This only shows a part of our large book display…

What a joy to be out on the road, setting up big book displays at events (like our beloved Wee Kirk small church conference where I got to do a workshop on reading and a keynote talk on God’s big mission) and, just a few days ago, the fabulous, yearly gathering of the Christian Legal Society (CLS) this year held in Washington DC.

Despite the wide range of politically informed scholars and thinkers at that event, the conversations were civil — one woman brought us from candy after she realized we would not be voting for her preferred candidate; lawyers often love to argue and it was fun holding forth with law professors and circuit court judges and scholars of jurisprudence. Okay, I didn’t really hold forth, I listened and learned (except, well, when I didn’t.) What an impressive gathering. Like at our rural and small church gathering, it’s so good to be with those who want good books. And they bought books, believe me! Thanks be to God for the opportunity to serve sharp folks of varying church traditions working out their own callings and careers and deepening the contours of their public theology. One could say we were in our wheelhouse.

For those who might get a kick out of what we sold at the CLS event — alongside single copies of this or that book on government or prayer or marriage or missions or grief or history or Advent devotionals or Every Moment Holy or the new N.T. Wright (The Challenge of Acts) or the new devotional of Tim Keller’s writings (Go Forward in Love)— there were a few big sellers. Rebecca McLaughlin was there from her home-base in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she has worked with Veritas Forum and we almost sold out of everything of hers we took. (Her Confronting Christianity and Confronting Jesus are top-notch volumes of apologetics and her little book about friendship, No Greater Love, is vital, actually, as we form communities that show forth brotherly and sisterly love.) We have all of her books, of course, and you can get them at our BookNotes 20% off. Even her little one on Christmas –  Is Christmas Unbelievable? Four Questions Everyone Should Ask about the World’s Most Famous Story.

And naturally, many appreciated heady books such as the brand new academic survey of the ideological roots of some branches of critical theory, To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse by Carl R. Trueman (B+H Academic; $34.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99) or, less philosophical and more moderate in tone,  The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust by Francis Collins (Little Brown; $30.00 / OUR SALE PRICE = $30.00.) We literally had hundreds of books in the cultural studies section, from classic positive ones like the must-read, fabulous Culture-Making by Andy Crouch to recently released social criticism such as The Uses of Idolatry by William Cavanaugh (on Oxford University Press) to big picture (and dare I say brilliant) “architectonic” cultural discernment such as Beyond the Modern Age: An Archaeology of Contemporary Culture by Bob Goudzwaard & Craig Bartholomew.

There was a breathtaking panel on AI with some very sharp attorney’s who have explored the legal ramifications of this generative intelligence and who pondered deeply about the age-old but oh-so-vital question “what does it mean to be human?”

Jason Thacker (known for his thoughtful scholarship and the popular little book, Following Jesus in a Digital Age) was there on the panel as well, offering great insight about this very matter; so much depends on our clarity about the Biblical truth of people being made in the very image of God. His book The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity was ahead of its time and has just now be re-issued in paperback (with a lovely forward by Richard Mouw.) (Zondervan; $19.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99.) We have his other work, too, but for most of us, this is the best, basic, theological guide to this sort of stuff. We have a lot of other books with theological reflections, on AI — send me an email if you want a longer list — but I’d say to start with this one.

Many were delighted to see the fresh (surprising, even) new take on things by the conservative cultural critic Rod Dreher, in his brand new Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age (Zondervan; $29.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99.) which Dreher might suggest is the antidote to his previous broadside to “live not with lies” or his friend Aaron Renn’s book Life in the Negative World about how best to challenge the confusions of the post-Christian cultural milieu.

Living in Wonder is itself wondrous and we were glad some appreciated it there. You probably read our two previous BookNotes entries about it, but if you haven’t yet, you should consider it! That’s Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age.

