Books

How Character Shapes Belief

Top 5 Books: Character Shapes Belief

An astute political analyst once mentioned that Aristotle taught us that the ad hominem was a logical fallacy. He went on to add, “I wonder what he had to hide.” Ideologies and systems should not be seen as pristine, stand-alone affairs. The best book to get us thinking about beliefs’ bloodlines:

Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky Paul Johnson

Why is it that many of the most lionized figures of the modern world were people who lived seriously rancid lives? Should it matter that Rousseau, a darling of educational theorists, serially abandoned all his children?

* * *

Degenerate Moderns: Modernity as Rationalized Sexual Misbehavior E. Michael Jones

Jones examines Margaret Mead, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, and others. It seems the way you actually live will affect how you construe the data.

* * *

Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism Paul C. Vitz

Turning Freud’s projection theory of God on its head, Vitz strikingly argues that the fatherlessness of modern atheists should be seen as a function of deeply felt fatherlessness at the human level.

* * *

In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History Adam Bellow

Bellow reveals that many “self-made men” were nothing of the kind—they were family-made men. A corollary of this would be that great contributions to civilization do not fall from the sky, but are forged in conversations around the dining-room table.

* * *

How the Scots Invented the Modern World Arthur Herman

Centuries of hard-edged theology and hardscrabble living placed 18th-century Scots in a unique position to contribute to an unexpected renaissance. The answer to, “Who gave our culture what it has and why?” may surprise those who just ask, “What do we now possess?”

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Related Elsewhere:

Is Christianity Good for the World? is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

Previous Top 5 lists have featured books on food, Atheism, China, Presidents, World Christianity, Ancient-Future Faith, the Civil Rights Era, Social Justice, Church History, Popular Culture, the Civil War, Apologetics, Atheism, and Sex.

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.

News

Preach and Reach

News

Faith and Hope in Ukraine

News

Signs of Faith

News

Loving Where it Hurts the Most

Bookmarks

News

Can We Come to the Party?

Keeping the End in View

Five Ways to Pray the Psalms

Schooled by the Psalms

See No Evil

Wisdom for Living and Dying

Review

Coupling Therapy

News

Fire and Nice

News

Music to Raise the Dead

News

A Reverent Maverick

News

'I Wanted to Be a Foreigner'

Pushing Boundaries

The Only Hope for Monsters

Defending the Faith

News

Voting Like It Matters

Review

A Pilgrim's Progress

News

Life, Death, and Chicken Cages

News

McCain Talks the Walk

A Holy Longing

After the Aloha Shirts

Surprised by Disability

News

News Briefs: September 02, 2008

Q+A: David Stevens

News

Quotation Marks

News

Passages

News

Brighter Than Sundance

Barring <em>Yahweh</em>

News

Go Figure

News

Reading, Writing, and Rulings

News

Dangerous TEAM Work

Criswell Crisis

News

Continuing Harvest

Wire Story

From Bishop to President

News

Who Is Your Neighbor?

View issue

Our Latest

High Time for an Honest Conversation about THC

Legal cannabis may be here to stay, but the Christian conversation is just getting started.

The National Guard Debate Needs a Dose of Honesty

Criticizing federal overreach while remaining silent about local failures does not serve the cause of justice.

News

Saudi Arabian Prison Frees Kenyan After ‘Blood Money’ Payout

A Christian mother relied on the Muslim practice of “diyat” to bring her son home alive.

Why Fans Trust Forrest Frank

The enormously popular Christian artist says he experienced miraculous healing. His parasocial friends say “amen.”

How a Missionary Family in Lebanon Produced an American Hero

Bill Eddy’s Arabic acumen served US interests and forged Middle East ties.

Eight Divine Names in One Glorious Passage

Hebrew terms for God appear across the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah brings them all together.

The Bulletin

Venezuelan Boat Attack, Payday Loans, and USAID Fire Sale

The Bulletin discusses the attack on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, predatory lending, and the destruction of items from cancelled USAID projects.

Why an Early American Missionary Family Was Beloved in Lebanon

Over five decades of multigenerational ministry, the Eddys pioneered health and educational outreach.

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