Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

From Publishers Weekly
As a religiously adrift young adult in the 1960s, Pearcey found her way to the Swiss retreat, and the intellectually rigorous faith, of the Calvinist maverick Francis Schaeffer. This book continues the Schaeffer-inspired project that Pearcey and Chuck Colson began in How Now Shall We Live?—awakening evangelical Christians to the need for a Christian "worldview," which Pearcey defines as "a biblically informed perspective on all reality." Pearcey gives credibly argued perspectives on everything from Rousseau's rebellion against the Enlightenment, to the roots of feminism, to the spiritual poverty of celebrity-driven Christianity. She also provides a layperson's guide to the history of America's anti-intellectual strain of evangelicalism. Unfortunately for the book's chance at a wide audience, several chapters are devoted to a critique of Darwinism and defense of Intelligent Design—with no substantive engagement with the many thoughtful Christians (John Polkinghorne, Ken Miller, Nancey Murphy, etc.) who dissent from Intelligent Design's scientific and philosophical program. Still, Pearcey deftly applies Schaeffer's core insight that modernity has been built on a "two-story" view of reality—with "facts" on the ground floor and "values" up in the air. Her critique of this view is compelling, and her final chapters, which begin to sketch an integrated Christian way of living and thinking, are exceptional. This is the rare long book that leaves one wanting to read more.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Christian Education and Publications, November 2004
An outstanding writer… If you buy only one book this year, this would be at the top of the list."

World, July 3, 2004Lucid, easy to understand . . . breaks new ground in worldview analysis . . . written in a way that the average person will understand.

First Things, November 2004
A rich and readable book… an atlas of the intellectual geography of the culture war… a gifted writer and thinker.

Touchstone, December 2004Striking in the breadth of its synthesis… well written and spiced with anecdotes... Would that every pastor read this book.

Human Events, September 14, 2004Well-written and thoroughly documented. . . a rousing call to action . . . presents a compelling case for a Christian worldview.

Angus Menuge, Touchstone, December 2004
Very well written and spiced with anecdotes. Would that every Christian pastor and youth group leader read this book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Bill Wichterman, Townhall.comPearcey advances well beyond Schaeffer, both in the maturity of her thought and in her original work. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Ray Bohlin, Probe Ministries, February 2005Probably the most significant book of 2004. I pray its influence and impact will be felt for decades. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Adrian Warnock, UK Evangelical Blog, February 2005
Viewed by many as the Francis Schaeffer of her generation . . . essential reading for all serious-thinking Christians. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Charles Dunahoo, Christian Education and Publications, November 2004
An outstanding writer. If you buy only one book this year, this would be at the top of the list. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
Is God a public figure?
Does Christianity have a legitimate role to play in the public realm of politics, business, law, and education?

Or are secularists right?
When they relegate religion to the strictly private realm of faith and feelings?

In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey offers a razor-sharp analysis of the split between public and private, fact and feelings. She reveals the strategies of secularist gatekeepers who use this division to banish biblical principles from the cultural mainstream, stripping Christianity of its power to challenge and redeem the whole of culture.

How can we overcome this divide? Unify our fragmented lives? Recover authentic spirituality? With compelling examples from the struggles of real people, Pearcey shows how to liberate Christianity from its cultural captivity. She walks readers through practical, hands-on steps for developing a full-orbed Christian worldview. Finally, she makes a passionate case that Christianity is not just religious truth but truth about total reality. It is total truth.

This new Study Guide Edition of Total Truth is filled with fresh stories, examples, and illustrations. Based on questions and comments raised by readers of the book, it is ideal for individual or group study.

Total Truth received an Award of Merit in Christianity Today’s 2005 book awards and won the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion Award in the Christianity and Society category.

What Others Are Saying about Total Truth:
“COMPELLING… EXCEPTIONAL… the rare long book that leaves one wanting to read more.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A book of UNUSUAL IMPORTANCE by an author of UNUSUAL ABILITY.”
—Phillip Johnson,
UC Berkeley, from the Foreword

“SPLENDID, COMPREHENSIVE, PERSONAL MAGNUM OPUS…. Every page is loaded with trenchant insights.”
—Ralph Winter,
U.S. Center for World Mission

“UNIQUE COMBINATION of apologetics, worldview analysis, social commentary, and instruction manual. Pearcey’s knowledge, insight, and faith place her among the TOP HANDFUL OF RELEVANT CHRISTIAN THINKERS of our time.”
—David Limbaugh,
Columnist, Author, Persecution

“BRILLIANT… Pearcey has a mind like a jewel.”
—Lael Arrington,
Author, Worldproofing Your Kids

“PROFOUND… Pearcey makes complex issues clear as no one else has.”
—Ted Baehr,
Founder, Movieguide

“MARVELOUS CLARITY… Pearcey explains how modern science reinforces Christianity—and why more Christians should be aware of it.”
—Michael Behe,
Author, Darwin’s Black Box

“AMAZING in the depth of its worldview analysis… SUPERBLY CRAFTED… BEST WORK of cultural analysis from a Christian standpoint available today.”
—James Sire,
Author, The Universe Next Door

“BOLD MANIFESTO… May well be one of the most important Christian books of our times.”
—Al Mohler,
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Pearcey is FIRING ON ALL PISTONS… I love her stubborn and intelligent insistence on the gospel’s truth and relevance to all of life.”
—Kelly Monroe Kullberg,
Coauthor and Editor, Finding God at Harvard

“BREAKS NEW GROUND in worldview analysis… the most insightful applications since Francis Schaeffer.”
—Gene Edward Veith,
Culture Editor, World magazine

“ALL WILL PROFIT MIGHTILY from what is written here.… Pearcey takes us into truer and worthier witness in our increasingly secularized world.”
—J. I. Packer,
Professor of Theology, Regent College

“ASTUTE CULTURAL CRITIC and one of the few female intellectuals in evangelicalism.”
—The Evangelical Outpost

“If you feel lost in the fog of today’s cultural confusions, READ THIS BOOK.”
—James Skillen,
President, Center for Public Justice



From the Author
Readers who purchase the original version of Total Truth (instead of the new study guide edition) can download the study guide free of charge. The guide includes not only questions but also lots of fresh stories, examples, and illustrations. It is ideal for personal study, reading groups, and Sunday school classes. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author
NANCY RANDOLPH PEARCEY is the Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar at the World Journalism Institute, where she teaches a worldview course based on the study guide edition of Total Truth. A former agnostic, Pearcey studied Christian worldview under Schaeffer at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland in the early 1970s. She earned an M.A. from Covenant Theological Seminary, followed by further graduate work in philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Pearcey has been publishing pioneering works on Christian worldview since 1977, and she has been heralded as "one of the few female intellectuals in evangelicalism" (The Evangelical Outpost). She has authored or contributed to articles in numerous journals and magazines, as well as The Soul of Science and the bestselling, award-winning How Now Shall We Live?
Total Truth received the Award of Merit in Christianity Today's 2005 book awards in the Christianity & Culture category, and won the ECPA Gold Medallion Award for best book of 2005 in the Christianity & Society category.