• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • Top Posts
    • Commenting Policy
  • Faith/Science Resources
    • STEAM Grant Series
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Welcome to Scholar’s Compass
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Events
    • Donate
You are here: Home / Resources / Book Review/Discussion / Book Review: Renaissance, by Os Guinness

Book Review: Renaissance, by Os Guinness

March 18, 2016 by Bob Trube No Comments

Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times. Os Guinness (InterVarsity Press, 2014).
Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times. Os Guinness (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014).

Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times. Os Guinness. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014.

Summary: Against the doomsayers speaking of the darkness of the times, Guinness remains hopeful for a spiritual and cultural renaissance in the west, rooted in the power of the Christian message; and he charts the tasks of faithful witness that precede this and the contours of such a renaissance.


Renaissance. Often the ideas of renaissance and the Christian faith are placed in opposition to one another with enlightenment, high culture and reason on one side and faith and superstition on the other.

Guinness begins this book with arguing that in fact, renaissance is a deeply Christian idea, signifying a rebirth, a renewal that is in fact at the heart of the message of the Christian faith. Thus, unlike some who decry what they see as a declining western culture and at the same time, the eclipse of western Christianity, Guinness remains hopeful for the possibility of spiritual and cultural renewal in the west, and the global impact of the Christian faith.

He sees the church as at an “Augustinian moment” where one age and civilization is passing and what is to emerge remains to be seen. In this moment, he sees Christians needing to come to terms with globalization, the challenge of embracing global Christian faithfulness instead of cultural captivities of North and South, and finally, a trust in the continuing sovereignty of God. In his second chapter, he goes on to further delineate what he sees as the global tasks of the church in this moment. One is to prepare (or rather warn off from the materialism and metrics focus of the North) the church in the South. This is one place where I would have liked Guinness to consider more the possibilities of the potential for the witness of the church in the Majority World to challenge the west, particularly in light of the second task he enumerates of winning back the western world. Finally, he speaks eloquently of concern for the human future.

The next two chapters consider the cultural power of Christianity. Chapter three shows how on one hand, Christianity is unnecessary to the creation of cultural goods, which may arise apart from Christian influence and ought to be affirmed by Christians. At the same time, he speaks of the unlikely cultural impact of the Jewish carpenter and the movement he left, and its undeniable impact in philanthropy, reform movements, the rise of the university, modern science, and human rights. He argues in chapter four that the secret of such cultural power is the unique tension within Christianity of being both in and yet not part of the world, to be both world-affirming, and world-denying.

The last two chapters then consider then the grounds for hopefulness when facing the challenges of the present time. Over against the current wisdom of scholarship that culture influence comes through leadership, through the ‘centers’ of society, and through networks, which Guinness does not dispute, he argues for the continuing power of the Spirit of God who leads unlikely individuals into culture-transforming roles, from bringing the gospel to Africa and Europe in the first century down to the present day. He argues for the “great reversals” where those least imagined might play the greatest role. And he argues that cultural renewal is a by-product of great ideas about God and his purposes. In chapter six, he then contends that the “golden age” is not some time in the past but yet before us, and not in the sweet by-and-by. Rather, he holds out hope that the power of the gospel, the Christian message, may indeed surprise us, that it is often darkest before the dawn, and that we go forward by first going back to first principles.

The book concludes with the “Evangelical Manifesto” a document signed by a number of evangelical leaders, in the drafting of which Guinness had a significant part. It restates the core marks of evangelicalism, repents from some of the cultural captivities of western evangelicalism and marks out the key tasks of faithfulness before this community.

Guinness has been one of those voices in my life who brings clarity to “understanding the present time” from his Dust of Death, which made sense to me of the culture of the Seventies while I was a student, down to the present day. And while I found myself in sympathy with nearly all that is written in this book, I also found myself wondering if it is speaking to those beyond my generation, and beyond the white, western evangelicalism of my generation. The index of names references those with whom my generation have been in conversation for forty years–Barth, Maritain, and McLuhan, to name a few.

I wonder if the author is also engaged with younger writers from Thomas Piketty to James K.A. Smith, and those speaking from the Majority World perspectives like Soong-Chan Rah. I raise this because the author’s perspective is one I value, and one that should have a wider reach. I think this would be helped by a wider and more contemporary circle of discourse–not that he would concur with all of these ideas or writers, but that he would engage them. These and many others also care about the flourishing of human beings and cultures, and those who are Christians also seek the renaissance Guinness so hopes for. Perhaps such a confluence of discourse might even be the beginnings of such a renaissance.


Editor’s Note: Thank-you to Bob Trube for sharing his reviews with Emerging Scholars! Bob first posted the above review on Bob on Books. As you may remember I wrote a response to Renaissance which intertwined my studies at Gordon-Conwell and my labors at Urbana 2015. I thought that it would be helpful to post this as a complementary piece. ~ Thomas B. Grosh IV, Associate Director, Emerging Scholars Network

rtrube54@gmail.com'

Bob Trube

Bob Trube is Associate Director of Faculty Ministry and Director of the Emerging Scholars Network. He blogs on books regularly at bobonbooks.com. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with Marilyn and enjoys reading, gardening, choral singing, and plein air painting.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookLinkedIn

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Book Review/Discussion Tagged With: Book Review, christ and culture, Cultural Renewal, culture, Evangelical Manifesto, intervarsity press, Os Guinness, Renaissance, Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Top Posts

  • Christian Views of Creation
  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • Book Review: The Language of God
  • Writing a Christian Personal Statement
  • What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ? Part 1

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

About Us

The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) is a national network within InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries which supports those on the academic pathway as they work out how their academic vocation serves God and others. We encourage and equip undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty as they navigate each stage of their academic vocation and transition to the next step in or beyond the academy.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • Vocation: What is Vocation?
  • Science Corner: The Real Aliens Were the Friends We Made Along the Way
  • Event Announcement: In Search of Shalom: Race, Justice, and Immigration

Article Categories

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us
Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Copyright © 2021 - InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA ®. All rights reserved.

InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.