Their book, entitled The Faith, What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters, is a well-written description of our faith, and their contribution is timely in our present postmodern atmosphere. Their ecumenical approach was helpful, and through fourteen chapters they described the fundamentals of our faith in their historical and contemporary contexts.
However, in the fifteenth chapter the authors stray from their focus, and risk destroying the power of the rest of their work.
The purpose of the book is to “summarize the basic truths of Christianity….those essentials that all true Christians have always believed….”*[1] This book claims to be “what people need to defend and live the Christian faith….”[2] We as Christian leaders must keep the Gospel of Jesus Christ pure, without adding or subtracting any of its elements. Though this book claims to be an exposition of that Gospel, Colson and Fickett have added unnecessary elements to the Good News of Christ, clouding the issue for the faithful and distracting those searching for the Truth.
Chapter fifteen reads as a mini-defense of Western civilization, not Christianity. The authors state that “Christianity created Western civilization”[3] but in truth, Christianity exists not to create civilizations but to redeem sinners. There is one civilization which Christianity will create—but that will be in the world to come. Christians, along with others claiming to be Christians, did create Western civilization. But whenever Christianity is employed as a political or economic system, it will fail until Christ comes to reign in the New Jerusalem. Most assuredly, Christians do create civilizations, but they always fall short in significant ways to represent God’s kingdom and its principles. If we attach the name “Christian” to these systems, the world expects them to be representative of Christ—as well it should. Christ has given his name to his people, not institutions. When a “Christian” system fails, the world blames Christ himself, which may be the foremost reason why
During most of Christian Europe’s history, Christianity was used to defend the divine right of kings and the popes’ attempts to control the political sphere, not to espouse principles of democracy.[4] The fact that the Church help spread the ideals of capitalism and modern banking[5] illustrates the wealth accumulated by simony, sales of indulgences, and other evil practices. Monks ought to be known for their spirituality, not their fiscal finesse. The statement that the “Church has always defended the right of private property”[6] directly contradicts the spirit of the New Testament and the description of the early Church. The authors employ the Gospel through Galatians 5:1 for human rights reasons (“freedom’s institutionalization in the West”[7]) rather than the spiritual freedom Paul is referring to. Though these themes can be derived from godly principles, I’m sure this idea would be foreign to the context of Paul living in chains for the sake of the Gospel. Finally, in a book about the orthodox faith, the authors say “[t]his is why orthodoxy matters, for a renewal and strengthening of the orthodox Christian faith can provide not only joy and meaning for Christians but a bulwark of sanity and reason against barbarism.”[8] Here Colson and Fickett err greatly. Paul did not write his epistles nor did John write his Gospel to prevent barbarism or produce political change. Orthodoxy matters because it provides humanity the means to enter into a relationship with the Creator God through his Son Jesus Christ. Suggesting otherwise borders on heresy.
In overview, in this chapter the authors appear to be convinced that through the practical application of the Gospel to life, Capitalism and Western civilization—which they seem to think is the product of pure Christianity—will experience a resurgence almost like the appearance of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.[9] The authors seem oblivious to the fact that Christianity experiences its most significant growth when oppressed. Instead of being concerned about the enemies of the West[10] in a book about orthodoxy, the authors should stay focused on the Enemy of the cross of Christ, whose most advanced warfare does not involve Islamic fundamentalists but distractions of the faithful from the Good News.
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