How should Christians live in the modern world? This is of course not a new question–God’s people have been asking that for as long as He has been calling us out from the world to live as His chosen people. And while Christians have always debated the best way to answer that question, the modern era is somewhat unique in failing to search the past for wisdom in answering this question. Carl Trueman wants to set us right on this error in his new book Crisis of Confidence: Reclaiming the Historic Faith in a Culture Consumed with Individualism and Identity.
In two senses, Trueman is doing nothing new in Crisis of Confidence. First, he is releasing a reworked version of his older text The Creedal Imperative. Second, and more importantly, Trueman is calling on us to return to the wisdom of the past for guidance in navigating our confusing times. Specifically, he is reminding us of the wisdom found in the creeds and confessions composed by faithful believers who were themselves struggling to live in a confusing world.
Specifically, Trueman is responding to a modern challenge:
“Modern culture has not really rendered creeds and confessions untrue; far less has it rendered them unbiblical. But it has rendered the implausible and distasteful.” (34)
The challenge for us is of course to overcome our modern sensibilities and instead to embrace the truth found in the past.
One issue that Trueman only slightly touches on, but that Christians will need to give intense focus to in the very near future, is what to do with parts of creeds and confessions that are wrong, which have not stood the test of time or Biblical scrutiny. For example, this blog has talked extensively about Article 36 of the Belgic Confession which calls for magistrates to enforce orthodoxy. What does that mean in the modern world, when we have rejected the idea of a state church? (And rightly so.) This needs thought and attention, and Trueman might be the right person for the job.
Overall, this is an excellent little book and one you should have on your shelf, or read and then pass on to someone else.
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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