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Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church

Michael Horton

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Horton Dismantles the Alternative Gospel 5 out of 5 stars.
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It is no small thing to take upon oneself the name Christian. Though it was first used as a form of derision when unbelievers mocked the "little Christs," the name was embraced by the earliest believers. The term, even when used mockingly, nicely encapsulated what they sought to do, namely, to imitate their Lord and Savior. Sadly, in the centuries since then, the word has become far too ambiguous and now refers to any number of faiths that, in one way or another, honor or respect Christ or that have some historical connection to his teachings. Amazingly, some of those called by the name of Christ actually deny him--perhaps not his existence but at least his uniqueness and his divinity. In Christless Christianity Michael Horton argues that such denial of Christ may not be too far from home. More and more evangelical churches, he says, are now essentially Christless. "Aside from the packaging, there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches today that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups." Many churches have tossed out Christ and continue on without him, sometimes not even realizing that he has been lost along the way.

This is not to say that American evangelicalism has already reached a point of no return or that every church has rejected Christ. "I am not arguing in this book that we have arrived at Christless Christianity," says Horton, "but that we are well on our way. ... My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for `relevant' quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped and trusted; Jesus Christ is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us; salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God's judgment by God himself; and the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug into for the power we need to be all that we can be." Jesus has become supplemental instead of instrumental to the church. As the church has focused on "deeds, not creeds" she has become increasingly irrelevant and unfaithful. Church has become just another area in which Americans can live out the American dream. "In my view, we are living out our creed, but that creed is closer to the American Dream than it is to the Christian faith. The claim I am laying out in this book is that the most dominant form of Christianity today reflects `a zeal for God' that is nevertheless without knowledge--particularly, as Paul himself specifies, the knowledge of God's justification of the wicked by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works."

Amazingly, it is not theological liberalism that has drawn the church away from her creed, away from her biblical foundation. Instead, it is a kind of unbearable lightness--a faith that eschews biblical theology in favor of whatever happens to be the flavor of the day. Says Horton, "My argument in this book is not that evangelicalism is becoming theologically liberal but that it is becoming theologically vacuous. ... We come to church, it seems, less to be transformed by the Good News than to celebrate our own transformation and to receive fresh marching orders for transforming ourselves and our world. ... Just as you don't really need Jesus Christ in order to have T-shirts and coffee mugs, it is unclear to me why he is necessary for most of the things I hear a lot of pastors and Christians talking about in church these days."

Horton offers a description of this brand of "Christianity" that pervades so much of the evangelical scene these days. Following sociologist Christian Smith, he calls it moralistic, therapeutic deism. It offers this kind of working theology: God created the world; God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions; The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself; God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when needed to resolve a problem; Good people go to heaven when they die. Pause to consider much of the teaching you might find on your television on a Sunday morning and you'll see how apt a description this is. Horton traces this through Finney, through modern day Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism and into the pulpits of Joel Osteen and other popular smooth talking preachers. He describes the kind of can-do spirit that allows such preachers to thrive. "When looking for ultimate answers, we turn within ourselves, trusting our own experience rather than looking outside ourselves to God's external Word." And here is where the Osteen's of the world are so skilled--they simply reflect and direct human wisdom back at humans all the while pretending as if they gleaned this wisdom from the Word of God. He shows that such preachers, while appearing to perhaps teach a kind of freedom from the law, actually do the opposite, burdening people with a new kind of legalism. "One could easily come away from this type of message concluding that we are not saved by Christ's objective work for us but by our subjective personal relationship with Jesus through a series of works that we perform to secure his favor and blessing. God has set up all of these laws, and now it's up to us to follow them so we can be blessed." This kind of Christianity makes God merely a means to an end rather than an end in and of himself.

In an insightful chapter discussing "how we turn good news into good advice," Horton shows how Christians are prone to turn indicatives into imperatives. In other words, we take a statement of fact and turn it into an exhortation. This, too, drives people to a form of legalism in which they are ultimately responsible for their own salvation and sanctification, even without understanding or embracing the gospel message. "Across the board in contemporary American Christianity, that basic message seems to be some form of law (do this) without gospel (this is what has been done)." He deals well here with the constant exhortations in the church today to "be the gospel," amazed at the hubris of such a statement. "[Unbelievers] may not like our message anyway, but at least they might be relieved that we have stopped holding ourselves up as the way, the truth, and the life. If the message the church proclaims makes sense without conversion, if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time so that they too need to die more to themselves and live more to Christ, then it is not the gospel." St. Francis' exhortation to "Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary use words" has never offended a soul.

