By: Daron George on April 14, 2024
In his book, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution, author Carl Trueman offers a deep dive into the historical and philosophical evolution of personal identity, particularly how it intersects with modern conceptions of sexuality. Trueman’s exploration is more than an academic exercise; it is an examination relevant…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on April 14, 2024
Have you ever wondered how things came to be? My children often ask me questions like, “Why do we trade money rather than candy? What makes money more valuable? Candy tastes better.” They have a point, candy definitely tastes better, but along the way as society developed so did our concept of trade and then…
By: Laura Fleetwood on April 14, 2024
In less than a generation, Western culture’s view of human gender identity and sexual preference has dramatically changed. In his 2022 book titled Strange New World, Professor Carl R. Trueman attempts to explain how and why this shift occurred through a philosophical, theological and historical lens. He also proposes a way for Christians to respond.[1]…
By: Chad McSwain on April 14, 2024
“No one ever asks me about my sex life.” I have quipped on more than one occasion at my church. Interesting conversation to be having at church, you might think. You would be right. This is a sign of the times, if you will. Sexuality is a topic of conversation in the denomination I serve,…
By: Tonette Kellett on April 14, 2024
Introduction Our readings this week were two-fold by Carl Trueman. The first book I read through was The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. [1] This was an exhaustive look at the sexual revolution, going back not merely to the 1960s but over two hundred…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 14, 2024
I love learning a new word. My family and I often enjoy sharing new words we’ve learned, although I find it much more challenging than they (my mom and wife) do to weave them into my everyday conversations. I often write them down (I have pages of Dr. Clark’s ‘one-liners’) or highlight them in books.…
By: Audrey Robinson on April 13, 2024
Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman explores how some progressive thinkers were trailblazers and paved the way for the sexual revolution we are experiencing today. Trueman reflectively considers the ideas of Descartes and Rosseau, Marx and Nietzsche, Freud, and Wilhelm Reich, even though…
By: Caleb Lu on April 12, 2024
At the heart of his book, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution, Carl Trueman explores the effect expressive individualism has on modern society, especially in regards to the sexual revolution, and seeks to trace how its influence became ubiquitous.[1] His hope seems noble. He doesn’t seek to…
By: Laura Fleetwood on April 12, 2024
In the book, Dominion, author and historian, Tom Holland, takes his reader on an adventurous journey through the past to expose how Christianity has impacted the moral fiber of the Western world despite popular attempts to extinguish it. From Antiquity through Christendom to Modernitas[1], Holland provides vignettes of people and cultures that followed Christ’s call…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on April 12, 2024
Carl Trueman’s book Strange New World & The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, must be one of those books that I will love to read and spend much time on in the future. After Dominion with Tom Holland last week, one will agree that these books are excellent and have the potential to…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on April 11, 2024
“Today’s world has reached a state which, if it had been described to preceding centuries, would have called forth the cry: ‘This is the Apolcalpyse!’ Yet we have grown used to this kind of world; we even feel at home in it.”[1] Trueman’s Works Carl Trueman, in his book, The Rise and Triumph of the…
By: Shonell Dillon on April 11, 2024
As I sit here trying to remember what I heard when listening to Trueman explain Strange New World in an interview, I am drawing a blank to his explanations. What does stand out to me is how he laughed when speaking about homosexuality and transgender individuals. Many jokes have been made about this subject but…
By: Kristy Newport on April 11, 2024
Carl L. Trueman, as a professor of biblical and religious studies, provides a commendable analysis of our culture and its current views on sexuality in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. [1] He paints a history of how pornography has impacted how we now think and behave in the chapter entitled…
By: Becca Hald on April 10, 2024
My son was diagnosed with autism in 2004, at the age of 5. I would tell people, “My son has autism.” I would not say, “My son is autistic.” There is a subtle difference between these two statements. One is descriptive. “My son has blue eyes. My son has blond hair. My son has autism.”…
By: Greg McMullen on April 9, 2024
In late January, I sat on an examination table, and my mind raced with many diagnoses and possible outcomes for my situation. The question that weighed heavily on me was how I would be able to keep doing my ministry. My goal was to make it to graduation with school, church, and food ministry and…
By: David Beavis on April 8, 2024
“How did we get here?” As a pastor, I often hear this exacerbated lament from people observing cultural conversations and political polarization. It is a valid question. Largely, this question is focused on the dialogue around identity. Identarian politics and practices, such as separating people based on race, gender, sex, or (less often) class, did…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on April 7, 2024
Introduction The great cost of Christianity is clearly described in this captivating book by Tom Holland. I have found an incredible source of information and I intend to continue reading as the Blinkist gave me a quick summary of the book. “Whether or not you believe that Jesus was the son of God, Christianity has…
By: Daron George on April 6, 2024
I’m not sure where to begin. I initially listened to “Dominion” on audiobook, but an hour into it, I knew I needed a physical copy to fully engage with it. Tom Holland’s exploration is a captivating journey that reevaluates Christianity’s role in shaping Western civilization. While the book has its critiques, it undeniably sheds light…
By: Caleb Lu on April 6, 2024
“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall…
By: Tonette Kellett on April 6, 2024
Introduction This week, I read Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland. Although it was a huge book, it was an interesting read. Holland explains that his book explores what made Christianity so “subversive and disruptive” and how it saturated the West so that many of its “good and ill instincts…
