, this book helps delineate what such an orthodoxy can be even in today's world.
June 22, 2021
The very brief publisher's blurb, "Believers who wish to thrive in a postmodern world must cling to the joy, truth, and love that comes only from understanding Christ and his ultimate purpose in this world." sums up the work very nicely. The varied inputs from the contributors cover a wide set of circumstances in the post-modern era. It was so good i listened to it two times, back-to-back, and may yet buy a print copy.
October 28, 2019
There were some interesting parts but overall this read like a textbook for someone in seminary school. Maybe I was just the wrong audience?
November 2, 2015
It's hard to rate this book as every chapter is written by a different author. I wish it would have spent a little more time explaining post-modernism. Most of the chapters were pretty good. I felt like Driscoll had some decent ideas but did not appreciate his clearly stereotypical view of fundamentalism. Neither did I appreciate the way he presented Christ. Overall a good book though.
August 20, 2025
I went into this book thinking it was written by John Piper. This was because the cover said John Piper. So I was a little surprised when I turned to the first chapter and found it was written by David Wells. I was not entirely prepared for a theological breakdown in six completely different styles, but it was an interesting read and I definitely took a lot away from it.
Chapter 1 - David Wells
Okay, entirely honestly, I skipped most of this chapter. I really did try to read it, but it came across very textbook and above my head. I just couldn't grasp anything he said. It almost made me put the book down.
Chapter 2 - Voddie Baucham, Jr.
I really liked this chapter on truth. He wrote well, simply but thoroughly, and covered his points clearly.
p.64 he writes on the problem of the world "I judge God based upon how well He carries out my agenda for the world, and I believe in the supremacy of me in truth. As a result, I want a God who is omnipotent, but not sovereign. If I have a God, who is omnipotent, but not sovereign, I can wheel His power. But if my God is both omnipotent and sovereign, I am at His mercy."
Chapter 3 - John Piper
This chapter on joy read exactly how John Piper speaks. You could hear him in the text. I liked that. The focus on glory in the book of John as something I had never fully realized, but Piper points it out clearly and expounds on it. I think this was actually the shortest chapter, which I was sad about. I like reading Piper.
Chapter 4 - D.A. Carson
This chapter covered love. Really didn't get too much out of this chapter. Great content but very deep and I had to read it super slowly.
Chapter 5 - Tim Keller
The gospel. This chapter was by far the one I shared the most with my husband as I read bits that stuck out to me, and the chapter I had the most takeaway from in general.
pg. 119 he says: "a man recently shared with me how he was trying to talk about his faith with his neighbors, to little avail. But then some major difficulties came in his life, and he began to let his neighbors know how Christ was helping him face them. They were quite interested and moved by this. It was the Jonah principal! As we experience weakness, as we are brought low, Christ's power is more evident in us."
He also painted a picture of Christ bowing His head into the ultimate storm and walking ahead of us. That really stuck with me and was quite beautiful.
Chapter 6 - Mark Driscoll
The church. I was surprised by how little I absorbed this chapter. I had read devotionals by Driscoll before and had a lot of takeaway from them, so I was surprised to find his writing style here hard to follow. I did like his list of ten theological issues we must contend for in a postmodern world.
Chapter 1 - David Wells
Okay, entirely honestly, I skipped most of this chapter. I really did try to read it, but it came across very textbook and above my head. I just couldn't grasp anything he said. It almost made me put the book down.
Chapter 2 - Voddie Baucham, Jr.
I really liked this chapter on truth. He wrote well, simply but thoroughly, and covered his points clearly.
p.64 he writes on the problem of the world "I judge God based upon how well He carries out my agenda for the world, and I believe in the supremacy of me in truth. As a result, I want a God who is omnipotent, but not sovereign. If I have a God, who is omnipotent, but not sovereign, I can wheel His power. But if my God is both omnipotent and sovereign, I am at His mercy."
Chapter 3 - John Piper
This chapter on joy read exactly how John Piper speaks. You could hear him in the text. I liked that. The focus on glory in the book of John as something I had never fully realized, but Piper points it out clearly and expounds on it. I think this was actually the shortest chapter, which I was sad about. I like reading Piper.
