SWNID Plugs Book: By Any Other Name

We shamelessly recommend to gentle readers some gentle reading material, the book By Any Other Name recently authored by SWNIDish former student (one class, at least) James Abernathy, blogger at the recommended JamesThink.

We were honored to be invited to write the foreword for the book, which we reproduce here as a teaser:

Our time requires books like this one. We live, as the saying goes, in an interesting time. Our time is interesting not primarily because of new technologies or challenging events. It is interesting because of the stark clash of ideas that surrounds us. This is a book about ideas. And it certainly clashes.

Some do not care for the clash. Tired of argument, discouraged by what appears to be the failure of ideas to yield results, they prefer conciliation over conflict. In the body politic and the body of Christ, there certainly is room for seeking unity and understanding. But not at the expense of clear thinking. This book demands clear thinking.

Specifically, this is a book about the ideological conflict in the United States between the Christian worldview and the broad array of ideas that can loosely be called secularism. It is a book of applied theology, discussing how ideas inherent in the worldview of Christianity impact social and political issues. It is indirectly a book of apologetics as well, offering reasoning that affirms the cogency of the Christian worldview over alternatives as they impact the public square. Think of it as two parts Francis Schaeffer, one part C. S. Lewis, and one part William F. Buckley.

Of course, this book is all parts James Abernathy. Abernathy writes with muscle. His prose is muscular, and so is his logic. This book, thick with substantial philosophical argumentation and historical analysis, does plenty of heavy lifting. It is informed both broadly and deeply, at once rigorously objective and deeply personal. Those who know Abernathy will hear his distinctive voice, articulating his keen intellect, in every sentence.

Readers can expect this book not to commit the sins of many in its genre. Abernathy is no Chicken Little. He doesn’t flay about with apocalyptic language, screaming about imminent doom. Nor is he a fuzzy-cheeked utopian who describes the Eden that his ideas will inevitably yield. Nor does he wistfully yearn for some past “Golden Age” in which his worldview held beneficent sway. Readers sated with such pabulum will taste piquant, meaty realism on this plate. Abernathy has no time for anything that is not real.

I for one am refreshed by what I read here. I am personally weary of people who, discouraged by the lack of short-term results from the so-called conservative revolution, are ready to start judging policies by their intentions instead of their ideological foundations and their real-world outcomes. I am weary of those who are ready to experiment again with socialism and pacifism when both history and sound theology argue strongly that socialism impoverishes people and pacifism kills them. I am weary of those too impatient to engage a significant ideological struggle for more than the eighteen months between congressional campaigns. I am especially weary of people who don’t want to argue with a strongly held position. I like what I read here not because I agree with all of it—though I agree with plenty—but because I like its readiness to debate.

Let the clash of ideas continue, and may the best idea win.