Total Truth Book Study

Resources

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Introductory Comment

As part of Nancy Pearcey's premise for writing this excellent book, she included this quote by Francis Schaeffer:

"Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital 'T.' Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning Total reality--and the intellectual holding of that total Truth and then living in the light of that Truth."

In my personal experience, I have rubbed shoulders with Christians in all walks of life, including Bible College and Seminary settings. When I first read this brief quotation at the outset of her book, I was struck with its veracity. I have always felt that perhaps the greatest thing I might be privileged to accomplish in the lives of students was to get them to think for themselves; to examine God's Truth on the level of Total Reality rather than learning how to parrot the current 'party line' put out by religious leaders.

While this book is certainly not going to resonate with every Christian, I am confident that those that examine it are going to find much in it that will undergird and strengthen their faith. Just keep in mind that Nancy's style often seems a bit like an extended college course on her subject. Don't necessarily try to "get" everything she is saying. Be content to continue on, looking for important aspects of Truth that you have never really considered enough previously.

Introduction: Section 1

This is a brief introduction to the significance of the secular/sacred divide that is often so prevalent even among Christians.

(All underlining is mine for emphasis)

"Today the cage is our accommodation to the secular/sacred split that reduces Christianity to a matter of private personal belief." [pp.17-18]

Nancy's entire first section is given over to a thorough discussion of the consequences we face because of our staying too quiet about the widely-accepted perspective that in life there is "the sacred" and "the secular." Much of what we are encountering in our present-day American culture [gender politics, evolution, "trust the science," virulent race theory and ultra-feminism…to name a few things] really arises from our acquiescence to the cultural demand to keep "religious thinking" out of the discussion. We have been too content with the lullaby of church life, and have therefore not been "valiant for the Truth" in our interactions with the culture as long as it is stuff we see on the "news" and doesn't really upset our personal applecart.

Introduction: Section 2: Politics is Not Enough

Nancy's contention is clear in this section, and might be seen best in her words:

"...after the Scopes trial [famous trial also known as the Monkey Trial] and the rise of theological modernism, religious conservatives turned in on themselves: They circled the wagons, developed a fortress mentality, and championed 'separatism' as a positive strategy." [p.18]

She identifies the rise of the neo-evangelicals which broke conservative Christianity into two groups:

neo-evangelicals - those that saw the need for Christians to remain in touch with the culture
fundamentalists - those that held the fortress mentality

Personal experience has shown both groups encouraged their adherents to 'get involved politically'. A strongly fundamentalist seminary in Virginia Beach assigned their students to get involved politically, either by working at the polls or by writing op-eds to our local newspapers. What's probably Nancy's strongest argument regarding such political involvement genuinely affecting culture is the quote she included by Bill Wichterman:

"…politics is downstream from culture, not the other way around. Real change has to start with the culture." [bottom p.18]

What this means is simply affecting politics includes absolutely no guarantees that the culture will be affected. Going the route of political involvement is NOT the way for Christians to genuinely impact the world they are compelled to live in. It is going to take a lot more than political activism.

Introduction: Section 3: Losing Our Children

Here are the main impactful points Nancy made in this section as to how children are being separated from religion in schools:

"At a Christian high school, a theology teacher strode to the front of the classroom, where he drew a heart on one side of the blackboard and a brain on the other. The two are divided as the two sides of the blackboard. He told the class: The heart is what we use for religion, while the brain is what we use for science." [p. 19]

"...the story was told by a young woman who was in the class that day...out of some two hundred students, she was the only one who objected. The rest apparently found nothing unusual about restricting religion to the domain of the "heart"." [p. 19]

At the bottom of this page, she writes:

"Training young people to develop a Christian mind is no longer an option; it is part of their necessary survival equipment."

She continued into the next section:

"The first step in forming a Christian worldview is to overcome this sharp divide between "heart" and "brain." We have to reject the division of life into a sacred realm, limited to things like worship and personal morality, over against a secular realm that includes science, politics, economics, and the rest of the public arena. This dichotomy in our own minds is the greatest barrier to liberating the power of the gospel across the whole of culture today." [p. 20]

Introduction: Section 4: Heart Versus Brain

In this section, Nancy identifies the underlying danger of acquiescing to society's "dichotomization" of life into public and private spheres.

"Modern societies are sharply divided:

PRIVATE SPHERE

Personal Preference

PUBLIC SPHERE

Scientific Knowledge

"Religion (according to this false split) is not considered an objective truth to which we submit, but only a matter of personal taste which we choose." [p.20]

She goes on to say:

"As Schaeffer explains, the concept of truth itself has been divided-a process he illustrates with the imagery of a two-story building: In the lower story are science and reason, which are considered public truth, binding on everyone. Over against it is an upper story of non-cognitive experience, which is the locus of personal meaning. This is the realm of of private truth, where we hear people say, 'That may be true for you but it's not true for me.'"

The rest of her discussion in this section identifies this contention as "the most potent weapon for delegitimizing the biblical perspective in the public square today."

Introduction: Section 5: Just a Power Grab?

"It's crucial for us to realize that non-believers are constantly filtering what we [Christians] say through a mental fact/value grid. For example, when we state a position on an issue like abortion or bioethics or homosexuality, we intend to assert an objective moral truth important to the health of society—but they think we're merely expressing our subjective bias." [p.22]

Here we see Nancy gives an example of how this affects public discourse, and undermines the Christian claim of holding to total Truth:

"To give just one recent example, in the debate over embryonic stem cell research, actor Christopher Reeve [Superman from years ago] told a student group at Yale University, 'When matters of public policy are debated, no religions should have a seat at the table.'"

If the "Christian Right" jumps into the public discussion, it is just a "power grab." Acquiescing to this kind of thinking has marginalized the power of Total Truth.

(Note: It is encouraged to read through Section 6: Mental Maps on your own as there is no need for elucidation on that section.)

Introduction: Section 7: Not Just Academic

Her second and third paragraphs here need no comment, other than, "Amen!"

"Genuine worldview thinking is far more than a mental strategy or a new spin on current events. At the core, it is a deepening of our spiritual character and the character of our lives. It begins with the submission of our minds to the Lord of the Universe—a willingness to be taught by Him. The driving force in worldview studies [for the Christian] should be a commitment to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.'

That's why the crucial condition for intellectual growth is spiritual growth, asking God for the grace to 'take every thought captive to Christ' (2 Cor. 10:5). God is not just the Savior of souls, He is also the Lord of creation. One way we acknowledge His Lordship is by interpreting every aspect of creation in the light of His truth. God's Word becomes a set of glasses offering a new perspective on all our thoughts and actions."

This is the essence of the name of our website: alltruthgodstruth.org!