We featured a lot of books about political theory and Christian approaches to public and civic affairs; we had a section against Christian nationalism that annoyed a few folks, I supposed, one-sided as it tended to be. I made an up-front announcement on the exceptionally balanced and sober Citizenship without Illusions: A Christian Guide to Political Engagement by David Koyzis (IVP Academic; $18.00 / OUR SALE PRICE = $14.40.) We had books calling for reform of criminal justice, like the good books by the Mennonite restorative justice thinker, Howard Zehr (Changing Lenses: Restorative Justice for Our Times) or the more brainy 2023 Crossway book by Matthew Martens, Reforming Criminal Justice A Christian Proposal or books like the IVP titles Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores (by Dominique DuBois Gilliard) and Rethinking the Police: An Officer’s Confession and the Pathway to Reform by black police officer Daniel Reinhardt. There are a lot of helpful resources for those of us wanting to think through the challenges and point towards necessary reforms.

We loved hearing H. Knox Thames, author of Ending Persecution. He is a respected global peacemaker and religious freedom advocate, telling of his years serving as a State Department diplomat helping global government agencies understand the role of religion (and competing religions) in regional conflicts and discovering plausible, just resolutions. His brand new, semi-scholarly work on the University of Notre Dame Press just came out and when announcing it I blurted out that I think he should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. You heard it here first…  He has served our country through work on the Helsinki Commission, the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and other such projects. Thames was a State Department appointee to the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief and is a current member of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield (USCBS), an organization dedicated to preventing the destruction and theft of cultural property during armed conflict and natural disasters. For now, read his splendid Ending Persecution: Charting the Path to Global Religious Freedom (University of Notre Dame; $45.00 / OUR SALE PRICE = $36.00.)

For those running legal aid clinics for the poor, they were glad to see a book I had just last week announced at BookNotes, Redemptive Service: Loving Our Neighbors Well by Lisa P. Stephenson & Ruthie Wienk (Baker Academic.) I hope they noticed the important recent book by the great black preacher and activist William Barber and his associate Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, White Poverty: How Exposing Myths about Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy (Liveright Publishing.) Naturally, we showed off Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, one of my all time favorite books, by the great Bryan Stevenson, who is making a difference through his Equal Justice Initiative.

For anyone doing anti-poverty work, we have a rare little book co-written by the late Michael Gerson, on how the best ways out of poverty take a deliberate cooperation on the part of government, non-profits and private sector efforts, and personal aid; that is, both justice and charity.

Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice by Michael Gerson, Stephanie Summers, and Katie Thompson (Falls City Press; $11.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $9.59) illustrates the sort of public theology and robust commitment to principled pluralism promoted by the Center for Public Justice who sponsored this fine little book. It briefly explores five key issues that are taking a disproportionate (and often feasting) too on low-income folks. There is some helpful analysis and great stories — we hoped some at the CLS gathering would notice it. Anyway, we had a lot of these sorts of resources at the event.

We have long been a fan of Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang who work for World Relief, the relief and development arm of the NAE. Their book Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate (IVP; $22.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39) was game-changing for many and it was a delight to know that Matt was at CLS. (We have dozens more on this topic if you want to reach out.)

Matt also co-authored a fabulous little (and very inspiring) book on refugee ministry (with the great Stephen Bauman) called Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody Press; $13.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $11.19) which, of course, we featured. Most recently, Soerens co-authored a profound and important book inviting us to realize that God’s church includes many who are not part of the dominant ethnic culture, who have experienced some things in a way some of us have not, have been demeaned or persecuted, marginalized, oppressed, or impoverished. Knowing their stories, is very, very urgent and will help our own churches stay fixed on the ways of God’s Kingdom. Check out this important book — you will be better having read it; I know I was. Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church by Matthew Soerens and Eric Costanzo and Daniel Yang. (IVP; $18.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19.)

A number of the lawyers at CLS work on the topic of religious freedom, both for individuals (of any or no faith) and organizations or institutions. We featured more than a dozen books that we carry just on this topic alone, most prominent this year being Liberty for All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age by Andrew Walker (Brazos Press, with a great foreword by the impressive Robert George) and the lively Michael Bird’s 2022 release, Religious Freedom in a Secular Age: A Christian Case for Liberty, Equality, and Secular Government (Zondervan.) We were glad to have the excellent collection edited by our old friend Art Lindsley and his colleague Anne Bradley Set Free: Restoring Religious Freedom for All (Abilene Christian University Press) which includes pieces by most of the major scholars of the field.

