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TOGETHER NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2021

The Alan Mordue Column
ALAN MORDUE COLUMN Getting to Grips with Theology

Alan Mordue reviews Carl Trueman’s book, The Rise and
Triumph of the Modern Self, published by Crossway.

I am pleased to have had the
opportunity to review this book by
the two countries, so we can learn from his
approach here. His approach to the cultural,
Carl Trueman. This is an extremely
religious and political chasm in the west is to
intellectual and challenging read, more similarities than differences between
and it’s also quite difficult to get present what he sees as traditional Christian
across its full sweep in a short values, as opposed to Marxist secular ones,
review. The book has been making and I have to say that his model is extremely
waves in the theological firmament culturally biased. As someone who has
since its publication and has as friends in both the liberal and conservative
many detractors as supporters. ‘camps’, the real situation is a kind of
It’s important to concentrate on its spectrum going from extreme conservatism to
philosophical outlines to get the most extreme liberalism and with most people near
from it, so is not a light read! the middle. Also, I don’t think this is a culture
war between Christians and non-Christians;
At heart, the book is a philosophical I know people who are 100% committed
treatise on the modern obsession with to Christ who have fallen out completely
the self, much of it revolving round the over guns and Trump as much as they have
post-modern obsession with sexual over sexual mores. I also know atheists who
morality. He looks at transgender concur wholeheartedly with the political
issues, the ‘MeToo’ and LGBTQ+ conservatism on the religious right. The
movements and many other things. Christian faith has varied ways of articulating
It’s a deeply thoughtful and expansive faith and the political focus is astonishingly
focus on something which is a major wide. I feel he is presenting a parody of the
weakness in the modern west today, real situation.
namely a kind of all-pervasive form
of individualism and selfishness. This The biggest strength of the book to someone
phenomenon is clearly all around us, who is well grounded in philosophy is the
and I admire his analysis of the topic. way he gets to his position. His arguments
Trueman has studied this in great ISBN 9781433556333/Crossway/Carl Trueman/HB/ are very strongly articulated and deeply
depth and discusses all the major 416 pp/£25.99 philosophical, so I need to stress that my
figures in the history of philosophy reservations about bias in this book are
that have brought us to this moment, such as Kant, Marx, Nietzsche and something I tend to find in all philosophy. Most philosophy is one-sided,
Freud. Trueman discusses the level of identity politics that we see in the whether it’s from a Darwinian, Freudian or Christian perspective, and I find
modern world, in which he sees a general ethical and moral improvement that the author gets trapped in a maze of mirror images wherever they sit.
philosophy born of liberalism and sexual permissiveness. However, he In this case you can’t deny his Christian zeal and his intention to promote
concentrates all his criticisms towards the liberal part of this individualism and strengthen the Christian faith. However, what I think we need most is
and selfish world view but strangely ignores the same kind of cultural a broad-based Christian argument that looks at the rampant individualism
weaknesses from the conservative part of society, which tends to wrap and the idea of ‘my truth’ that will pull in non-Christians without diluting
up the gospel in a post-enlightenment political conservatism. This is just the Christian message. This book reminds me a lot of The Benedict
as much a part of this culture of the modern self and one’s self-position Option by Rod Dreher, who writes the foreword here. I ask myself, is his
as the self-indulgent liberal movement. Many on the conservative side conclusion to draw up the drawbridge and wait till things get better – like
have marginalised ethnic minorities and women in the church, and I would Dreher advocates – or to challenge our present culture? This book will
argue the supposedly liberal position on racism and women’s role in the have both its advocates and critics. Nevertheless, it will challenge the
church is not a liberal approach at all but an orthodox Christian one. As reader to think more deeply on what is a crucial topic in today’s culture.
Paul famously says in Galatians 3:28 ‘There is neither Jew or Greek, slave
nor free, male nor female, you are all one in Christ Jesus’, hardly a line Alan Mordue is Sales Director at Darton,
from either critical race theory or Karl Marx. Longman and Todd and a member of the
Although Trueman is British in background, in many ways the book is Society of Biblical Literature. Previously Alan
looking at this phenomenon from a US perspective. However, there are worked as Sales Director at SPCK. Prior to
that he was Sales and Marketing Director
‘ The biggest strength of the book to at DLT as well as the theological buyer
someone who is well grounded in philosophy and Deputy Manager of Durham University
Bookshop and Manager of Durham
is the way he gets to his position.’ Cathedral Bookshop.
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