Chapter 4 - D.A. Carson
This chapter covered love. Really didn't get too much out of this chapter. Great content but very deep and I had to read it super slowly.
Chapter 5 - Tim Keller
The gospel. This chapter was by far the one I shared the most with my husband as I read bits that stuck out to me, and the chapter I had the most takeaway from in general.
pg. 119 he says: "a man recently shared with me how he was trying to talk about his faith with his neighbors, to little avail. But then some major difficulties came in his life, and he began to let his neighbors know how Christ was helping him face them. They were quite interested and moved by this. It was the Jonah principal! As we experience weakness, as we are brought low, Christ's power is more evident in us."
He also painted a picture of Christ bowing His head into the ultimate storm and walking ahead of us. That really stuck with me and was quite beautiful.
Chapter 6 - Mark Driscoll
The church. I was surprised by how little I absorbed this chapter. I had read devotionals by Driscoll before and had a lot of takeaway from them, so I was surprised to find his writing style here hard to follow. I did like his list of ten theological issues we must contend for in a postmodern world.
March 11, 2019
Lots of great content. My critique is that it felt to me as though it didn't really answer the question it set itself. It felt that little of the book focussed on contending that our culture is distinctively postmodern (I would say with the exception of Tim Keller's chapter, which was quite excellent in this regard, and probably my highlight of the book) and how this in particular is contrasted, or redeemed by the Gospel, as opposed to other cultural movements such and atheism, secularism, pluralism or perhaps modernism (i'm no real expert on these things so i should be taken with a pinch of salt!)
The potential critque to my reading of the book would be to suggest that the authors are using the term 'postmodern' as culture's own label for itself. That the world has determined itself to be postmodern, and thus what we can observe within culture is 'the postmodern world'. If you go with this, which to be fair wouldn't be an illegitmate approach, my critique falls down, and there's only really positive stuff to say. Written with great clarity, aiming to be edifying, fairly generous to opponents, and helpful critiques of the general cultural zeitgeist, showing how the Gospel provides a far better narrative to live within!
The potential critque to my reading of the book would be to suggest that the authors are using the term 'postmodern' as culture's own label for itself. That the world has determined itself to be postmodern, and thus what we can observe within culture is 'the postmodern world'. If you go with this, which to be fair wouldn't be an illegitmate approach, my critique falls down, and there's only really positive stuff to say. Written with great clarity, aiming to be edifying, fairly generous to opponents, and helpful critiques of the general cultural zeitgeist, showing how the Gospel provides a far better narrative to live within!
April 26, 2019
This book was fine. I am a little disappointed with it and that may perhaps me because of my expectations. I expected it to be more of an apologetic book to help us talk about the supremacy of Christ to people with a postmodern worldview. It ended up being more of a book that was a polemic against some of the postmodern infiltration in the church like the emergent Church movement. That is fine for what it is and a lot of the information about post-modernism is helpful. Know what you are getting when you read this book though. If you are looking for help for thinking about talking to non-christians from a postmodern worldview, really the only chapter that is helpful for that is Voddie Baucham's chapter. That is a very good one, though, because it compares the Christian story and the postmodern story and how adequately each of those answers the major questions of life, showing that the postmodern story cannot do that.
July 6, 2019
I picked up this book because John Piper and Tim Keller are contributors but I was pleased to discover a new voice (for me) in Voddie Baucham Jr. that I can now explore more. admittedly, this is a heady book and I found myself re-reading passages over and over and keeping google at the ready to look up word meanings. As I reflect on this book the words that come to me are “truth - know it, stand up for it, don’t shy away from it. There is truth - no “my truth” or “your truth” - truth. I think I will be pondering application of its principles for a while - let’s have coffee if you want to dig more.
January 25, 2021
For all who wonder how they can reach the world that's always culturally evolving. A world who's worldviews are merging and diverging and morphing into new ones all together. For young ministers such as myself who feel so small in a big big secularized world... This book is for you.