Still, as vital and interesting as these kinds of remarkable books may be, most folks at such a conference are not fighting on the front lines of religious freedom or social injustice or prison reform. Most are ordinary attorneys, offering legal counsel to businesses or small town clients. They work in tax law or real estate or property or bankruptcy or in medical stuff. Like most of us, they are trying to do their job well, with competence and care, informed by Biblical principles and Christ-like values. We had some standard-fare books that I love along those lines, from Work Matters (Tom Nelson) to Every Good Endeavor (Tim Keller & Katherine Alsdorf) to Women, Work, and Calling: Step Into Your Place in God’s World (by Joanna Meyer) to the new, lively, The Sacredness of Secular Work: 4 Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity (Even When You’re Not Sharing the Gospel) by Jordan Raynor. Perhaps a bit more allusively and broadly, we sold a number of Steve Garber’s Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good which I hope you know I love. We even had a stack of some of my own edited volume, Serious Dreams: Big Ideas for the Rest of Your Life which I thought might be inspiring for some of the law students or recent grads. Chapters were first done as commencement addresses for college grads heading out to the workforce by the likes of Nicholas Wolterstorff, John Perkins, Amy Sherman, Rich Mouw, me, and more…

Of all these general sorts of books on work and calling, there are those that are specifically about lawyering. For years, the go-to, necessary book for those working in this field was the fabulous The Lawyer’s Calling: Christian Faith and Legal Practice by Roman Catholic attorney, Joseph Allegretti. More meaty and rooted in a robust evangelical worldview is the essential volume by our dear pal Mike Schutt, called Redeeming Law: Christian Calling and the Legal Profession (IVP Academic; $30.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $24.79.) It remains, in many ways, the gold standard of a thoughtful resource in this field. What a book!

 

The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Christian Faith in Everyday Law Practice by Robert F. Cochran (IVP; $28.00 / OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40.)

This year, at long last, we saw the release of a book we have been eager for, an easy-to-read, enjoyable one for ordinary lawyers that is practical and profound, useful and readable, less theoretical then these other standards, but rooted in a comprehensive Christian orientation. As yoiu can see, the new one is called The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Christian Faith in Everyday Law Practice by Robert F. Cochran, a man we admire very, very much. We’ve highlighted it here at BookNotes but having it featured at the national Christian Legal Society gathering felt like a launch party.

The book carries a lovely foreword by law prof John Inazu. Even as I often say that every career should have a single, ground-breaking and seminal book like Redeeming Law by Cochran’s friend Mike Schutt, I now also say every career should be so fortunate as to have a scholar and practitioner unfold basic Christian notions for thinking and serving well in their particular career area that is as practical as The Servant Lawyer. The Servant Lawyer is simply the perfect book for ordinary lawyers! We rejoice that Christian lawyers have these great resources and that they hopefully inspire other professional fields — engineers, doctors, architects, social workers, bankers, teachers — to develop books that are not too hard and not too simplistic, not too theoretical but not merely about being nice and honest on the job, but explores habits and practices and dispositions to think faithfully and serve well at work.

We applaud Cochran for being such a good thinker. He has written other serious works and edited a very useful one called Law and the Bible: Justice, Mercy and Legal Institutions, (where his own chapter was co-written with his old friend, the late Dallas Willard.) His academic and teaching prowess helps him know how to draw out good stuff about the daily practices of lawyering. This new The Servant Lawyer addresses real-world situations experienced by most lawyers and “charts the way toward a truly Christian practice of everyday law.” Bob is the Brandeis Professor of Law Emeritus at Pepperdine and now is a scholar at James Davison Hunter’s important UVA think-tank, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

 OS GUINNESS

One of the great experiences at our event last week was getting to see and hear and sell books for one of our longest supporters and friends, Dr. Os Guinness. It has been a while since we’ve seen the erudite scholar and social critic, and it was just wonderful to be together, if only for an evening. His address was eloquent and serious and he said one thing that struck me. He noted that whoever is declared the winner in the election, the struggle to reform the ethos of America and deepen our civic education about the first things of the Republic, in Biblically faithful ways, will be ongoing.

