Thinking Like a Christian: Understanding and Living a Biblical Worldview (Worldviews in Focus Series)

This book is thoroughly dishonest in it's scholarship, representation of opposing view points, and most unfortunately, it's treatment of Scripture. At no point does the author undertake a serious study of any given passage, but instead makes assertions then supported either by proof-texting or by an appeal to authority. This creates a system which in which the author claims he is genuinely pointing to the THE way of thinking as Christian without resting on the only authority which could substantiate such a claim - Scripture.

Perhaps most troubling is that, although the text routinely upholds Christ as the center of theology, philosophy and everything subsequent, Christ is not actually quoted in the text (I read through it and then searched specifically for red-letter kind of passages and found exactly none). Quotation about Christ is even extremely rare. Much of the thinking on ethics, politics, law, economics, etc. is routed in the quotation of Old Testament Scripture which has been decontextualized.

In one particularly troubling instance Lev. 19:15 is used to argue against any goverment-driven aid for the poor when just 2 chapters later the people of Israel are commanded to leave some crop in their fields for poor and immigrant people. Such fine-toothed proof-texting can't just be accidental. The ignoring of large chunks of Scripture and major themes of the covenantal relationship between Israel and God go completely ignored.

Ultimately this text is, as is the case with nearly every text on "world view," chiefly concerned with defending a world view, rather than forming or explaining one fairly. And so while no chapter addresses the church, there is an entire chapter on the Christian foundation of America. How the sprirituality of our nation is more important than the character of our covenant with God through Christ is beyond me.

Truly thinking like a Christian REQUIRES the examination of Christ, (from whom the word Christian - "little Chris" - derives it's nomenclature) a thorough study of Scriptures, and a leaving behind (in so much as we are able) the questions and biases of our day that would have us devote whole chapters to America's foundation, judicial activism, or free-market economics.

The text, designed from the outset to be a defense in Christian jargon of a very particular Christian political perspective, is a failure in what it hopes to do - equip students with a meaningful, world-ready, and foundational understanding of Christian belief and thought.