January 26, 2025
Some of these essays were better than others. This was published 19 years ago and felt a bit like peering into a cultural time capsule. I’d be interested to read something of a similar theme based on the culture of 2025 instead of the culture of 2006.
October 19, 2019
Timely discourse on the most appropriate demands and responses to the present age.
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January 29, 2022Audiobook via Libby app
September 28, 2022
Based on the 2006 DG conference, one of my favorite. The David Wells chapter is the best.
January 8, 2023
I think this book is great for any Christian looking to understand how to missionally approach our increasing post modern culture.
January 9, 2023
Helps fight against post modern views
January 1, 2025
I liked the articles of John Piper and Voddie Baucham.
September 17, 2025
So needed, great wisdom, and material that pushes us to engage our sphere better so Jesus can be supreme.
April 3, 2022
Buku ini didasari pada konferensi yang diselenggarakan di Minneapolis pada musim gugur 2006 untuk menelusuri supremasi Kristus dalam dunia postmodern. Pembicara-pembicara pada konferensi tersebut dan yang menjadi kontributor dari buku ini adalah David Wells, Voddie Bucham Jr., John Piper, D.A Carson, Tim Keller dan Mark Driscoll. Di konferensi ini juga (dan ditulis di buku ini) Justin Taylor mengadakan wawancara selama dua hari dengan para kontributor untuk mempertajam pemikiran kita dan memotivasi pelayanan kita dengan memberikan pengertian mengenai bagaimana kebudayaan, kebenaran, sukacita, kasih, Injil atau gereja terkait dengan kebenaran Kristus dalam dunia modern kita.
August 4, 2011
A couple of weeks ago I finished reading a collection of essays that was edited by John Piper. All of these essays centered around the idea of Christ's supremacy in the postmodern/relativistic culture in which we live.
These essays are the product of a conference in which these different theologians gathered together to talk about this exact issue.
The contributers to this collections are:
David Wells
Voddie Baucham Jr.
John Piper
D.A. Carson
Tim Keller
Mark Driscoll
When I first opened this book and jumped into David Wells essay my head began hurting. I felt a little bit of nausea. Things became blurry. Then I realized that David Wells is much much smarter than I will ever be. His essay is very thoughtful but hard to follow. However, his essay lays the groundwork for the remaining essays.
Voddie Baucham's essay is much more readable and deals with the concept of truth in a postmodern world. The idea of truth is something that only a few people claim to have knowledge to, but everyone's actions point to what kind of truth they hold. It was also nice to hear from Voddie that I am still a good person even if I am not as black as he is.
John Piper's essay is on joy. What a shocker. The Christian Hedonist writing an essay on joy. However, his essay is probably the easiest to follow although his thought process is just as "deep" or "challenging" as any of the other authors. I really enjoyed this essay and was challenged by reading it.
D.A. Carson & Tim Keller both have very interesting essays on the topics of Love and the Gospel. These essays were not my favorite but still very informative.
Mark Driscoll finishes out the essays in this book with one that rivals Piper's essay to be my favorite. It is interesting to hear from a guy who was at the forefront of the postmodern movement just a few years ago but took a step back when he saw there was a lot of theological compromises that were being made for the sake of "being enlightened" or "seeker sensitivity".
The book closes out with a transcript of a dialog between the different authors. This book is worth the purchase for this reason if for no other.
I would recommend that anybody who deals with people in this culture of "truth is whatever you want it to be" read this book.
These essays are the product of a conference in which these different theologians gathered together to talk about this exact issue.
The contributers to this collections are:
David Wells
Voddie Baucham Jr.
John Piper
D.A. Carson
Tim Keller
Mark Driscoll
When I first opened this book and jumped into David Wells essay my head began hurting. I felt a little bit of nausea. Things became blurry. Then I realized that David Wells is much much smarter than I will ever be. His essay is very thoughtful but hard to follow. However, his essay lays the groundwork for the remaining essays.
Voddie Baucham's essay is much more readable and deals with the concept of truth in a postmodern world. The idea of truth is something that only a few people claim to have knowledge to, but everyone's actions point to what kind of truth they hold. It was also nice to hear from Voddie that I am still a good person even if I am not as black as he is.
