Theo 525 Wells Book Critique - Rhodes

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

GOD IN THE WASTELAND

A BOOK REVIEW SUBMITTED TO DR. JOHN F. JONES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CLASS SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY I - THEO 525

LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY DAVID W. RHODES

FLORENCE, SC WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BRIEF

SUMMARY

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1 CRITICAL INTERACTION WITH THE AUTHOR’S WORK ------------------------------------

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CONCLUSION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6

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INTRODUCTION David Wells, professor of theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has provided students with theological critique of contemporary culture for over a decade. God in the Wasteland (1994) is the second book in a series which also includes No Place for Truth (1993), Losing our Virtue (1998) and Above All Earthly Powers (2006). All are centered on the loss of theological foundation in contemporary culture by investigating its historical, cultural, philosophical, and theological sources. Wells provides the cultural factors that have diminished the place and importance of our basic theology in the church. His analysis examines the collapse of theology in the church and in modern culture, raising profound questions about the future of conservative Protestant faith. Wells takes us through various steps of action that are required to reverse this collapse.

BRIEF SUMMARY Wells initializes his readers by describing an “accidental revolution” that fundamentally changed our world. This revolution, coupled with modernization, has brought about radical changes in every aspect of our political and economic external world with technology, capitalism, urbanization, and telecommunications. Our inner worlds have also seen unprecedented change with traditional values, expectations, and meanings. This revolution is in the profoundest sense spiritual. It is not just the outer fabric of our life, but rather the inner core of our being that has changed.1 What is most alarming is this change is driven by common, ordinary people that go quietly about their business in a very innocent manner.2 These very 1

David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994), 6. 2 Ibid., 7.

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people and the Christian faith in general should be the ones immune from the revolution, yet they are on the front lines; enablers of the change. In the midst of this “Cultural Revolution”, the Christian Church has lost its footing. Specifically, Wells contends, evangelicalism has lost its theological foundation, seeking "cultural acceptability by emptying itself of serious thought, serious theology, serious worship, and serious practice in the larger culture".3 The fundamental problem in the evangelical world finds the consequence of these compromises has been to render God inconsequential, in our lives. Wells further tells us, "Love of God and love of the world are in competition with each other, and we have to understand this competition in order to pinpoint how our love for God has dimmed as our love for the world has grown."4 Simply stated, the reason Christians are losing our souls is because we have lost God. We have not lost our belief in God, but simply He is no longer of consequence to our belief. Wells maintains the doctrine is believed, defended, affirmed liturgically, and in every other way to be inviolable—but it no longer has the power to shape and summon that it has had in previous ages". God has become immaterial or weightless as Wells tells us. 5 The specific reasons for this “weightlessness” are varied and complex, but in general can be summed up to show the church has lost transcendence truth and the goodness of God.6 Rejecting the worldly call to modernity, Wells insists we must recover a commitment to objective truth, rightly apprehending what's real. We must dive into deep waters to find truth. As P.T. Forsyth said, "The lazy cry of simplicity is a great danger".7 Finally, Wells offers us a simple directive for survival in this modern world by having a deep understanding of God's “otherness”. Specifically, "His transcendent holiness and 3

Ibid., 27. Ibid., 30. 5 Ibid., 88-89. 6 Ibid., 117. 7 Ibid., 118. 4

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knowledge enable us to stand outside the charms of modernity in order to act morally within it."8