The more important date, he suggested, isn’t this current election or the upcoming inauguration day, but, rather, a few short years from now — 2026 which will be the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. It is true that historians observe that many great empires have a shelf life (so to speak) of about 250 years. In that context, Guinness’s last few titles (which even I have suggested may sound a bit alarmist) may be prophetic and urgent: see below my brief descriptions of compelling books with ominous titles such as Zero Hour America, Last Call for Liberty, A Free People’s Suicide. Maybe his passion for renewing a failing civilization is worth hearing yet again.

Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012.

(For a glimpse into his effective speaking and diligent thinking, take a look at him doing an informal lecture to a group of students, here) or an older, moving presentation on his classic The Call, here.)

Here are 12 of the books by Os Guinness, all of which we have highlighted at BookNotes before.

ALL ARE ON SALE – 20% OFF.

The Dust of Death: The Sixties Counterculture and How It Changed America Forever  Os Guinness (IVP) $24.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

This is one of the first (if not the very first) books I read by a thoughtful evangelical on matters of society and culture. I often wonder where I’d be in my life if God didn’t bring this book into my life as a young adult, offering an example of culturally-relevant and timely Christian thinking. He looks extensively at the mid-20th-century, organizational, capitalist culture and the 60s counter-culture with astute, prophetic insight, finally showing that they are both inadequate. The “third way” he points towards is a full-orbed understanding of the Kingdom of God. A few years ago they did an anniversary edition with an updated introduction, suggesting why this analysis is helpful yet today. I even have the great honor of having an endorsement blurb on the inside. Right next to the prominent historian Mark Noll, who called it nothing short of a “bolt from the blue” that is “even more timely than when it first appeared.”

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Your Life Os Guinness (Thomas Nelson Publishers) $19.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

This may be Dr. Guinness’s most enduring work and a book that set off (eventually) a landslide of books about vocation and calling, a Christian sense of the marketplace and the work world, and a movement of evangelicals integrating faith and careers. Developing a Christian view of work is now known to be a central aspect of our whole-life discipleship and no other book has been as seminal, delightful, provocative, and vital. One of my all time favorite reads which I have revisited often. I hope you own it.

Fools Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion Os Guinness (IVP) $24.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

Some have suggested this is one of the greatest books by this great writer and Guinness himself may say it is one of his favorites. He looks at three great influences in his life and what they taught him about the art of persuasion. (The three key leaders are C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, and the sociologist Peter Berger.) We must do more than merely state our opinions (about faith or politics or culture) and then get mad when others don’t agree. We need this counter-intuitive application of “fools talk” and to learn the art of persuasion.

Among the many stellar reviews this book has received since it released in 2015, listen to this from his (late) good friend, Reverend Timothy Keller:

Os Guinness’s books have been invaluable for the Christian church for decades. A great deal of what I know about communicating the faith in modern times I learned from him. This book does not disappoint. Unlike most books on apologetics, it addresses the actual dynamics of conversation and persuasion –as well as providing an unusually comprehensive range of accessible and useful arguments and appeals for the truth of Christianity. I highly recommend it. —Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City

I love how Mary Poplin (whose own journey of faith as a Christian academic was clarified when she worked with Mother Teresa) alludes to Dorothy Sayers when commending Os Guinness:

There is no doubt that Western culture has lost its understanding and attraction to the truth embedded and realized in the life of Jesus Christ. As Dorothy Sayers said in 1947, ‘The brutal fact is that in this Christian country not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion what the Church teaches about God or man or society or the person of Jesus Christ.’ Os Guinness, in his characteristically clear and insightful style, helps us recover the art of persuasively making the case for the truth of Christianity. Fool’s Talk uniquely suggests we use, not the eager-to-win argumentative styles of the twenty-first century, but the persuasive styles of the church fathers, Old Testament prophets, New Testament writers and Jesus himself as our models. The irresistible nature of their reasoning and Guinness’s brilliance in explaining them is a sure guide. — Mary Poplin, author of Is Reality Secular? and Finding Calcutta

Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization Os Guinness (IVP) $18.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

This is a hard-hitting book, still winsome as he often is, but a serious call to be people with spine and backbone, to be nearly impossible as the world judges, those who know what we believe and why we believe it and are willing to askew worldly privilege or status or acceptance as we stand for God’s truths in a fallen world. Can we be brave and wise and good and “impossible”? Agree or not with every detail of his social analysis or forward-looking agenda, this is a book we all need reminding us of the cost of discipleship.

Guiness, as I have said before in our many BookNotes reviews, was born in China (to missionary parents, serving selflessly there among the poor) and lost two brothers in his family’s harrowing escape from Communist persecution. Some sound the alarm about, say, aggressive secularism or radical Islam, and, frankly, I sometimes think they are fear-mongering, perhaps for their own profit or ideology. Not so, Os Guiness — who has earned the right to call us to face reality (“without flinching: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion”) and to be faithful and full of goodness, despite all. This is a book unlike many you will pick up and we do recommend it.

With his unique blend of incisive clarity and prophetic vision, Os Guinness has written a book that will challenge, encourage, and awaken us to live wholeheartedly for Christ in this ‘grand clarifying moment.’ I recommend Impossible People as a book for such a time as this. — Amy Orr-Ewing, director, The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics

The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom Os Guinness (IVP) $22.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

In the CLS lecture the other evening Os reminded us of the upcoming 250th anniversary of our country’s founding and wondered out loud if such a significant marker may be somewhat ominous — many historians suggest that most empires do not last much longer. Will we keep our grand Republic? Are our democratic practices, institutions, and structures adequate for our time? Understanding the foundation of our nation’s founding is key, this admiring Brit thinks, and in this he offers one of the most powerful overviews of the roots of American politics that you will ever read; he links our views of freedom not only to insights from the Romans and before that, the Greeks, but from the Hebrews. Note the important subtitle, here. The book is dedicated to the late public intellectual, the Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

This book should be read by anyone who is concerned about the future of America and of Western civilization. In warning that Western freedoms are under threat, Os Guinness is not issuing an angry culture-war call to arms but a rational, cogently argued case for looking again at what made America and the West so successful in the first place. Guinness is a masterful writer. He pulls no punches in his critique of what ails the postmodern West. His arguments will and should be hotly debated, but they should not be ignored. —Rob Gifford, senior editor, The Economist

Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat Os Guinness (IVP) $26.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

In this powerful book Dr. Guinness observes:

“The hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War. Conflicts, hostility, and incivility now threaten to tear the country apart. Competing visions have led to a dangerous moment of cultural self-destruction. This is no longer politics as usual, but an era of political warfare where our enemies are not foreign adversaries, but our fellow citizens.”

The roots of this crisis, he believes, is (at least in part) that we have adopted a vision that is more rooted in the revolutionary fervor of the French Revolution instead of the more healthy approach of the American solution, so the question is, in a nutshell, do we stand on the shoulders of those from 1789 or 1776? This is not the blather of Christian nationalism or sentimental patriotism, but a serious question of our roots and branches as a nation and as a culture. The book is arranged as a series of 10 questions on how we understand freedom, how we plan to sustain freedom, how we are vigilant about the institutions critical to freedom and whatnot. He asks if our constitutional republic “will be restored or replaced?” What a grand, important question, underlying a set of very good inquiries.

The final afterword is offered as a stirring conclusion, “American’s choice: Covenant, Chaos, or Control.” This is classic Guinness, a clarion call to the things he cares so much about. Don’t miss it.

Zero Hour America: History’s Ultimatum Over Freedom and the Answer We Must Give Os Guinness (IVP) $23.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $19.19

This shares even more of Dr. Guinness’s profound appreciation for the structures of American freedom and liberty, based on Judeo-Christian principles enclosed in the Declaration and Constitution. He is understandably alarmed — you can feel the looming crisis in the title — and, I gather, troubled (and perhaps sometimes angered) that many Americans seem to care little about our civic foundations and the dangers of losing our distinctively American principles for ordering freedom. Are we unaware that history is offering us this current ultimatum?

