Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover It's Moral Vision

Rating:
Summary: The battle of moral truth versus the exalted self
Review: David Wells' "Losing Our Virtue" is a stinging assault on the idolatrous nature of postmodern man. Chock full of astute observations about the utter lack of morality within American popular culture and the creeping destruction of Christianity caused by compromises with that culture, this book is a clarion call to intelligent people who understand that only through the death of self and utter submission to the God of the Christian Bible can the we hold out hope for the future.

Prophetic in its intensity (though similar arguments were voiced by Francis Schaeffer long before Wells), "Losing Our Virtue" discusses how the combination of deconstructionist theology and psychology at the nascence of the 20th century brought us to the point that we call black white and white black. He outlines the rise of self at the expense of traditional Christian views of God, sin, and the cross of Christ, showing how modern culture now exists in a moral vacuum that has in its brazenness supposedly killed God and therefore any guilt that may arise from acknowledging that He transcends us. With self now ensconced as the moral center, absolute truth and morality are jettisoned in favor of each person being his own moral center. That this can only breed relativism and the eventual destruction of all things moral, is a point well covered in the book.

In some ways, perhaps too well covered. The first few chapters and the last chapter are brilliant. At the cost of a star, though, the middle sags as Wells builds his arguments. The problem lies in beating the points along his path to his conclusion to death. This book probably could have been cut down to 120 pages and would have made its point more efficiently. Metaphorically, you can kill the vampire with an effective stake through the heart. You don't have to then stuff it with garlic, douse it in "holy water", and bury it in a silver coffin lined with crucifixes under a running stream.

The section on the differences between "Guilt" and "Shame" was also confusing since Wells mixed conflicting viewpoints and counterpoints together, making it hard to tell exactly what his point was until the very end of the section. Again, a bit better editing would have made the book a smoother read.

This is an intellectually challenging book that demands close attention. And despite the author's attempt to end on a more upbeat note, it is hard to close this book and think any other outcome than the utter corruption of the entire world and most of Christendom is a foregone conclusion. Hopefully, readers will come away with a burning desire to make a difference rather than conceding that all is lost.

Rating:
Summary: The remnant will maintain the faith
Review: In his final volume of the three, Wells moves from diagnosis to prescription for healing. Here he admonishes the church to recover.

Sum his advice up by this quotation: "Does the Church have the courage to become relevant by becoming biblical?"

Great read; thorough and provoking.

Rating:
Summary: The remnant will maintain the faith
Review: In his final volume of the three, Wells moves from diagnosis to prescription for healing. Here he admonishes the church to recover.

Sum his advice up by this quotation: "Does the Church have the courage to become relevant by becoming biblical?"

Great read; thorough and provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Very perceptive - Great book
Review: This was my first exposure to David Wells, and I'm extremely impressed. His analysis of the cultural situation of our time is extremely perceptive, and his description of the consumer-driven church is very good - slices and dices. He certainly covers his bases in terms of research. This book could rightly be called a Jeremiad for our time, and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A true prophet and critic of our times!
Review: Wells is right on with his analysis and diagnostics. While the postmodern, contemporary church will not particularly like his suggestion for change, certainly it has God's mark of approval. Wells sums it up on page 207: "The Church's problem today is simply that it does not believe that, without tinkering, the Gospel will be all that interesting to modern people." Let modern people do whatever, I'm with Wells and the Gospel.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent cultural criticism; let's work on the apologetic
Review: Wells provides a lengthy treatment of post-modernity and an evangelical response to it, but in the end falls somewhat short. First, he distinguishes between two "kinds" of evangelicalism. "Classic" evangelicalism, which Wells explains is God centered, truth centered and morally focused. "Postmodern" evangelicalism is essentially centered in the self, and theraputically focused. The only problem with these two definitions is that in the real world many traditionalized "classic" churches fit Wells "postmodern" definition, and visaversa. At the end Wells promised to provide an apologetic "fitted to the circumstances of the postmodern world." In reality the apologetic was basically just stuck in the institutionalized Christendom paradigm. The apologetic makes sense to the traditionalized church, but would not be convincing to a postmodern "pre-Christian seeker." And this is the whole point of the church to help people say "yes" to God and develop them into fully devoted followers of Jesus. If "our" apologetics are unintelligable to postmoderns how does that help them to meet and get to know Christ?