Final chapters look to "your own personal Jesus" and the resurgence of Gnosticism and to "delivering Christ," examining the relationship between the message and the medium. Horton notes that men like Barna and so many others are advocating a wholesale abandonment of the institutional church. "Instead of churching the unchurched," he laments, "we are well on our way to even unchurching the churched." Here he speaks of the critical importance of the local church and says "the faithful ministry of Word, sacrament, and discipline is the mission" of the church. "A genuinely evangelical church will be an evangelistic church: a place where the gospel is delivered through Word and sacrament and a people who witness to it in the world." He calls for the church to narrow its commission from fixing all of the world's ills to simply returning to the basics. "The church as people--scattered as salt and light through the week--has many different callings, but the church as place (gathered publicly by God's summons each Lord's Day) has one calling: to deliver (and receive) Christ through preaching and sacrament." Of course Christians, the church as people, should pursue justice and peace, but this ought to be done through common grace institutions along side non-Christians rather than through the church as a place. The church needs to mind its own business and get its own house in order.

In the final chapter, Horton calls for resistance. "What is called for in these days, as in any other time, is a church that is a genuine covenantal community defined by the gospel rather than a service provider defined by laws of the market, political ideologies, ethnic distinctives, or other alternatives to the catholic community that the Father is creating by his Spirit in his Son. For this, we need nothing less than a new Christian where the only demographic that matters is in Christ."

Through all of this I'd suggest the most important statement in the book may just be this: "It is not heresy as much as silliness that is killing us softly." This is where the book may be most useful for the conservative Christians who are the audience most likely to read it. All of us can fall into silliness without tossing aside the gospel. We can hold fast to Christian theology, even while allowing silliness and levity to pervade the very fabric of our church. A once-serious institution can become overrun by programs and purposes that slowly erode the gravity and simplicity of the church's unique calling. This book is a call for the church to return to its biblical foundations and to remain true to those convictions. It is a clarion call and one that Christians would do well to heed. Christless Christianity is an excellent and timely book and one I would not hesitate to recommend to any Christian.

Editorial Review:

Is it possible that we have left Christ out of Christianity? Is the faith and practice of American Christians today more American than Christian? These are the provocative questions Michael Horton addresses in this thoughtful, insightful book. He argues that while we invoke the name of Christ, too often Christ and the Christ-centered gospel are pushed aside. The result is a message and a faith that are, in Horton's words, "trivial, sentimental, affirming, and irrelevant." This alternative "gospel" is a message of moralism, personal comfort, self-help, self-improvement, and individualistic religion. It trivializes God, making him a means to our selfish ends. Horton skillfully diagnoses the problem and points to the solution: a return to the unadulterated gospel of salvation.

Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2009 (Sacred Space)

Ave Maria Press

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sacred space 5 out of 5 stars.
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Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2009 (Sacred Space)

this is a wonderful book will really help me in the year ahead

Sacred Space Meditation book 5 out of 5 stars.
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After using the Irish Sacred Space meditations on line, this book, SACRED SPACE, The Prayer Book 2009, enables me to enter into Jesuit-centered prayerfulness at the same time each day. The Gospel scenario is presented, followed by thoughts that I can personalize for my day. I wish I had known about these books before this year.

Shirley Johnsrud
Soldotna, AK

Editorial Review:

The simple, time-honored method of prayer based on scripture presented in Sacred Space has become a worldwide phenomenon. This entirely new edition provides readings and prayer starters for every day of the year.

Now in its fifth year, the best-selling Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2009 offers busy Christians an aid to daily prayer and meditation that is both nourishing and well-suited to the fast-paced life of busy people. Offering daily meditations in the Jesuit tradition, Sacred Space is scriptural, down to earth, and filled with solid Ignatian insights. Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2009 is sure to help anyone with a hectic life make their workplace, school, or home a sacred place to stay in communication―and communion―with God!

The Apostles

Pope Benedict XVI

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Through the Apostles, we come to Jesus himself." -- Pope Benedict XVI

In this fascinating and inspirational journey with the chosen disciples of Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI demonstrates a profound, unbreakable continuity -- built upon the foundation of the Apostles and alive in the succession of the Apostles -- by which Christ is present today in His Church.

