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The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World | 
 enlarge | Author: David Wells
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 11713
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 253
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0802840078
Dewey Decimal Number: 230.4
EAN: 9780802840073
ASIN: 0802840078
Publication Date: April 2008
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity November 12, 2008
: This is the subtitle to a book titled The Decline of African American Theology. I feel a more apt title for this book would be The Evangelical Church From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity. This book is about social science: sort of social psychology. How has the American Culture corrupt the Evangelical Church? In an attempt to become seeker friendly the church, its elders and the minister now serve the parishner not God. Theology is the study of God. To emphasize doctrine and God center worship is the reason believers used to come together on Sunday. Now the emphasis is to entertain and to get people to join. Those who claim to evangelical have less knowledge about the Bible and traditional Christian doctrine. Its membership now reflects more society and its postmodern worldview.
More and more churches are market driven not God driven. How to bring in more unbelievers and make the service more acceptable to them? Words and style of prayer should not put off the seeker. Style of music should be familiar. Lyrics should not put people off. Worship should be enjoyable. What should be taught is what people want to hear and be constructive to their daily lives. Christianity is for sale. Truth is for sale. David H. Wells investigates what is accepted as Truth and what the Bible teaches as truth. Perspective about God, perspective about the self, perspective about Jesus Christ, and the perspective of the Church have all changed. The reason of gathering in a place of worship has changed. To whom they gather is not as clear and for what reason is not as clear either.
I agree with the conclusions of the author. I did not find the writing lucid or interesting.
A Stinging Critique of Contemporary Evangelicalism October 19, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In his newest book, The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008), David Wells launches a stinging critique of contemporary evangelicalism, particularly in its market-driven and Emerging forms. Bundling together the insights from his previous books, Wells advocates a return to doctrinal fidelity and a renewed trust in Scriptural authority.
David Wells reminds me of a curmudgeonly grandfather - a man full of wisdom who is also highly opinionated. The Courage to Be Protestant contains piercing insights into the problems of today's evangelical movement along with a good dose of "attitude" that keeps the book entertaining. (Take for example Wells' description of the hip-hop culture "set apart by their getups, their tattoos, their piercings, jewelry, hoodies, off-kilter baseball caps, and pants that look like they were made by a drunken tailor." [15])
Wells is at his best when offering insight into why our culture is going through its contemporary turmoil. He rightly notices how our terminology has shifted (for example, we no longer look at lost people as "unconverted" but as merely "unchurched" [45].) He sees through the market-driven mentality of many churches, where "the benefits of believing [Christianity] are marketed, not the truth from which the benefits derive. (53)"
Wells' chapter on God is terrific. He writes: "Culture does not give the church its agenda. All it gives the church is its context. The church's belief and mission come from the Word of God." (98) He argues that we have lost our center, and this because we have lost the God that is outside of ourselves. We have misunderstood God's nearness and immanence as if he were inside us. The truth of the God that stands outside of us is what gives us the Law, defines sin, and makes the cross necessary. Here, Wells calls us to recover God's transcendence.
In later chapters, he makes his case for the public nature of Christian truth claims. Particularly insightful is the way that Wells shows how many Christians have become both secular and spiritual. "Secularization does not mean that all religion and spirituality must wither away. It simply means that all religion and spirituality need to be kept private." (187) Wells articulates a robust understanding of the penal substitutionary atonement, and yet he nuances it in all the right places. For instance, he believes we should make the distinction that Christ took upon himself the penalty of our sin, not that he was punished for sin. (201). In other words, God condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus; God did not condemn Jesus.
Yet The Courage to Be Protestant has several problems. Wells puts too much stock in surveys and polls. For example, he worries that only 32 percent of evangelicals believe in absolutes (93). I cannot help but wonder if most evangelicals even speak in these categories enough to be able to answer such a survey question accurately.
Other times, he makes sweeping generalizations without the documentation to back up his point. For example, he argues (without any documentation) that the overwhelming majority of evangelical pastors have become seeker-sensitive (44). A brief glance at the layout of the large number of smaller, rural evangelical churches might change that perception.
Or take his common refrain that Americans are "spiritual, but not religious" (60, 185). Researchers are beginning to see how this generalization is not only undocumented, but simply untrue. (See Robert Wuthnow's After the Baby Boomers for some surprising statistics.)
Throughout the book, Wells advocates a return to the doctrinal convictions of previous eras, but he sometimes conflates doctrinal conviction with the re-adoption of certain forms and traditions not specifically prescribed in Scripture. In a terrific chapter that takes the evangelical church to task for making Christianity "for sale" through the embrace of a market mentality, Wells shows how consumerism has changed American evangelicalism. But the chapter is marred by his lament over the contemporary preacher who sits on a barstool (which replaced the Plexiglas stand, which earlier replaced the pulpit). Wells seems to think the pulpit is the most sacred place for a pastor to stand (29). The absence of pulpits might indeed be due to the market mentality of some mega-churches, but surely the answer to our consumerism is not merely returning to the pulpit!
Other problems surface in some of Wells' contradictions. For example, on page 80, he argues that "Scripture is... the truth. Scripture is not only a measure, not only a standard, but is also truth." Two pages later, he distinguishes between Jesus and Scripture by saying "Scripture is true, but he is the truth." And then, "...only of Christ can it be said that he is the truth." Without further elaboration, the reader is left wondering what the relationship between Jesus and the Bible might be.
