The Basic Theme of Living at the Crossroads - Book Report/Review Example

Living at the Crossroads- An Analysis Goheen and Bartholomew are world renowned theologians and first came into collaboration with their first venture, The Drama of Scripture. In writing Living at the Crossroads they aim “to seek to carry on in the worldview-conscious tradition of James Orr and Abraham Kuyper, whose aim was simply to shine the brightest possible light on the Christian church’s mission in the public life of culture” (p. XIII). Hence, we see that these theologians aim at presenting to us an in-depth cultural analysis accompanied by a world view information on the current position of Christendom. They want to show the Christians living at the crossroads of two cultures- postmodernism and scriptures that they can still merit from the teachings of the gospel and live a life of mercy and justice. This they want to achieve with the help of a small summary of the biblical tale accompanied by the basics of Scripture beliefs. The basic theme of Living at the Crossroads is about the Christians of today who find themselves at a crossroad that takes them into two opposite directions. These Christians are continually pulled in two different directions- one towards the biblical story that narrates the creation of the human beings, their fall and then their redemption according to the point of view of the Bible and the other towards the story of West and its narrative of modern and postmodern humanism. Both these directions have strong evidences to support themselves. The biblical story has the backing of religion and church to guide the human beings while the modernist story has the backing of science to validate its views. The biblical stories are as old as the religion itself and have been known into existence through ages. However, the modernist theory has been evolved through the past few years which seem to make the religion go into backdrop. The pulls are in opposite directions and enough to confuse the man. In fact, the pull of modernism is proving stronger than the pull of theology and making man forget about God. Hence Goheen and Bartholomew endeavour to work out a middle path that would help the individuals to embrace religion while following the dictates of the science. This would make the man seek an identity of itself in the new age and follow the path of the Lord. The book is basically aimed at laymen and undergraduates to make them aware of their true identity and help them stick to godliness and goodness of life while being a member of the postmodernist world. The book says that the church is the right medium to reach God. According to the writers “the mission of the church is to make known a comprehensive restoration” (p. 57). They further reinforce the words of the gospel that God intends to create his kingdom on this earth and have already initiated the process with the coming of Jesus. Now it is left to the mankind to help Him in making earth a worthy place to live in so that God’s work could speed up and the kingdom would be restored in its complete glory. However, the writers fail to include the passages containing St. Peter’s words that God would first destroy the universe in its present conditions and then reconstruct a new and perfect world. I think this is done purposefully so that the readers do not get scared by the negativity teachings and look towards the positive aspects of the Christian religion. The writers say that the church in its entity could not help in the creation of the God’s kingdom but with its rightful actions it can certainly help to increase its visibility. The writers rightfully gather that the students’ world is basically encapsulated by studies, scholarships, church, politics and economics. However, the students can look for religion and God even in these basic elements of their lives and reap joy from them. The post modernity period has created its own sets of laws and values that could misguide the youth. However, by following the teachings of gospel, the Christian youth can continue to be a model student and a stickler for truth and justice. The writers present the Gospel story in an interesting manner which will make the youth to instantly connect with it. The story presentation is not in the old and orthodox manner but they are offered with a modernistic perspective which would help the young generation to find an identity in it. The writers contribute a valuable segment of the book describing us the significance of worldview and the way it shapes the decisions of the individuals and conditions the total concept of their lives. According to the authors there are “four signs of the times:” 1) The rise of postmodernity, 2) consumerism and globalization, 3) the renascence of Christianity in the southern hemisphere, and 4) the resurgence of Islam (pp. 105-126). The authors teach us how to live in this postmodernist era imbibing the right blend of religion and modernism so that we can be at peace with ourselves. He asks us to look for God in all small things and to notice how they have been deformed by the hands of sin. "In whatever we examine critically we will discover something of Gods good creational structure and also evidence of how it has been deformed by sin. A faithful embodiment of the gospel in our own cultural settings demands that we discern between the creational structure and design in all things and the religious misdirection and rebellion that pervert Gods good world" (p. 136). However, on reading the Crossroads one gets an idea that the book is giving a message to the non-believer that if he faithfully follows al the steps suggested by Jesus for the creation of God’s kingdom then he would be called a true Christian. There is no message about how God intends to change the sinners and all. This is a small oversight and could have been rectified to make the book better in its perspective. The book, Living at the Crossroads, would continue to be of great value to all the teachers and students pursuing the worldview field of study. Work Cited Goheen M., Bartholomew C. (November 2008). Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview. Baker Read More