"At the start of the third millennium, my beloved predecessor John Paul II invited the Church to contemplate the Face of Christ (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 16 ff.). Continuing in the same direction, I would like to show in this book how it is precisely the light of that Face that is reflected on the face of the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 1), notwithstanding the limits and shadows of our fragile and sinful humanity. After Mary, a pure reflection of the light of Christ, it is from the Apostles, through their word and witness, that we receive the truth of Christ. Their mission is not isolated, however, but is situated wthin a mystery of communion that involves the entire People of God and is carried out in stages from the Old to the New Covenant." -- From The Apostles

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

Francis S. Collins

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Helpful for some Christians, but generally Unconvincing and Weak 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Language of God features the perspective of Francis Collins, a world leader in genetics and head of the Human Genome Project, on the issue of reconciling science and faith. Collins begins by explaining his own history: how he came to be interested in science, and especially how he came to confess faith in Christ after experiencing a very secular upbringing. Collins offers insights of what initially lead him to faith: patients in his medical profession asking him big, spiritual questions, and C.S. Lewis' description of the Moral Law, the dilemma regarding interpreting Jesus in his historical personage, and the innate desire in human beings that finds fulfillment only in God. Collins goes about defending these views of Lewis, and championing their logic and profundity.

The remainder of the book is Collins explaining how he personally is at peace with being both a scientist and a Christian. He goes at some length explaining what science has to say about God, describing some elements of design in the universe, and discussing the Big Bang. He also gives some evidence for macroevolution, all the while describing why the view of Young Earth Creationists regarding scientific interpretation of the world is deeply mistaken. Collins himself espouses the idea called "theistic evolution," a belief that God in his sovereign power guides evolution along, and that the natural laws are his tools. Though, Collins prefers to call this idea his coined term BioLogos. Collins even gives some of his own thoughts about how human beings could have evolved and at the same time be seen by Christians as being made in the image of God and gifted with soul. By the end of the book it is clearly seen that Collins believes that science is enhanced by a belief in God, and that science in no way threatens its Creator.

While reading this book, I found myself very disappointed, especially during the first half in which it seems as if Collins is trying to convince the reader that it is very rational to believe in God, and that there is evidence that is very defensible. Personally, I am under the philosophical (rather Kierkegaardian, to be more specific) conviction that faith in God is something that is inexplicable, and that there is no amount of evidence that should be able to move a person to faith. In other words, if faith is founded on evidence, and if it can be destroyed if incontrovertible evidence existed in opposition to it, then it never was faith to begin with! Faith is the persistent and hopeful belief in the absurd. It is quite silly especially to go about proving the existence of God from nature, because the existence of God is only important for us if we prove the existence of a God who cares about us and wants to communicate with us, and nature can never, in any circumstance prove such a "romantic" thing! And proving that there may have been a "designer" is irrelevant to our lives; the god postulated is absolute nothingness unless it is described by a theology that comes about only by faith! So therefore, the only way one can say something important about God is if the person already has some sort of descriptive or at least intuitive faith, so it is pointless to say anything about God from mere observations of the world.

I not only disagree with the intentions of Collins in the first half of the book; I also disagree with many of his arguments. The subtitle for the book "a scientist presents evidence for belief" is not fulfilled in the slightest. First of all, in his discussion of Agape being a stamp of the divine on humanity, he very flippantly dismisses all evolutionary theory on this matter. Sure, it may be a more difficult element to explain by evolution, but it is not impossible! Here Collins falls into the "god of the gaps" mode of thinking, though he argues against this mode later on. Indeed, natural selection can accomplish much diversity in form and function via direct and indirect means. It is not unfeasible to propose that caring for others and developing an ethics is a byproduct of the high cognitive and problem-solving abilities of humans evolving over time.

There are other problematic arguments that Collins makes. First, he is not a very good theologian, and has no education at all in metaphysics. He relies heavily on the works of C.S. Lewis, and C.S. Lewis never claimed to be more than a reflective, amateur theologian. The Moral Law is a heavily debated issue that the history of philosophy has struggled with since the ancients, and Collins not only seems to attribute it to Lewis, but describes it so simply with little rebuttal. Also, Collins affirms Lewis' argument from desire, which claims that we were meant for another world if we have a desire which something in this world cannot satisfy. The criticisms of this argument are huge, as the argument is not even considered a proof! Just because we desire something does not mean that something exists, and it is easy to see that such a desire (a byproduct of evolution perhaps) can easily lead to construction of God.

In addition, to put down the psychoanalytic idea that belief in God is just wish fulfillment, Collins asks, why would we want a God who curbs our freedom? Collins answer does not make sense metaphysically, as there is no freedom for mankind unless there are limits: Freedom would be meaningless and contentless without its contrary: limitation. Therefore, we would want there to be a God for meaning, so that we can be free. The psychoanalysts are not refuted.

