Book: The Disappearance of God
Author: Dr. R. Albert Mohler
Book Summary:
More faulty information about God swirls around us today than ever before. No wonder so many followers of Christ are unsure of what they really believe in the face of the new spiritual openness attempting to alter unchanging truth.
For centuries the church has taught and guarded the core Christian beliefs that make up the essential foundations of the faith. But in our postmodern age, sloppy teaching and outright lies create rampant confusion, and many Christians are free-falling for “feel-good” theology.
We need to know the truth to save ourselves from errors that will derail our faith.
As biblical scholar, author, and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, writes, “The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack.” With wit and wisdom he tackles the most important aspects of these modern issues:
Is God changing His mind about sin?
Why is hell off limits for many pastors?
What’s good or bad about the “dangerous” emergent movement?
Have Christians stopped seeing God as God?
Is the social justice movement misguided?
Could the role of beauty be critical to our theology?
Is liberal faith any less destructive than atheism?
Are churches pandering to their members to survive?
In the age-old battle to preserve the foundations of faith, it's up to a new generation to confront and disarm the contemporary shams and fight for the truth. Dr. Mohler provides the scriptural answers to show you how.
My Review:
My faith is simple. I can often see both sides of an argument and even though there is usually one side I support strongly, I do tend to try to be the peacemaker. So, why am I drawn to deeper looks at some of the most explosive issues that divide those who share my faith? Because I don't want to crush any growth that God's got in store for me or stifle any truth that God would want to give to me.
I've not read Albert Mohler before. The title, The Disappearance of God, intrigued me though the struggles within the Christian denominations and generations exhaust me. I tend to get frustrated when the biting and snarling ends up defeating the whole point of telling people that God so loved the world...because those who define Jesus by His followers don't really have an interest in what any of us are saying when we can't stop the snarking long enough to get it said. The fight within is not attractive in the least. And that is tragic.
However, being informed, defining beliefs, discussing the issues behind the issues make sense to me. Mohler, though a theologian with theological terms and teacher delivery, cuts through the issues and boils it down into a common sense opportunity to see the forest in spite of the trees.
Someone who hasn't spent time in church, or is clueless to what the word doctrine even means may struggle with wanting to go beyond the first few pages. But the rest of us who've been around for awhile, hung out at the doctrinal water cooler, kicked around the usual debates over baptism and eternal security could benefit from Mohler's cut to the issue teaching. Beginning with the idea of an emergency room triage team, Mohler divides the struggles within the Christian faith into those that are non-negotiable life and death, the category of dividing but not deadly, and then the minor irritations that may take nothing more than the balm of human respect to clear up.
If you are curious about the beliefs of the Emergent church, the God is ALL love teaching, the bottom line of who Jesus was and is, you could benefit quite a bit from picking up this information packed look at those questions and more. Mohler is respectful and generally quotes from published and public statements. You may not like what you read, may not agree, but Mohler goes on to recommend other books and quotes from many others.
Back to the emergency room analogy. I feel like Mohler checked my ears for wax and shined bright lights in my eyes and made sure all my senses were synchronized.
