Yesterday I shared five of the best books I read in 2018. In that post I covered books 6-10. Today I will give you my top five reads.
5. Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives by Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford. All people have a worldview that impacts the way they live their lives, that shape the values and beliefs they have, and even impact the way we spend our money. However, many worldviews are not promoted by religious beliefs but are shaped by the culture in which we live. Because they come through culture we give little thought to them and probably don't even realize they are a worldview. This book looks at eight of these worldviews and explains how we come about following them and the problems that can occur if we continue to follow them. This book will cause you to look at the worldviews that shape your life, and it will preach!
4. Breaking The News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy by James Fallows. This is not a new book; it was first published in 1996. Some of its stories are dated, but this doesn't make them less true nor does it mean that the book is not as relevant as it was when first written. For instance, the author explains why many Americans mistrusts the news media. Sound familiar? He also discusses how the media does not report the news, they make the news. They have the power to ignore the stories they do not want to report which means for many Americans those events never happened. They have the power to twist stories to suit their political views. One of the remarkable things I found when reading the book was how virtually every political analyst and prominent columnist declared Bill Clinton's run for the presidency was dead after various controversies occurred during that race. In many cases, it was the same people who were certain that Donald Trump's campaign was doomed and he had no chance of being elected. And they are still working and earning big paychecks. Reading this book will impact the way you watch the news.
3. There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind by Antony Flew. For over 50 years the author was a committed atheist and philosopher professor who wrote over thirty books, many of which promoted his arguments against the existence of God. However, he always worked by the philosophy that he would follow the argument wherever it lead. In 2004 he shocked the world by announcing that he now believed in the existence of God. The atheist world was stunned that they had lost one of their leading defenders of atheism. In this book he explains the four lines of evidence that convinced him that there is a God. It is a fascinating read.
2. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul by J. P. Moreland. The author is one of the leading Christian philosophers in America today, and I've tried to read one of his books each year for the past several years. One of the criticisms of Christians is that many have not thought deeply about what they believe, and as a result their faith has remained shallow. Some in the church world have actually promoted an anti-intellectualism mindset. How this squares with the biblical mandate to make disciples is not clear to me as part of discipleship is having a good understanding of what we believe. As a result of this mindset many have lost the ability to think as Christians about the issues facing our world today. Moreland challenges us to use our minds, our ability to reason and logic to grow individually as Christians and to better evangelize, worship and defend our faith. I found this book to be an excellent resource as one can tell from all the markings in it.
1. Last Call for Liberty: How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat by Os Guinness. I consider this to be one of the most important books I've ever read and one that should be required reading for every high school student. It would be a great text book for a civics class, but of course that is no longer taught in our schools anymore. The author points out that how one defines freedom is critical. In the past freedom included accountability and responsibility for one another. Today, many define freedom as the right to do whatever they want without regards for anyone else. As the author explains, such an understanding of freedom will result in "the destruction of freedom in the name of freedom." Guinness makes it clear that our freedoms came from a Jewish and Christian understanding of covenant and creation, and the solution out of our present crisis is to return to the values that come from that understanding. This is a powerful book filled with insights every American needs to understand.
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