Worldview Reviews

Happy New Year!  It's been a crazy and difficult past month ... no blogging has been realistically possible. 

To start off the new year, I would like to share a couple of reviews of An Introduction to Christian Worldview - the worldview text that David Naugle, Michael Clark, and I co-authored and recently published with IVP Academic.

The first is an extensive, constructively critical review by Dr. Randal Rauser, Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Rauser's extended review essay is outstanding, and highlights some very real shortcomings of our worldview book (including at least one embarrassing face-palm moment on my part ... failing to include nationalism in our concluding treatment of worldlyviews).  I hope one day soon to have sufficient time to respond in more depth to some of Rauser's specific critiques - but for now will encourage you to read his extended review, and share his concluding assessment of the work:

... the developed extent of my criticisms should be taken as evidence that this is an engrossing book which is absolutely packed with information and provocative analysis that is worthy of serious engagement. I may disagree with the authors at points, but that’s in large part because they write with clarity, concision, and savvy cultural awareness. Oh yeah, and they cover a dizzying range of topics in an intriguing and thought-provoking manner. All told, the result is an excellent and comprehensive introduction to worldview thinking.

So what’s the final verdict? To sum up, ICW is a great value for money and is an ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduates or seminary students. That is why I am enthusiastically adopting ICW as the main textbook in my seminary worldview course. It’s also why I commend it to every interested reader.

The second review of An Introduction to Christian Worldview is by Dr. Michael Philliber, Pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church in Edmonton, Oklahoma.  Philliber's short review notes the contributions the text makes, and highlights its appropriateness in some settings (but not others!).

I am thankful to Dr. Rauser and Dr. Philliber for taking the time to engage with our text!  If you'd like to check the book out for yourself, check it out on Amazon or Amazon.ca.