Contending for the Faith
The Church's Engagement with Culture

In this book Ralph Wood calls for churches to offer a sustained an unapologetically Christian witness to a postmodern world. Wood carefully chronicles how the church is watching the complete destruction of post-Christian institutions and practices that once shaped human character toward fulfillment in goods larger than humanity’s own self-interest – the chief of these being the worship and service of God. Wood contends that Christian existence can never be taken for granted, and so the church itself must seek to create a Christian culture that offers the world a drastic alternative to its own cultureless existence.

Preface


Acknowledgements


Introduction

1. The Crisis Afflicting Church and Culture Alike


2. A Neo-Conservative Alternative


3. A Neo-Liberal Alternative


4. The Inadequacy of the Evangelical Engagement with Culture


5. The Challenge Facing the Church's Colleges


6. Creating a Christian Educational Culture


7. Christian Skepticism vs. Religious Sentimentality


8. The Ugly, the Beautiful, and the Holy in Christian Worship


9. A Christian Regard for Romance in an Eroticized World


10. The Outward Faithfulness of Inward Christian Piety

Conclusion


Notes


Index