John Piper's essay is on joy. What a shocker. The Christian Hedonist writing an essay on joy. However, his essay is probably the easiest to follow although his thought process is just as "deep" or "challenging" as any of the other authors. I really enjoyed this essay and was challenged by reading it.
D.A. Carson & Tim Keller both have very interesting essays on the topics of Love and the Gospel. These essays were not my favorite but still very informative.
Mark Driscoll finishes out the essays in this book with one that rivals Piper's essay to be my favorite. It is interesting to hear from a guy who was at the forefront of the postmodern movement just a few years ago but took a step back when he saw there was a lot of theological compromises that were being made for the sake of "being enlightened" or "seeker sensitivity".
The book closes out with a transcript of a dialog between the different authors. This book is worth the purchase for this reason if for no other.
I would recommend that anybody who deals with people in this culture of "truth is whatever you want it to be" read this book.
July 1, 2008
When I bought this book, I bought it because of it's interesting title. I was taking a lot of philosophy classes at Belhaven and I thought this would look good on my shelf. For whatever reason I decided to pick up the book and start reading. The next thing i new I was underlining, writing in margins, circling and looking up definitions for words. The book had gripped me philosophically, theologically, missionaly, culturally, practically, and so much more!
I couldn't decide what "Shelf" to put this book on because it deals with sooo much! The great thing about this book is that it was written by six leading theologians today; David Wells, Voddie Bauchham Jr., John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and Mark Driscoll (not in particular order). Each one dealing with a different aspect of reaching out to American Culture while as the same time webbing each essay together.
Split into three sections of "Culture and Truth", "Joy and Love" and "Gospel Theologizing and Contextualizing". The point of each obviously tied into the title "The Supremacy of Christ".
A good summary quote is found on Page 131 and 132 "...enthroned in glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. This Jesus Rules over gays and straights, men and women, you and old, rich and poor, black and white, simple and wise, healthy and sick, powerful and powerless, Republicans and Democrats, married and single, Christians and non-Christians, angels and demons, and the living and the dead.....There is not one inch of creation, one culture or subculture of people, one lifestyle of orientation, on religion or philosophical system, that he does not possess full authority over and command to turn from sin and glorify him." - Mark Driscoll
I couldn't decide what "Shelf" to put this book on because it deals with sooo much! The great thing about this book is that it was written by six leading theologians today; David Wells, Voddie Bauchham Jr., John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and Mark Driscoll (not in particular order). Each one dealing with a different aspect of reaching out to American Culture while as the same time webbing each essay together.
Split into three sections of "Culture and Truth", "Joy and Love" and "Gospel Theologizing and Contextualizing". The point of each obviously tied into the title "The Supremacy of Christ".
A good summary quote is found on Page 131 and 132 "...enthroned in glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. This Jesus Rules over gays and straights, men and women, you and old, rich and poor, black and white, simple and wise, healthy and sick, powerful and powerless, Republicans and Democrats, married and single, Christians and non-Christians, angels and demons, and the living and the dead.....There is not one inch of creation, one culture or subculture of people, one lifestyle of orientation, on religion or philosophical system, that he does not possess full authority over and command to turn from sin and glorify him." - Mark Driscoll
August 7, 2010
How can the church teach the gospel of a man who claimed to be “the Truth” to a world that hates truth claims? That was the topic being addressed at the 2006 Desiring God National Conference. This book is basically transcripts of the plenary sessions from that conference.
Each chapter corresponds to the message presented by each of the speakers at the conference: David Wells, Voddie Baucham, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, D.A. Carson, and John Piper… not a bad lineup! There is also a chapter titled “A Conversation With the Pastors”, containing a transcript of a discussion moderated by Justin Taylor.
The contributors each addressed a different aspect of the relationship between the church (and individual Christians) and the world. Each of the essays is thought-provoking in its own way. One thing John Piper always does well at his conferences is assigning the speakers topics which they are particularly suited to address (for instance, Keller’s focus on reaching urban intellectuals, Driscoll’s focus on missional contextualization, etc). Even in book form, the unique voice and focus of every author really shines through.
