Books

Bookmarks

Short reviews of The Great Awakening, The Return of History and the End of Dreams, and Making the Best of It.

The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America Thomas S. Kidd (5 stars)

First, the bad news. Christians who lived through the 18th-century Great Awakening in colonial America were prone to division, vulnerable to false teaching and emotional excess, and generally all too human. This is what a historic revival looks like? Now, the good news. Something powerful was moving among the people, despite their flaws. Baylor University historian Kidd tells this story with a superb command of detail, even as he keeps the big picture in mind. Especially for evangelicals—for whom this is family history—but also for anyone who wants to understand more deeply the American experience, Kidd’s book is essential.

The Return of History and the End of Dreams Robert Kagan (4 stars)

This slim book is a spin-off from a two-volume work in progress, the first volume of which CT reviewed in January 2007. Any book by Kagan is worth reading. Here you feel you are sitting in on an after-dinner conversation with a very smart, experienced observer of world affairs. But as he talks about “the return of great power nationalism” and “the vices and virtues of American hegemony,” you may wish you had a companion volume by another expert to elucidate Kagan’s subtext. That the end of the Cold War didn’t signal the onset of the millennium hardly comes as news. So what is Kagan really trying to tell us? That’s a subject for another night.

Making the Best of It: Following Christ in the Real World John G. Stackhouse, Jr. (5 stars)

Along with Andy Crouch’s Culture Makers (forthcoming from IVP in August), this is the most helpful recent account I have read of “what it is to be Christian in the world,” as Stackhouse writes. He advocates “a new Christian Realism.” The Niebuhrs, C. S. Lewis, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are his principal inter-locutors, but he has read widely across several disciplines. Exceptionally fair-minded yet never waffling, blessedly down-to-earth yet never bumptious, Stackhouse is a winsome guide.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related elsewhere:

John Wilson is editor of Books & Culture.

Other Bookmarks and reviews are in our books section.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Our Latest

Why Canโ€™t We Talk to Each Other Anymore?

Online interactions are draining us of energy to have hard conversations in person.

Review

Church Disappointment Is Multilayered

Jude 3 Project founder Lisa Fields speaks about navigating frustrations with God and fellow believers.

The Robot Will Lie Down With the Gosling

In โ€œThe Wild Robot,โ€ hospitality reprograms relationships.

How Priscilla Shirer Surrenders All

The best-selling Bible teacher writes about putting God first in her life and how healthy Christian discipleship requires sacrifice

The Bulletin

Second Hand News

The Bulletin talks presidential podcasts, hurricane rumors, and the spiritual histories of Israel and Iran.

Which Church in Revelation Is Yours Like?

From the lukewarm Laodicea to the overachieving Ephesus, these seven ancient congregations struggled with relatable problems.

Be Afraid

Be Afraid Bonus Episode 3: Scott Teems

Sometimes, thereโ€™s safety in numbers.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube