Book Review: The Courage to Be Protestant, by David F. Wells

Synopsis: The Courage to Be Protestant, by David F. Wells, is a hard-hitting, no-punches-pulled denunciation of the vast twenty-first century American empire of Evangelicalism which, for all its outward success and vibrancy, is inwardly rotten and spiritually dead. In all the movements and programs, mega-churches and sparkling personalities, the one thing that has largely been lost is the truth. For anyone willing to consider where we are as a (post)modern church in a (post)modern nation, and hoping to find a way forward, this is a must-read.

In The Courage to Be Protestant, Wells begins by observing the lack of opposition from this (post)modern world toward anyone willing to “sign up as a Protestant”. This reality should give us pause: if this society, in which any claim to absolute truth is fiercely resisted, has no quarrel with the vast majority of millions of professing Evangelicals, might that not be an indication that Evangelicalism is no longer in possession of an absolute truth? In large measure, Wells would argue, it is indeed.

According to Wells, the current Evangelical landscape may be roughly divided into three segments: the relatively few remaining truth-lovers, the marketers, and the emergents. The preponderance of the book is devoted to analyzing the latter two of these three groups.

First, Wells addresses the marketers, who have built up an astonishing empire of churches and organizations marked by cutting-edge technology and a sparkling facade with a glittery, Hollywood-like appeal, through their corporation-driven techniques of selling their product to consumers (or “seekers”). To achieve such astonishing success, they have bought into a worldview which is entirely incompatible with the truth of the gospel. And now, the price of such a trade-off is beginning to make itself felt: the truth has been lost, and the outward structures are beginning to crumble as well.

In response to the impending collapse of the church marketing movement, a new group of self-styled “emergents” is gaining much clout. But of all that they have embraced – a thoroughly (post)modern sort of individualism, spiritualism, and so forth – one thing is conspicuously missing: the truth. In both of these movements, Wells would argue, the only remaining remaining vestige of Christianity is the name alone.

With a depth of insight and considerable acuity, Wells traces out the beliefs and philosophies of these two groups through five domains which are foundational and non-negotiable pillars of Christianity: truth, God, self, Christ, and the Church. In one instance after another, as he so adeptly demonstrates, these two movements are virtually indistinguishable from the broader landscape of (post)modern Western thought and culture. The church in America, outwardly, is in an age of unprecedented influence and widespread expansion. But in reality, there is little truth left in the “church” (and hence little church left in society).

The Courage to Be Protestant is the summary, or more properly, the culmination of four earlier titles by David Wells: No Place for Truth, God in the Wasteland, Losing Our Virtue, and Above All Earthly Pow’rs. In these previous works, Wells has earned a reputation as a clear-thinking and truth-pursuing analyst of (post)modern American and Evangelical culture. In this work, that reputation will only be enhanced. For anyone daring to live as a true Christian in the perplexing wilderness of contemporary Western Evangelicalism, this is required reading.

Available at Monergism Bookstore

One Response to “Book Review: The Courage to Be Protestant, by David F. Wells”

  1. Chris says:
    June 4, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    Thanks for that Nathan. I just got this book at the Together for the Gospel Conference. I had the opportunity to go through Above All Earthly Pow’rs which was one of the most thought provoking books I’ve ever read. He’s a smart cookie.

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