Book review: ‘Another Gospel? A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity’ by Alisa Childers
Until two years ago, I had never heard the term progressive Christianity.
That was after I decided to study Christian apologetics in earnest, not just as a pursuit I wanted to take up “someday.”
Being married to an atheist will do that to a girl.
Sure, Bruce and I had been married more than 20 years by that point, but I’m also an author and a blogger, and after years of blogging about this and that “with Jesus as the foundation” (but rarely front and center), I didn’t think my website was serving anyone. I decided I needed to start sharing my faith more openly and deliberately.
But to do that I needed to firm up why I believe — not just what I believe — and be able to articulate it.
I don’t remember exactly how I discovered Alisa Childers. Seems I reached out to Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg on Twitter, and Mark (with whom I’d had private conversations in the past) recommended Alisa.
I sought out her podcast, visited her website and immediately subscribed to both. On a business trip in October 2018, I binge listened to the podcast for about six hours in the car and my hotel room.
She talked about progressive Christianity vs. the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I had never heard anything like it.
The thing that struck me most about Alisa was her approach to people who disagree with her.
Polite and respectful. Firm in her beliefs, willing to debate skeptics, but more interested in reprehending the idea, not the person. Always respectful toward the person.
That idea, respecting people who are different from me, was the theme of a book I started writing a few years ago. (Another result of being in a spiritually mismatched marriage — a book I’ve titled “The Atheist’s Wife.”) Actually, I got 20 chapters in and decided I needed to start over. I haven’t done that yet, but that’s a side story for a future blog post. 🙂
FROM ‘INTELLECTUALLY WEAK AND UNTESTED’ FAITH TO APOLOGETICS ROLE MODEL
How did Alisa Childers go from these questions …
Is the Bible really God’s Word? Is the only identity I’ve ever known a complete sham? What am I supposed to tell my children? Is religion really just the opiate of the masses? Does God even exist at all? (excerpt from “Another Gospel?”)
… to being a clear, strong voice in the apologetics community with a solid faith and the ability to defend it?
In short, she “deconstructed.” (Then she reconstructed.)
Deconstruction is a term you may have begun hearing a few years ago if you were paying attention.
Many influential authors, performers — even pastors — have left the faith after “deconstructing.” They started questioning what they believed about Christianity and decided it didn’t fit their worldview, so they left — some quietly, others with public announcements.
Many haven’t come back.
Praise God, Alisa did. (We need her.)
Praise God, Alisa didn’t give up on her faith in Jesus. Instead, she dug in and started figuring out that historic Christianity is the worldview that makes the most sense according to the evidence.
That Jesus is the Solid Rock, the only One on whom the Truth can stand, because He is Truth.
DECONSTRUCTING PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
And praise God, Alisa deconstructs the shaky ground of progressive Christianity in her new book, Another Gospel? A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity.
Not by arguments based on wishful thinking, fuzzy logic or a surface-level study of the accuracy of God’s Word.
She dug deep, and she built a ministry on showing others how to dig deep and defend the faith, pointing out that the Truth doesn’t “progress” or change or adapt to our feelings, the culture or watered-down theology.
We all need to understand progressive Christianity and other false gospels and let them challenge us to firm up our own faith so that we can boldly defend it with gentleness and respect.
Another Gospel? debuted Oct. 6, 2020, and you can buy your copy here. But act now if you want the bonuses; they expire Oct. 11.
Here’s to defending the faith!
If you order a copy of Another Gospel, please let me know. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
xoxo,
Fun fact: In the 1990s, Alisa Childers made up one-third of the popular Christian band ZOEgirl. 🙂
For further reading, see my previous post, where I reviewed the new Bible study Standing Firm in Christ.
