Intro and Chapter 1

In the introduction, the author, Nancy Pearcey, spells out her approach to the topic of worldview. Part 1," What's in a Worldview?", focuses on the dichotomy of the secular/sacred. It also gives the reader the tools to begin forming a Biblically based worldview in any field. Part 2 "Starting At the Beginning" addresses Creation. The author promises a critique of Darwinian evolution. Part 3, "How We Lost Our Minds", looks at history to help us discover why evangelicals fall short of having a strong worldview. Part 4"What Next? Living It Out" examines the practical aspects of living our faith.

In chapter 1, "Breaking Out of the Grid", the author paints a bleak picture, which I think most of us will recognize. We live our lives in completely separate compartments--public and private. What we believe as moral and spiritual beings seems in our minds to have absolutely no connection to our public lives of work. We accept common approaches, beliefs etc. in our chosen fields without a second thought. Could the Bible have anything to say about our day to day lives, or is it impractical and outdated?

We are often intimidated into silence by the secularist's mantra that "this is the way every reasonable person thinks". I agree with the author's bold assertion that Christianity does have something important to say about every aspect of our lives. As Pearcey points out "The only self-existent reality is God, and everything else depends on Him for its origin and continued existence.".

She points out that every philosophy holds something divine. "For the materialist, the ultimate reality is matter, and eveyrthing is reduced to material constituents. For the pantheist, the ultimate reality is a spiritual force or substratum, and the goal of meditation is to reconnect with that spiritual oneness. For the doctrinaire Darwinist, bilogy is ultimate, and everything, even religion and morality, is reduced to a product of Darwinian processes. For the empiricist, all knowledge is traceable ultimately to sense data, and anything not known by sensation is neutral."

At the end of this chapter, the author asks "How can we recover the conviction that Christianity is not only religious truth but total truth?" Next time we'll look at chapter 2, "Rediscovering Joy".

Book Review

For the next 30 days I'll be reading and reviewing "Total Truth" by Nancy Pearcey for Mind and Media. The subtitle is "Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity". This is my first review for Mind and Media and I'm very excited about doing it. I hope it will be the first of many more. The book was a gift from Mind and Media in exchange for writing up the review.

Reflecting on my weekend

The last few weeks, my husband and I have been working in our yard planting some things. For the first time, I'm trying my hand at growing a few things from seeds--some flowers and a few herbs. Sometimes it's surprising to me how much I enjoy just being outside and fiddling around with our yard. It makes me think about the people at our church who have really green thumbs and grow beautiful gardens every year. It also reminds me of my father who passed away in 1994. He loved to grow things too. I wish I had taken the time to learn some things about it while he was still alive. Not so much for the actual knowledge, although that would be nice, but just to have the memory of learning from him.

Got an email last night from an old friend at a Mom's group I used to attend. They're having a retreat next month and wanted to invite me. The study is an excellent one that really helped my parenting skills. I hope I'll be able to go and maybe take a few ladies from church with me.

We had a children and youth council meeting after church yesterday. Somehow, it was disappointing to me. I wish we could dig deeper and focus on meeting the real needs of children and their families, not just keeping them (and us) busy with activities all the time. Maybe my expectations are too high.