By the end of the book, however, I did come to an appreciation of Collins' work. I think that while his book was not necessarily for me, it definitely could benefit a wide audience, most especially people of faith who fear science. The simple theology he uses, his congenial tone, and the clear conviction in his writing that what he believes is the most sensible and fruitful view of God and science is enough to get a more general audience to open up their minds a bit and become more informed concerning this age-old debate. Collins writes clearly with many personal anecdotes and reflections to keep the reader interested. He was also the man to do it: as both a Christian and leading scientist, he commands attention and respect from the general audience by default. He did a great job pointing out the types of questions science is supposed to ask, and the types of questions theology is supposed to ask, but then again, there are many books out there that say the same thing. I would not necessarily recommend this book to a scientist who has a repugnance for belief in God, as I think Collins does a meager job at building a straw man, but I would recommend it to someone who is struggling with how his or her faith can cope with scientific discovery.

So what do I think of this whole faith vs. science controversy? If it, by chance, has not shown through above, I believe that my faith has little bearing on the observations of scientific inquiry and vice-versa. I am very pleased with the idea that God created the world by whatever means he did, and that the natural laws, discoverable by science, are his movements. I do not believe that God had to ever use "supernatural" intervention, necessarily: even the resurrection of Christ from the dead could have been a "natural" law in a sense, but one that science has not been able to describe and predict! Genesis I interpret as a myth, but a quite important one that teaches us how we relate to God and He to us. I am content to know that my faith needs no evidence, and that science can never disprove God anyway. As for the raging controversy in the mainstream, however, I just encourage more respect, more books and more conversations that clear up the issues and use demystified language. Eventually, however, people will come around. They surely did about the Earth being round!

Editorial Review:

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists. He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and scripture.

Dr. Collins believes that faith in God and faith in science can coexist within a person and be harmonious. In The Language of God he makes his case for God and for science. He has heard every argument against faith from scientists, and he can refute them. He has also heard the needless rejection of scientific truths by some people of faith, and he can counter that, too. He explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes readers for a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry, and biology can all fit together with belief in God and the Bible. The Language of God is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of faith: Why are we here? How did we get here? What does life mean?

Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith

Scott Hahn

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This book unravels mysteries, corrects misunderstandings, and offers thoughtful, straightforward responses to common objections about the Catholic faith.

Bestselling author Scott Hahn, a convert to Catholicism, has experienced the doubts that so often drive discussions about God and the Church. In the years before his conversion, he was first a nonbeliever and then an anti-Catholic clergyman.

In REASONS TO BELIEVE, he explains the "how and why" of the Catholic faith—drawing from Scripture, his own struggles and those of other converts, as well as from everyday life and even natural science. Hahn shows that reason and revelation, nature and the supernatural, are not opposed to one another; rather they offer complementary evidence that God exists. But He doesn't merely exist. He is someone, and He has a personality, a personal style, that is discernible and knowable. Hahn leads readers to see that God created the universe with a purpose and a form—a form that can be found in the Book of Genesis and that is there when we view the natural world through a microscope, through a telescope, or through our contact lenses.

At the heart of the book is Hahn's examination of the ten "keys to the kingdom"—the characteristics of the Church clearly evident in the Scriptures. As the story of creation discloses, the world is a house that has a Father, a palace where the king is really present. God created the cosmos to be a kingdom, and that kingdom is the universal Church, fully revealed by Jesus Christ.

The Great Divorce

C. S. Lewis

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Total reviews: 220 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Outstanding book. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

CS Lewis great theologian or great Christian apologist as some would say was one heck of a writer.

The Great Divorce C.S Lewis good as a stand alone story or as a more deeper spiritual book. I continue to be blown away by how good C.S Lewis is one of those authors where sometimes you get the strangest sensation that he is actually speaking directly to you.

The Great Divorce serves to remind all of us that while sin does indeed have an eternal penalty the first commandment for all Christians is love.

Editorial Review:

The Great Divorce is C.S. Lewis's Divine Comedy: the narrator bears strong resemblance to Lewis (by way of Dante); his Virgil is the fantasy writer George MacDonald; and upon boarding a bus in a nondescript neighborhood, the narrator is taken to Heaven and Hell. The book's primary message is presented with almost oblique tidiness--"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'" However, the narrator's descriptions of sin and temptation will hit quite close to home for many readers. Lewis has a genius for describing the intricacies of vanity and self-deception, and this book is tremendously persistent in forcing its reader to consider the ultimate consequences of everyday pettiness. --Michael Joseph Gross

The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity

Lee Strobel

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Total reviews: 215 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Award-winning reporter and author Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) once again uses his investigative skills to address the primary objections to Christianity. As a former atheist, Strobel understands the rational resistance to faith. He even names the eight most convincing arguments against Christian faith:

1) If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?
2) If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they're true?
3) If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?
4) If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?
5) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?
6) If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?
7) If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
8) If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?

