CHRISTIAN COUNTERMOVES IN A DECADENT CULTURE, by Carl F. H. Henry

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

by Benjamin J. Montoya, PhD

 

About the Author

CARL F. H. HENRY is widely recognized as a foremost thinker, educator, author, and theologian of the twentieth century. He held the ThD from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the PhD from Boston University. He was the founding editor of Christianity Today, the Chairman of the World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin in 1966, and the Program Chairman for the Jerusalem Conference on Biblical Prophecy in 1970. 

 

Introduction  

No doubt there are problems in this world, but what is the underlying issue? Is there a solution? And what would be the prescription? Who would apply it? Carl F. H. Henry has masterfully answered these questions in this book. It is hoped that our summary helps serve the larger purposes of his book.

 

Table of Contents

Part 1: THE PROBLEM
Chapter 1  The God of the Bible and Moral Foundations
Chapter 2  Twenty Fantasies of a Secular Society
Chapter 3  Nothing to Worry About?
Chapter 4  On Being Beside Yourself
Chapter 5  The Outrageous Evil of Abortion

Part 2:  THE PRESCRIPTION
Chapter 6  The Greatest Text on Freedom
Chapter 7  True Liberation
Chapter 8  Christ at the Center
Chapter 9  The Modern Importance of the Resurrection

Part 3:  WHERE ARE THE PHYSICIANS?
Chapter 10  Truths You Have Learned
Chapter 11  Politics and the Church
Chapter 12  God’s Press Corps in the Cultural Crossfire
Chapter 13  What Commander Needs Tin Soldiers?

 

Summary

 

Part 1:  THE PROBLEM

 

Chapter 1: The God of the Bible and Moral Foundations

The moral foundations of our society depend on the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the creator of this world, he sustains it, and he is Lord over it. He sent his Son into the world to redeem it and to provide us with an example of what living in obedience to God the Father means. 

Many, however, deny any concept of morality because of their denial of the God of the Bible. Starting from a variety of philosophical and supposed scientific starting points, many people try to deny the existence of God. Yet, even secular philosophers have noted how our society depends on the biblical concept of theism. To deny biblical theism’s influence on our society is the beginning of uprooting the entire society, just like societies of old died and disappeared (Babylon, Sodom, and Gomorrah, etc.). When people deny the existence of God, everything becomes subjective and speculative instead of having any moral foundations whatsoever. 

The larger problem that our society faces is that it is seeking to deny, or crush, its very foundation and, as such, engage in whatever people think is right in their own eyes without any reference to the larger moral implications of their actions. This issue underlies all the issues we see today like abortion. . . .

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