No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?

Summary

No Place for Truth: Or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? is the first of David F. Wells’ books on the shift in Evangelicalism in the light of modern and postmodern thought (other books include God in the Wasteland, Losing our virtue and Above all Earthly Powers). Published in 1993 the book is powerfully prophetic concerning the direction of the Evangelical church over the past 25 years. Wells tracks historically the Church in North America (you might want to read this section quickly) and points out how it has moved from being rooted in theology to being rooted in our therapeutic culture. He also shows the power that the focus on individualism is having on our churches and our ministries. His call is for pastors and leaders to have a deeper sense of their calling to be pastor theologians who can face down a therapeutic and individualistic culture calling people to faithful discipleship.

As we seek to revitalize church the call to remain faithful to theology is important. If we grow churches but give up our foundations in Christ and the truth of the Scripture, we have gained little.

Two Takeaways

1. At times Wells feels a bit like a curmudgeon, but his writing powerfully shows us the direction of the Evangelical church and Evangelical Theology and what we are losing as we become more connected to culture that Scripture.
2. The two chapters “The New Disablers” and “The Habits of God” are worth the price of the book. These chapters trace the changing role of the pastor and the mind of postmodernism.

Quote

“For the prophets the startling place was the category of truth. Truth to them was not privatized. It was not synonymous with personal insight, with private intuition. It was not sought in the self at all ... but in history — the history that God wrote and interpreted — and was therefore objective, public and authoritative.”

Who should read this book?

Pastor who want to begin to understand the undercurrents of our society and how they are impacting the church, the pastorate and our ministry to the world. Lay people who want to have a deeper dive into the changes that have impacted the church that flow from postmodernism.

Note: This book is also available in audio format.