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Rating: 
Summary: The rugged terain ahead for the Church.
Review: David F. Wells has written a powerful wake-up call to hook up with God's moving in history today with God's moving in the past as contained in the Holy Scriptures. His perceptions are prophetic in grappling with where we went wrong in linking up with the self movement, and modernity. Both of these lack the "otherness" which is a necessity that we not believe in a "buddy God" who likes us when we just fit in well with our surroundings. His insights could highlight for one who is dissatisfied with one's local church and just doesn't know how to get a handle on what is happening. His conclusions in the last chapter of the book are tingling with excitement about the directions one can go in ironing out the painful steps back into reality of the Truth. This is a valuable book which need not be limited to readership by the "evangelical" camp, but rather by anyone who is interested in God who is the great "I Am" that will not be domesticated or enviserated (a word Wells uses occasionally.O Go for it if you want to wake up and get moving in faith that undoubtedly will run counterculture to most of what we hear today. The reward is eternity. -Paul Hackett
Rating: 
Summary: An analysis the church should not ignore
Review: I have spoken with so many pastors and Christians who have read David Wells' work and dismissed it as being "too critical." I don't disagree entirely but I'm not surprised to hear such a common assessment when the most popular verse of the Bible has shifted from John 3:16 to "Thou shalt not judge." Anyone with a prophetic discernment is relegated with the critical in spirit. I actually admire David Wells for having the courage to speak so boldly at the risk of sounding imbalanced. Even if his book(s) may not have practical-hands-on tips on how to do church there is enough insight in his writing for any Christian leader to brood over time. Interestingly, we who are so prone to look for methods that work get disappointed by books like this because it does not contain pat answers. In fact, reading this book has helped me tremendously in getting my focus back on the basics, that God uses people over methods and revelation over feelings (although Wells goes a bit too far in downplaying emotions). I recommend that this book be read thoughtfully rather than being reactive to it. In a time when the church has gone soft on doctrine David Wells' book will be timely in helping to restore theology back to its central place.
Rating: 
Summary: Modernity exorcised . . .
Review: I really wanted to like this book! Really, I did. And admittedly Wells has some remarkably adept comments to make. His concern for the syncretism at work within western evangelicalism is prophetic and warranted. Some aspects of evangelicalism of which Wells is most critical: (1) The transmutation of theology to anthropology (manifest in the sermonic forms that dominate evangelical churches). (2) the transformation of church into a religious mall that vends goods and services. (3) the psychologizing of Christiah faith. (4)Evangelicals' growing inability to reflect critically on how confession shapes praxis. It is these criticisms that will be most helpful for evangelicals who see the looming collapse of evangelicalism's theological center. Alas, there are several weaknesses to Wells's argument that detract from the quality of his work: (1) Wells's introduction beckons back to an overly idealized portrait of Christendom in America that makes it sound like he is begging for the church to return to the good old days of Puritan piety. As one reads the book it is not clear if this is really what Well's is intending to say. Nevertheless, the idealism of Wells's historical reconstruction is most problematic. (2) The extreme pessimism of Wells's book seems overstated in several cases, as for example in his scathing indictment of the Association of Theological Schools. These overstatements raise questions about the fairness of Wells's analysis. This undoubtedly weakens the valid concerns that Wells is raising. (3) The most serious problem with Wells's argument is the extent to which Wells himself seems to be playing on the playing field of modernity at the same time he is most critical of the hold modernity has on evangelical churches. Chapter VII, "The Habits of God," is weak precisely because Wells's definition of "modernity" is so vague. He wants to be critical of the social manifestations of modernity--secularization and urbanization. Fair enough. However, Wells fails to give adequate attention to the epistemological vice grip modernity has on his own language as he makes sweeping appeals for evangelicals to reclaim the "objective truth" of Christianity and reject the "subjective truth" of paganism. This seems a decidedly modern dichotomy. There is a historical particularity to God's self-revelation that not even Wells himself can escape. To the extent that Wells never addresses this particularity, his appeal to universal "objective" standards seems more dependent on a modernistic epistemic stance than one rooted in the particularity of scripture. Listen to Wells carefully for what he has to say, but be wary of anti-modernists in modern garb.
Rating:
Summary: Wells Contra Mundum
Review: In a separate lecture elsewhere, Wells reported to his wife that when this book is published, he will receive a lot of criticism from the EVANGELICAL flank of the church. As some of the reviews below have shown, he was excatcly right. Wells's thesis can be summarized thus: "Since the church has adopted all the vestiges of modernity, it has become irrelevant to God, and as such can no longer deliver the demands of God to a dying people. This is so because the church views reality in light of a modernistic (and postmodernistic, although that thought is not developed thoroughly) framework. It cannot make itself better because any attempt at SELF-reform will only re-inforce modernity's grip on the church. The Church's only hope is for "prophets" to call the church back to its focal point: the Holiness of God, without which life is meaningless." However, the book is not perfect for several reasons. 1)At times it was too technical; had it become more personal for pastors and theologians it would have fared better. 2)It did not deal adequately enough with postmodernism, although with all fairness to Wells, pomo did not have the cultural influence in the early 90's as it does now. Its strengths, however, really show themselves in the last few chapters. In fact, pages 298-301 are worth the price of the book. Here are a few excerpts: "Christian faith is only Christian to the extent that it has been constituted by the Word of God, the Word that God has made powerful and effective in the reconstituting of sinful life" (298). And: "The habits of the modern world, now so ubiquitous in the evangelical world, need to be put to death, not given new life" (301). Finally to one reviewer who gave it 1 star and accused it of being puritanical dribble, Mr Rivers. I gather the impression that he did not read past the first chapter. Wells uses one puritan village as a microcosm (and an accurate one) of theology in practice before Modernity. Furthermore, Wells did not come up with this idea; he documents Cambridge historian Paul Johnson's book, OUR TIME. It appears Mr Rivers not only read past the first chapter, he did not even read the footnotes in the chapter. Even assuming that he read the book, he is still not interactin with Wells's arguments. He is merely restating them and then saying he does not like them. While he said this shut the door for more research, I personally cannot wait to read Wells's other books in this genre.
