Above All Earthly Pow'rs

The deflation of the Enlightenment worldview and rise of the post-modern mood over the last decades has altered the relation of Christian faith to culture. How, in this new situation, should the church confess Christ? "Above All Earthly Powers" paints a picture of the West in all its complexity, brilliance, and emptiness. As David F. Wells masterfully depicts it, the postmodern ethos is relativistic, individualistic, therapeutic, and yet remarkably spiritual. By placing a premium on marketing rather than truth, the evangelical church is in danger of selling authentic engagement with culture for worldly success. Christians need to confess Christ as the center in a society lacking a center, as the sovereign in a world seemingly ruled by chance, and as the one who can give meaning in a nihilistic culture. "Above All Earthly Powers" issues a prophetic call to the evangelical church that it cannot afford to ignore.

David F. Wells is the Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and an ordained Congregational minister

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The Front Lines	p. 5
Christ and Context	p. 6
Miracles of Modern Splendor	p. 13
Outside In, Inside Out	p. 17
The Heretical Persuasion	p. 25
The Modern Revolution	p. 31
Gone with the Wind	p. 33
Hollow Chests	p. 48
Miracles of (Human) Power	p. 52
Postmodern Rebellion	p. 60
The Withering of the Enlightenment Soul	p. 62
Modernity to Postmodernity	p. 62
The Postmodern Outlooks	p. 67
No (Comprehensive) Worldview	p. 74
On Having a Worldview	p. 74
Consumer Culture/Postmodern Culture	p. 75
The Way Things Were	p. 79
No Truth	p. 84
No Purpose	p. 88
Migrations, the Banquet of Religion, and Pastiche Spirituality	p. 91
Pizza, Bagels, and Fish on Fridays	p. 96
Enchiladas, Chow Mein, and Soul Food	p. 104
The New Spiritual Quest	p. 109
The Third Stream	p. 109
The House or the Journey?	p. 119
Christ in a Spiritual World	p. 125
The New Spiritual Yearning	p. 127
An Ancient Spirituality	p. 136
A Spirituality of Postmodernity	p. 145
The Empty Landscape	p. 146
"My Own Little Voice"	p. 149
It's About Me	p. 152
Confrontation, Not Tactics	p. 155
Fragmented, Not Innocent	p. 164
Public, Not Private	p. 168
Personal, Not Impersonal	p. 175
Christ in a Meaningless World	p. 177
The Culture of Nothingness	p. 178
Bewilderment	p. 178
The Black Hole	p. 181
Suicide to Snickers	p. 184
Fear, Anxiety, and Dread	p. 188
When the Future Dies	p. 191
This Side of the Sun	p. 194
God Whispers in the Night	p. 199
God Reaches Down	p. 203
The Presence of Eternity	p. 203
Majestic Condescension	p. 212
Grace Triumphant	p. 218
Christ in a Decentered World	p. 233
An Open Future	p. 234
From Experience to Philosophy	p. 234
From Freedom to Danger	p. 238
From Providence to Bad Luck	p. 240
An Open Theology	p. 242
Libertarian and Autonomous	p. 248
Autonomous and Decentered	p. 249
Christ the Center	p. 251
Creation's Center	p. 251
The Church's Center	p. 258
Megachurches, Paradigm Shifts, and the New Spiritual Quest	p. 263
Why Do Church Differently?	p. 268
The New Seeker	p. 269
Evangelicalism Falters	p. 269
The New Marketplace	p. 270
The New Social Environment	p. 274
Old Fears	p. 277
Business as Usual	p. 283
Growing the Church	p. 288
Gated (Spiritual) Communities	p. 288
No Entry	p. 292
Birds of a Feather	p. 293
Selling the Faith	p. 297
The Day of New Beginnings	p. 310
God's Open Door	p. 311
The Call to Authenticity	p. 314
Bibliography	p. 318
Index	p. 335
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Above All Earthly Pow'rs

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