These are mighty tough questions, and Strobel fields them well. Rather than write a weighty dissertation about the merits of faith, he brings us along on his quest as we meet leaders in the Christian community, such as Peter Kreeft and William Lane Craig. We also encounter his everyday friends and acquaintances that serendipitously fill in the holes in each of the eight arguments against faith. The use of dialogue from personal interviews and a scene-by-scene active narrative makes this an easy and engaging read. However, easy does not mean breezy. This is a book of substance and merit, one that will help Christians defend their faith, especially during the hardest of times, when they have to defend their faith to themselves in moments of doubt. --Gail Hudson

The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God

Lee Strobel

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Total reviews: 215 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Are Christianity and science incompatible? If there is a God, is he only an impersonal starter force? An introductory high school biology class first propelled Lee Strobel toward a life of atheism. God and science, he reasoned, were mutually exclusive. When the former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune converted to Christianity, he decided to investigate the science he had once accepted as truth. Did science point toward or away from God? As Strobel interviews a variety of scientists on everything from debunking evolutionary icons to the implications of the Big Bang to the existence of the human soul, he builds his case: scientific evidence points toward Intelligent Design.

Although the discussion often veers into the academic, Strobel works hard to make it accessible to those without scientific training. Throughout the book, he salts interview transcript information with interesting personal stories of his own spiritual and scientific quest for knowledge, as well as sometimes over-detailed descriptions of the actual interviews (right down to the type of beverages consumed). Each chapter contains suggestions for further reading on particular issues of science and faith.

Strobel concludes that, when correctly interpreted, science and biblical teaching support each other. He quotes physicist Paul Davies, "…science offers a surer path to God than religion." Open-minded readers will find that this book, and its questions for reflection and group study, invites conversation and investigation.--Cindy Crosby

What's So Amazing About Grace?

Philip Yancey

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Editorial Review:

Mention the word "grace" and what immediately comes to mind for most of us is a bagpipe wailing the solemn notes of "Amazing Grace."

The grace of which Philip Yancey writes is the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God. This grace seems a remote, almost sentimental concept, without a place in our lives or our society. It is a vague, slippery thing to us, probably because we seem to experience grace so rarely and have managed to leech the word of meaning. But Philip Yancey has set about to rescue grace in his book What's So Amazing About Grace?

This grace is the true message of Jesus. All faiths have virtues and creeds and justice and truth, but Jesus speaks merely of receiving the love that God has for us. Accepting it, not earning it or making ourselves worthy of it. And frankly, accepting something we have not earned or are not worthy of is not an easy thing for most of us.

In truth, grace is both utterly simple and utterly confounding. Little by little, Yancey guides us into a clearer understanding of grace by using stories, in much the same way Jesus did. We read stories of both grace and ungrace at work in people's lives. Sadly, it is stories of ungrace that are more prevalent today, the current culture wars painful acknowledgments of ungrace in our lives as Christians in this country. Yancey helps us understand that ungrace is that state of being in which self-righteousness and pride are a result of thinking that we have somehow earned God's approval and may now stand in judgment in his behalf.

Philip Yancey was awarded the Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year award for this book in 1998 by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Readers concurred with this decision, making this book an immediate bestseller. Believers and nonbelievers alike should accept Yancey's challenge to become agents of grace rather than agents of vengeance or judgment or anger. In truth, we are each starving for grace, ready to grasp it tightly. And it is through grace that all other hungers--for justice, for righteousness, for love--are satisfied. Yancey opens his book by telling us that "grace" is the last best word, and in What's So Amazing About Grace?, he proves that he's right. --Patricia Klein

Who Stole My Church?: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century

Gordon MacDonald

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Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Nice Read 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The author of the book does a good job at highlighting the cultural shift that is taking place and how the older generations in the Church are reacting to it. This is not an academic piece. This narrative reads as a fictional account of a Church going through the changes that postmodernity has brought and asks itself how to deal with it. I found it valuable and a joy to read.

I can thoroughly recommend it!

Editorial Review:

Has your Church been Hijacked?

Millions of people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies feel their churches have been hijacked by church-growth movements characterized by loud praise bands, constant PowerPoint presentations, and cavernous megachurches devoid of any personal touch. They are bewildered by the changes, and are dropping out after thirty, forty, or fifty years in a congregation. It's a crisis!

In this fictional story, pastor and author Gordon MacDonald uses topical examples and all-too-familiar characters to reassure readers that it is possible to embrace change, and to demonstrate how that change can actually be a positive influence in their church. The church, he says, has always been in a state of change; it has been changing for the last two thousand years. It is time to embrace that change and use it further the Kingdom of God