This is a book highly recommended, particularly for college students and others who are constantly bombarded with postmodern philosophy. Also recommended are the audio/video recordings of the conference sessions from which this book was derived, available for free from the Desiring God Resource Library.
Each chapter corresponds to the message presented by each of the speakers at the conference: David Wells, Voddie Baucham, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, D.A. Carson, and John Piper… not a bad lineup! There is also a chapter titled “A Conversation With the Pastors”, containing a transcript of a discussion moderated by Justin Taylor.
The contributors each addressed a different aspect of the relationship between the church (and individual Christians) and the world. Each of the essays is thought-provoking in its own way. One thing John Piper always does well at his conferences is assigning the speakers topics which they are particularly suited to address (for instance, Keller’s focus on reaching urban intellectuals, Driscoll’s focus on missional contextualization, etc). Even in book form, the unique voice and focus of every author really shines through.
This is a book highly recommended, particularly for college students and others who are constantly bombarded with postmodern philosophy. Also recommended are the audio/video recordings of the conference sessions from which this book was derived, available for free from the Desiring God Resource Library.
March 2, 2016
This book is in reality a collection of essays by 6 very different theologians, a fantastic overview of Biblically-sound, humble yet uncompromising, insightful and inspiring, gracious and passionate responses to the postmodern ethos. Some questions I had were answered, some things I knew but couldn't quite define were put in context for me. I was also convicted. As I read the last page, it left me pondering... Am I a relevant and effective witness? Am I flexible yet uncompromising in the ways I should and should not be? Am I fighting the right battles the right way? What parts of me need to change so that more of His perfect immutability is seen and known and enjoyed? Good stuff. Soul-search inspiring.
Some of the essays were easier to read than others, but then that is part of the beauty of the panel format. We get to glory in our differences while rejoicing in our common ground. I appreciate seeing the same topic explored from multiple unique perspectives. I'm so glad that God is a God of endless creative variety and solidly timeless, unchanging truth. He will ever be my rock.
Some of the essays were easier to read than others, but then that is part of the beauty of the panel format. We get to glory in our differences while rejoicing in our common ground. I appreciate seeing the same topic explored from multiple unique perspectives. I'm so glad that God is a God of endless creative variety and solidly timeless, unchanging truth. He will ever be my rock.
September 5, 2009
This book is edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor and has some topnotch Reformed pastor/theologians contributing: David Wells, Voddie Baucham, D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, and John Piper.It is a great addition to the library of anyone who wants to put Christ above all things in this postmodern world. At the end of the book there are two different discussions lead by Justin Taylor that help even more to flesh out their theology particularly in regards to the emergent church. The book has good insights and though deep it is very readable and not just pie in the sky but gives practical insights into how to transform our culture.
October 26, 2015
This is probably the most scholarly book I've read to date. I had to google some of the words. I feel smarter now. I have a much deeper understanding of the supremacy of Christ, compared with our postmodern culture. Christ has what people are looking for. The Bible contains timeless truth. The church just needs to get better at communicating this to post modern ears. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in understanding Christianity that is both Orthodox and relevant. Each chapter is written by a different author. I especially enjoyed the chapters written by Tim Keller and John Piper, but they were all good. Bold proclamations that our world needs.
August 8, 2011
This was a breath of fresh air. The men who wrote this book have great insight into the Postmodern world and explain their ideas with intellect and with tact. I enjoyed this read because it put into terms many of those things I've thought about but couldn't articulate. Great stuff if you have a desire to engage our culture for Christ.
January 27, 2008
This book is a compilation of many different pastors across the country talking about the attack on truth and how to effectively point to the truth which is only in Christ Jesus in this postmodern world. Great read!
June 5, 2009
Great book by some of the top christian leaders and speakers today. Pulled from their talks at the '06 Desiring God Conference, each chapter can be read as an independently. These men do a great job of explaining how postmodernism is changing the world.
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