HOW TO WIN THE CULTURE WAR: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis

We're at war and we don't even know it, claims Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College and a popular Christian writer. He describes the state of modern society and calls Christians back to a more biblical view of the world, pointing to the reality of evil spiritual beings, the existence of sin and the importance of recognizing the results of cultural pressure. He also has a fascinating argument concerning the central role of sexuality in the current "culture wars." Unfortunately, many readers will be driven off by Kreeft's snide, caustic tone. For example, he describes those who embrace the New Age movement as people "who always seemed to be flighty, flaky and female, at least in spirit." Moreover, while Kreeft frequently refers very positively to ecumenism, his perspective is much more Roman Catholic than reflective of the wider Christian audience he seeks to reach. Many readers will not agree that, for example, contraception should be categorized together with "sodomy, fornication and prostitution" as "clear and obvious sins." Kreeft's venture into the "Screwtape" idiom of C.S. Lewis makes for very interesting reading, though here, again, the assumption that the Protestant Reformation was a particularly successful attack by Satan will jar many. Kreeft ends the book with a call to sainthood, exhorting Christians to genuinely live out the goodness made available to them by the grace of God, and a stirring affirmation that goodness will indeed triumph over evil. (June)