Even at the CLS event, more than one person linked Os’s observations, tireless talks, and books as in the tradition of Alexis de Tocqueville — a “visitor’s careful observation of the American experiment.” Discover here a stirring vision for faithful citizenship and renewed responsibility, not only for the nation but also for the watching world. Here he brings great detail and further focus to his concern that we are a people caught between two revolutions (the American, of course, and the French, whose spirit animated the destructive Russian and Chinese revolutions.) He outlines seven key foundation stones of freedom which we simply must understand.

He makes a compelling case that we are in an urgent “civilization moment” with a (soon to close?) window of opportunity to renew our civic virtues. Of course, as a God-fearing evangelical, he is quick to call us to God’s ways, to trust in Christ’s Lordship, to allow the Spirit to guide us towards repentance and renewal. He is not hopeless, but this book is full of passion and concern.

The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Diversity Os Guinness (IVP) $17.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

We are proud to stock this (as with all the others, and more) book of Guinness even though — truth be told — we don’t find many who are interested in buying it from us. Alas, it is a great read, important, insightful, wise. There is great analysis and some powerful stories. Like with the Knox Thames book above, this captures some of the most vexing and most thrilling things going on in the world today where we see the intersection of human rights and religious faith, global diplomacy and Christian mission. While not overtly a book about world missions and being of such savvy international insight that it could and should be read by those who do not share his animating Christian orientation, The Global Public Square at least should be you your radar screen. Global affairs matter and we should be aware of the ways in which “making the world safe for diversity” can be a key principle to bring groups together in decent common cause. Guinness travels all over the world lecturing on these (and similar) themes and he is uniquely positioned to speak to our 21st century global setting.

I found this to be an exceptionally potent book and I’m a bit sad it isn’t among his better known volumes. He takes much of the serious work he has done (in, say A Free People’s Suicide, and, decades before, the Williamsburg Charter on first amendment freedoms) and applies these to the global public square.

Here is how the publisher describes it:

Recognizing that tyranny takes on secular as well as traditional guises, Os Guinness seeks a return to the first principles of religious and political freedom. Hearkening back to the “soul liberty” of English Puritan Roger Williams, Guinness argues that a society’s greatest bulwark against abuse lies in its people’s freedom of conscience.

There are commendation quotes affirming this book by exceptional figures. For instance, a former senior director of the National Security Council, (yes, working out of the White House) and the director of Georgetown’s  Religious Freedom Project. Tremendous author and global freedom activist Paul Marshall weighs in as well with a very valuable blurb. Please read these, among many, vital endorsements:

“One of the foremost religious-liberty thinkers of our time, Os Guinness sets a soaring goal for this book: establishing a vision of religious freedom (‘soul freedom’) that accommodates competing truth claims about who man is and why he exists, guarantees freedom and justice, and builds stability amidst a fragile world order. Guinness succeeds magnificently. This book should be required reading for the secularist and the theocrat alike. Its Global Charter of Conscience is a blueprint for all the peoples of the world–both in the West and beyond–struggling to achieve for themselves just and lasting regimes of ordered liberty.”  –Thomas Farr, director, The Religious Freedom Project, Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs

“For a generation now, Os Guinness has stood as one of our most consistently prophetic voices. In this latest book he returns to a lifelong concern: the precarious status of religious liberty in a fractured world. Drawing on a breadth of insights from history, philosophy, sociology and theology, Guinness makes a compelling case for the primacy of ‘soul freedom’ as the only enduring foundation for securing peace and human flourishing in our fractious era of unprecedented pluralism. And he does so in his inimitable way, with passion, eloquence and civility. It is a challenging yet ultimately hopeful message that demands to be heard, and to be acted upon.” — William Inboden, University of Texas-Austin, former senior director, National Security Council, the White House

“Os Guinness consistently tackles salient and difficult issues and, while giving due recognition to their complexity, analyzes them in clear argument and expounds them in lucid prose. In The Global Public Square, he does so again. Contemporary problems of diversity and religious freedom are massive, urgent and growing, but our deep differences are seldom addressed in other than a shallow way. This short but wide-ranging and eloquent defense of freedom of religion and conscience, and civility and plurality–which the author summarizes as ‘soul freedom’–provides much-needed insight and guidance in our common future.” — Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and coauthor of Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide and Heaven Is Not My Home: Living in the Now of God’s Creation

Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times Os Guinness (IVP) $20.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $16.79

Guiness admits here that we live in dark times. He reminds us that many Christians wonder if modernity has made Christian though essentially irrelevant and impotent. As more and more scholars explore life in a “secular age” some realize there are glimmers of hope and surprising possibilities, despite our failing churches and conflicted cultural battles.