The Courage to Be Protestant is a book that should be read and digested by evangelical leaders today. Most of Wells' analysis is correct. He puts his finger on many of the foundational problems that are corroding our evangelical identity. Though his tone is often pessimistic and he offers little evidence or hope for a resurgence of biblical orthodoxy, Wells' counsel and instruction are worthy of receiving and hearing. Readers may disagree at times with the "grumpy Grandpa," but I, for one, am glad that the wise curmudgeon had the courage to write such a book.
Accurate but depressing October 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When a friend is out on the street doing something silly and embarassing themselves what do you do? Do you remain silent hoping they will stop or do you say something? This is exactly the dillema faced by David Wells when He wrote "The Courage to be Protestant". I must admit that I read books about the Church & Culture with a healthy dose of skepticism. The Church faces a barrage of criticism from outsiders. Critiquing the Church is as easy as shooting fish in a barrell. There are always problems to be addressed. Sometimes I think the critics are majoring on minors.
Wells picks on two strands of the "evangelical" church today, Seeker Sensitive and the Emergent Church. Having come from a Seeker Sensitive Church myself I have experienced much of what Wells talks about. Very early in the book he makes a very wise statement, "It takes no courage to sign up as a Protestant today...but to live by historical tennets of protestants takes courage." Historically speaking the protestant movement was founded on the five solas.
But lets face it, much of what we call Church today is entertainment. Seeker sensitive churches view Church goers as customers. They have to make sure their customers are always happy otherwise they may leave and that is a fate worse than death for the pastor. The Church becomes like any other business which seeks to draw in new customers and retain existing ones. So we have laser light shows, catchy music, and motivational speeches inplace of sermons. Marketing strategies to increase Church growth trump Biblical literacy. Emergent Churches pick and chose their doctrines as if the Bible is a buffet lunch. The post modern attitude means that no one doctrine or belief applies to all, but is all about what it means to the individual. Wells does a great job of summing up the culture of these two movements, and while you may find his treatment heavy handed at times, we can't argue with the facts. Biblical illiteracy is rampant amongst church goers. Many churches have resorted to "therapy" rather than theology. We're all about making ourselves feel better. In doing that we lost our voice. We became Churches that spoke to ourselves and not the wider world. When we remove the central tennets of the Gospel, everything else crumbles.
From my personal experiences within the seeker sensitive movement I can say that doctrine is ignored to a large degree. In fact there is very little Christ preached in sermons. The Church I went to was huge and spent most of its time talking about tithing, and the new building it was planning. I went there for over two years and heard very little of Grace, or Jesus except on Easter and Christmas. It was the general thought that if we get people to the Church, they enjoy the culture and make some good friends, they would absorb the gospel by osmosis. The idea driving it was that people werent really "unsaved" they were just "unchurched". Without a solid understanding of Sin and the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, many of these churches are fully Pelagian in their "doctrine". I myself had no solid understanding of the gospel as a committed Christian who read my Bible often. Finally things changed when I left and attended some free lectures on theology. Joining a normal Church again helped too. I was opened to a whole world outside of that madness I was in. Bottom line is that people don't want to be treated like idiots, or pandered to. Like me they actually want answers. Many people have legitimate concerns and questions that are not being addressed by the Church.
The mood is changing. People are fed up with candy floss diets and long for the spiritual meat of the word. Christianity today reported that many young people are returning to Biblical Christianity, and more specifically Calvinism. Churches are teaching doctrines on Sundays, and others are doing systematic theology classes with their youth groups. People do seem to enjoy those answers don't they? I am grateful that my pastor shares the same sentiments as me. Recently we had a seminar series on Postmodernism and The Trinity. We also have expository preaching on books of the Bible. We started with Hebrews and are now onto Mark. It's spiritual meat, and it is helping to grow mature, solid believers, with a Christian worldview. But it takes time and effort. Its not therapy, or entertainment, but it does give us something to say to the world that is struggling to find any meaning. We have the best news to give the world, and dumbing it down or diluting it does not work. George Barna and Bill Hybels have both admited that their movements are not creating disciples, its just filling seats in an auditorium.
I should probably say here that I care deeply for the Church and long to see its participants grow and mature in the love of Jesus. I'm not one to slander the Church. It is after all an imperfect organisation and always will be until Christ returns. Anyone can pick on the Church, even those on the inside. The Church is great at shooting its wounded. I think it takes courage to live by historical protestant tennets. But it also takes more courage to love our brothers and sisters who have gone astray. In doing this we not only return to historic definitions of Grace, Love and Truth, but we model them to others. I think much of this message was missing from Wells' book. He was great at dianosing the problem but gave very little in the way of a solution. Its at this time that we're struck with the words of G.K. Chesterton, "The Reformer is often right about what is wrong, but not about what is right".
Wells offers hope August 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone who has a love for the truth of God's Word and that the Church would actually exist as the Bibles teaches should read this book. It's easy to neglect the foundations of our faith will all the comercialism and marketing we see every day. David Wells has a remedy. A much needed review of modern day so-called evangelicalism. The only problem I have is no foot-notes to look up sources and quotes and to do further study. If you want a book that is accurate and not over complicated then this is for you.
 A must read for serious Christians July 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
You must read this book if you desire to understand why Christian churches are heading off in so many bad directions. Read this especially if you are grieved over the decisions your own church leadership is making.
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