Rating:
Summary: Wells Contra Mundum
Review: In a separate lecture elsewhere, Wells reported to his wife that when this book is published, he will receive a lot of criticism from the EVANGELICAL flank of the church. As some of the reviews below have shown, he was excatcly right. Wells's thesis can be summarized thus: "Since the church has adopted all the vestiges of modernity, it has become irrelevant to God, and as such can no longer deliver the demands of God to a dying people. This is so because the church views reality in light of a modernistic (and postmodernistic, although that thought is not developed thoroughly) framework. It cannot make itself better because any attempt at SELF-reform will only re-inforce modernity's grip on the church. The Church's only hope is for "prophets" to call the church back to its focal point: the Holiness of God, without which life is meaningless." However, the book is not perfect for several reasons. 1)At times it was too technical; had it become more personal for pastors and theologians it would have fared better. 2)It did not deal adequately enough with postmodernism, although with all fairness to Wells, pomo did not have the cultural influence in the early 90's as it does now. Its strengths, however, really show themselves in the last few chapters. In fact, pages 298-301 are worth the price of the book. Here are a few excerpts: "Christian faith is only Christian to the extent that it has been constituted by the Word of God, the Word that God has made powerful and effective in the reconstituting of sinful life" (298). And: "The habits of the modern world, now so ubiquitous in the evangelical world, need to be put to death, not given new life" (301). Finally to one reviewer who gave it 1 star and accused it of being puritanical dribble, Mr Rivers. I gather the impression that he did not read past the first chapter. Wells uses one puritan village as a microcosm (and an accurate one) of theology in practice before Modernity. Furthermore, Wells did not come up with this idea; he documents Cambridge historian Paul Johnson's book, OUR TIME. It appears Mr Rivers not only read past the first chapter, he did not even read the footnotes in the chapter. Even assuming that he read the book, he is still not interactin with Wells's arguments. He is merely restating them and then saying he does not like them. While he said this shut the door for more research, I personally cannot wait to read Wells's other books in this genre.
Rating:
Summary: An analysis the church should not ignore
Review: The experiential side of the Christian life is left to those who do not share in the Old Calvinists ideals of the Puritan fathers. Of course, we are wrong headed and completely responsible for the lack of morals and the modern landscape of irrelavence in Christianity. Modern thought and any theology this side of the first Great Awakening are anathema that must be thoroughly purged from the pulpits of America so that we can return to the utopian ideals of Wenham and their cloistered Congregationalists babble. I sincerely hope Professor Wells is not as arrogant about the heresies of other less-puritan views of the church's role in our society when he lectures in class. At least he has done me the service of eliminating a possible sight for more research.
Rating: 
Summary: Puritanical Dribble
Review: The experiential side of the Christian life is left to those who do not share in the Old Calvinists ideals of the Puritan fathers. Of course, we are wrong headed and completely responsible for the lack of morals and the modern landscape of irrelavence in Christianity. Modern thought and any theology this side of the first Great Awakening are anathema that must be thoroughly purged from the pulpits of America so that we can return to the utopian ideals of Wenham and their cloistered Congregationalists babble. I sincerely hope Professor Wells is not as arrogant about the heresies of other less-puritan views of the church's role in our society when he lectures in class. At least he has done me the service of eliminating a possible sight for more research.
Rating:
Summary: This book is for your heart!
Review: The people of God need to stop and to consider the path that they have been walking in the world. To become a relevant people, without losing a deep fidelity to the Scriptures, it has been the big challenge of those that profess to believe in Jesus Christ. In this book you will be invited to reflect on which type of Christianity you profess. About which kind of God you say: I believe in him. You will be invited to escape of the religions teachings and to immerse in the Bible, looking for the God who Lord Jesus preached and who He obeyed until his death on the cross. If you are feeling that nobody around you knows what is right or what is wrong, this book is for you. Fantastic book is this! Don't lose it!
Rating:
Summary: A book that demands repentance
Review: Wells' penetrating analysis of the state of the church in evangelical America is beyond refutation. He is a true scholar -- as well as one who truly seeks for a day when God is honored by those called by His name. Pastors and leaders caught up in the New Evangelical mess need to read and repent.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Eye-opener.
Review: Wells's assessment of the modern evangelical church is a real eye-opener. Unfortunately, I think he is on target in many respects. This book begins by describing the history of the Christian Church over the last several hundred years. Wells then delineates what he thinks has happened in a slow spiral decline of the church that has lead to some of the more pervasive problems that are occurring today. For example, Wells describes the collapse of theological issues that have slowly crept into the fabric of the Church and he discusses how these trends may be changed. He touches on the movements in culture that have affected the theology of the church (i.e. modernity to postmodernity trends, romanticism, enlightenment, deconstructionism etc.). He also describes the political atmosphere of the U.S. in the last 200 years and explains those changing trends that have had an impact upon Christianity in America. Wells ends the work with a plea to return to traditional roots. Not that he is resistant to any change at all, but that he believes (and I agree) that we should be more discerning as Christian and not be so quickly moved by every whim of teaching or idea. Christians need to become more serious about the issues of truth and theology and how these things affect not only our worship but our Churches. Unfortunately, these (truth and theology) are the two things that are the first to go in the Church's "gung-ho" attitude to embrace anything that will work (pragmatism). This book will challenge you to think about issues which perhaps would not otherwise be considered.
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