This is about how the church has done much good in society throughout history — through the best art and literature, “building cathedrals and universities, proclaiming God’s goodness…” Can we nurture this whole life vision for all-of-life redeemed sort of cultural renewal? Only as we do things in God’s ways, for God’s glory. Renaissance is a hopeful book, a succinct appeal for cultural transformation. Unlike some spiffy calls to social engagement, Os draws on his knowledge of key points in history. He offers wisdom and insight, passion and a prayer at the end of each chapter. It’s a favorite of mine and reminds us (alongside his more academic studies of American politics and his less than optimistic take on American dispositions these days) that he is, as a strong Christian leader, a man of great hope and joy.

One of my favorite, short Guinness books it would be our deep pleasure to receive your orders.

Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times Os Guinness (IVP) $18.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I could wax on and on about this…. Who doesn’t want to make the most of our time in this fast-paced and hectic age? The title alone is intriguing and I think important. We all love the “Carpe Diem” slogan (and, for some of us, Tony Campolo’s rousing sermons about it.) But Os astutely reminds us that we can’t very well seize the day without knowing something about the day. What time is it, culturally? Where are we? What does faithfulness look like in this particular cultural moment? Sheer passion or exhibiting moxie to grab the gusto simply isn’t an adequate Christian perspective. We sure needn’t be driven by FOMO. What, really, are we seizing? And why?

What we should rather do is nurture habits and skills of discernment — about the times, yes, but also of learning to listen to God’s own voice — and respond in obedience to his call. It seems this upbeat and relatively practical book could be seen as a decades-later revisit of The Call. I refer to it as a sequel although it clearly stands on its own. A great, stimulating read.  Come on!

The Great Quest: Invitation to an Examined Life and A Sure Path to Meaning Os Guinness (IVP) $16.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

Several years ago Os helped produce a series of remarkable studies, used often in business or executive circles, studying important literature or vital social critics to open the door to discussions about values and truth, renewal and grace, social virtue and more. They have gone out of print, but this book may have emerged from that initial study, exploring what Socrates meant when he said that the “unexamined life” was hardly worth living. Many more or less believe that but few are diligent or brave enough to ask the biggest questions and search for an authentic, coherent, plausible worldview. Is there such a thing as “a sure path to meaning”? Why or why not?What does an examined life look like? What kind of questions might we ask and how do we know what to seek? What should we read and study? Are there guides along the way? This little book is thoughtful but not dry, serious but not deadly. It has tons of inspiring information but is only 130 pages. You should have a few on hand, just in case.

Signals of Transcendence: Listening to the Promptings of Life Os Guinness (IVP) $16.99 / OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

I adore this little book and am glad to have commended it often before here at BookNotes. It is a collection of brief biographies, exploring the intellectual and spiritual longings of those who sought for something more. From Tolstoy to Lewis to one of Guinness’s own beer-brewing relatives to one of his own academic mentors, Peter Berger (who may have coined the phrase “signals of transcendence”), he offers these testimonials of serious seekers who listened to the echos. Not all are Christians, by the way, but each captured something about the mystery of life (Philip Hallie asks why goodness happened in a place that hid Jews during the Nazi terror.) Each story shows how things in the creation (Chesterton being taken by a dandelion, say) or in our longing hearts, become clues for those wanting to make sense of our human existence.

I like how the publisher puts it:

Through unsatisfied longings or disillusionments that yet yielded glimpses of beauty or joy, these moments drew people toward epiphanies of transformation. And the same can be true for us, should we have the courage to follow the signals wherever they may lead.

Listen for the signals. And discover what more awaits those with ears to hear.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Os Guinness is releasing several forthcoming books over the next season or so, self-published and soon to be available. Please let us know if you want volume 1 as soon as we can acquire it; it is entitled Our Civilizational Moment: The Waning of the West and the War of the Worlds (Kildare Press.)

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