Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times by Os Guinness; a Review
Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However
Dark the Times
Os Guinness
InterVarsity Press
PO Box
1400
Downers Grove, IL 60515
ISBN:
978-0-8308-3671-0; $16.00; July 2014
4 Stars out of 5
Re-ignited Resolution
Some years back a
fellow church leader quipped to me, “It feels like we are standing alone facing
a spiritual tsunami!” It was a poignant statement, since it was just after the December
2004 tidal wave that hit Malaysia. His point was made. In the Christian Church
in North America and throughout the West, on the left and the right, amongst
progressives and pedants, it appears that more and more churches, ecclesiastical
leaders and denominations have slipped their dock lines and drifted away from
their moorings. On top of this, the social and political temperature has become
increasingly frigid toward Christianity and Christian mores; with civil leaders,
educators, mass media and health professionals progressively throwing overboard
anything that smells restrictive and chauvinistic. Who is to blame? How could
these things have happened? Is there a way to “wake up, and strengthen what
remains and is about to die” (Revelation 3.2)? Os Guinness (D.Phil., Oxford),
prolific author or editor of more than thirty books, frequent speaker and
prominent social critic, a founder of the Trinity Forum, onetime visiting
fellow at the Brookings Institution and guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center
for International Studies, looks to answer these questions and more in his new,
192 page, paperback, “Renaissance: The
Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times”. Guinness writes from within
the Evangelical arm of the Church, and for her renewed well-being.
“Renaissance” moves along in six chapters and
a postscript. Each chapter can stand alone by itself, but also works well with the
succeeding ones. Guinness’s core theme
is simple, straightforward and promising, “Let there be no wavering in our
answer. Such is the truth and power of the gospel that the church can be
revived, reformed and restored to be a renewing power in the world again. There
is no question that the good news of Jesus has effected powerful personal and
cultural change in the past. There is no question too that it is still doing so
in many parts of the world today. By God’s grace it will do so again even here
in the heart of the advanced modern world where the Christian church is presently
in sorry disarray” (14). The whole work is given over to supporting this bold claim,
as well as proposing the steps necessary to bring it about. But those suggestive
steps have far less to do with technique or technicalities, methods or maneuvers,
and more to do with the biblical message of returning to the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. “Renaissance” is more a book of confessing our faults in
the bleak predicament of the West and the Church, re-igniting our allegiance to
Jesus Christ, and moving forward with courage and hope, no longer bowing before
the idols of prestige and prominence; “The time has come to trust God, move
out, sharing and demonstrating the good news, following his call and living out
our callings in every area of our lives, and then to leave the outcome to him”
(148).
Throughout this work, Guinness brings
historical and social insights to bear so that the reader may become more
discerning of how we got to this point, and why it all matters. Though he is
clear about the social pressures pushing hard against the Church, he is even
clearer on the many ways we (the Evangelicals to whom he is writing) have caved
in on ourselves long before those social pressures pushed! As the author states,
“Evangelicals little realize how much they have become the spiritual smiley
button of suburban America” (85).
The weakest part of “Renaissance” is the
final segment that explains and republishes “An Evangelical Manifesto”. The content is similar to what has already
been addressed in the book, showing obvious signs of Guinness’s influence on
its writing. It is worth reading and instructive, but it is longwinded and
lumbering.
One of the beautiful strengths of the book,
personally, is the well-written, heart-felt prayers that concludes the six
chapters and post script. Each prayer grows out of the chapter it is appended
to, guiding the reader to make the chapter’s content their own before the face
of God. I have been using some of these prayers in my personal devotions, and
think that they are definitely fitting in public worship.
“Renaissance” is a timely work written by a
perceptive author with a passionate heart for Christ’s Church, especially in
the West. This book is nicely set up with concluding questions at the end of
each chapter to guide congregational leaders and reading groups into fruitful discussions.
The importance of this book is such that I eagerly recommend readers dash out
and obtain immediately.
My thanks to IVP for the free copy of “Renaissance”
used for this review.
[Feel free to publish or post this review,
but as always, please give credit where credit is due. Mike]
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