CRITICAL INTERACTION WITH THE AUTHOR’S WORK Wells central theme in God in the Wasteland is very clear in that he objects to any homogenizing of the Christian faith with modern worldly culture. The Christian faith theme centers on the doctrine of God's transcendence and immanence and is approached from a Biblical perspective. Throughout the book, Wells pleads with his audience to return to basic Biblical truths and perspectives that have been “sold out” and tarnished by the worldliness that is modernity. Considerable time and attention is given to substantiating his position that modernity is the worldliness of present culture. Wells explains that "worldliness" is "the way in which our collective life in society (and the culture that goes with it) is organized around the self in substitution for God."9 Modernity and post-modernity are both "worldly" as they displace our theocentric knowledge with anthropocentric knowledge. This movement has largely made man “shallow” and drives us to fill the void of modernity by internal “self” means instead of theological means. This fundamental shift has created any interesting dynamic in that while we as a society have “more”, we have become “less”. 10 A prime example of this can be seen in today’s “modern methods” with the church marketing itself to consumers. These methods have dramatically changed the church’s ethos and structure of evangelism. The consequence of which has been that church growth is reduced to a matter of simply knowing how to market to the consumer. These non-Biblical, anthropocentric 8

Ibid., 151. Ibid., 40. 10 Robert K. Johnston, "God In the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth In a World of Fading Dreams," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 63 no 4 (Winter 1995): 874. 9

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methods lead to devastating effects on our understanding and experience of God.11 The church itself then becomes “worldly” as techniques and methods take priority over theology to become “successful” by today’s modern definition. This worldliness then separates us from God and we then position Him into the state Wells calls “weightlessness”. 12 The discussion and platform of weightlessness demonstrates this book is fundamentally theologically based and uses many aspects of systematic theology. One of the most important discussion topics concerns the subject of God's transcendent knowledge and holiness. He maintains that holiness is what fundamentally defines the character of God and that love is an expression of it. This is in opposition to the Christians of modernity who "seem to think that God is fundamentally if not exclusively love--and hence that talk of divine holiness is distracting or intrusive."13 Our modernistic society has too easily turned to a God of “love only”, eliminating God’s consequences for our sins. "Without this holiness of God, sin has no meaning and grace has no point, for it is God's holiness that gives to the one its definition and to the other its greatness."14 The reference to God’s transcendent knowledge is Scripture, the transcendent Word. In the modern Church, God’s word has become silent or worse, misused. Without the divine revelation of Scripture, we have little to no means of combating the shallowness that modernity ultimately brings. Society will not be released from the modern mind's "refusal to allow external reality to impose constraints on the knower” until we acknowledge God's transcendent knowledge. 15 Wells tells us that we must recover these two basic elements of God's transcendence—God’s holiness and God’s knowledge. Until the tables are reversed on these 11

Ibid., 61-62 Ibid., 89. 13 Ibid., 135. 14 Ibid., 144. 15 Ibid., 111. 12

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elements, we will continue to conform to the sinful nature of the modern world. "His transcendent holiness and knowledge enable us to stand outside the charms of modernity in order to act morally within it."16 Wells consistent and persistent solutions throughout the book point us to his ultimate goal of returning God and his Word to the epicenter of the Church and overall Christian life via classical Reformed evangelical theology.

CONCLUSION In this book, Wells provides the reader with ample evidence and illustration to grasp the seriousness of this dilemma that is so often overlooked and glossed over in our modern society. This book challenges one to think seriously about the issues and possible solutions available. The Church has clearly gone too far in compromising doctrine and objective truth to gain “market share” by the way of attendance. The Church finds itself in a culture that is now predominantly secular due to the use of these modern methods. Using even more modern methods will only compound the problem. Wells solution for prescribing a renewed appreciation for and actual application of God's holiness and the authority of his Word would appear to provide the best scenario for success. The evangelical community needs to give serious thought and direction as to how we put these solutions into practical application without further exacerbating the fundamental issue. In my opinion, a radical approach from a new breed of seminarians that put Biblical authority back into actual practice on a broad scale will be required to win the daunting war.

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Ibid., 151.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolt, John. "God In the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth In a World of Fading Dreams." Theology Today 52 no 4 (January 1996): 872-875.

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Johnston, Robert K. "God In the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth In a World of Fading Dreams." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 63 no 4 (Winter 1995): 540-546. Wells, David F. God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994. Zylstra, Carl E. "God in the wasteland: the reality of truth in a world of fading dreams." Homiletic 20, no. 2 (1995): 52-52.

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