This is a compilation of 18 stories about Christian people in repressive countries. One of my absolute favorites is the first. It is by a very intelligent young man in China. He was one of 5% of the entire population of China that scored well enough to be allowed to go to the University in Beijing in 1987. In 1989 the Chinese leadership shot and killed many of his classmates in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The author was sickened and disillusioned when he realized that Marxism had been his religion and he could not longer believe in it. He began to study all the old Chinese religions. He studied Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism etc but finally came to Christianity. He found that only Christianity spoke of the evil in man and the hope through Christ. He became a Christian though he knew that could lead to his arrest.

Some of the other stories are so stark - the difficulty to find a church, Bible or other believers in countries that are 99% Muslim. It definitely makes you realize how blessed we are in this country and how much we need to pray for and support our brothers in other countries!

Good book

The power of your worldview lies in the fact that it is hidden. It is a collection of your underlying beliefs and assumptions which color all of your thinking, yet is rarely examined openly. Idols for Destruction is a challenging read, but well worth the effort for those who would like to gain a fresh perspective on the worldviews that they have unconciously adopted. The author writes from a Christian perspective, and most people will probably not agree with all of his ideas, but he systematically goes through most of the 20th century influences on Western thought and compares them with a traditional Judeo-Christian world view. He does an excellent job in drawing out the implications of the various philosophical systems and providing examples of how they are manifest in modern culture. The most useful things I have gained from this book are first, a review of most of the philosophies which have shaped this century and a heightened awareness of what worldview is implicitly expressed by various thinkers and writers. This helps me to be a more critical thinker and to analyze people's arguments better. The second thing I have gained is the realization that there are other options then whatever worldview happens to be the most popular today. This has opened up whole new areas of thought and allowed me to understand a much broader range of ideas by people who have differing worldviews. This book is very well documented. It helps if you have had a college cource on Philosophy or have a quick reference book to help you to understand all of his references to philosophical and moral systems. It is not casual reading, and it will force you to do some hard thinking, but it is well worth the effort.

Turning Point is the initial book in a series on developing a Biblical worldview. Marvin Olasky, Editor-in-Chief of World Magazine, and Herbert Schlossberg, author of Idols for Destruction, here set forth the fundamentals of this Christian worldview. After addressing the problems of rationalism and pietism, they offer a true balance of reason and piety, a harmony that reveals itself in Christian action.

The first problem is the error of rationalism, which places man's reason above all else, and ends up throwing out Scripture and much truth out of a desire to be reasonable. When reason is elevated so high, sins such as abortion and sexual immorality suddenly seem milder than they really are, and ideas such as evolution begin to take prominence over against Christian truth.

They also cover the problems of pietism, which is devotion to God to the exclusion of involvement in the world. Many Christians see problems in our culture and instead of grappling with these matters, confident in Christ's instruction in all matters, they instead retreat into their personal lives of prayer, Bible reading, and "love." When such pietism is embraced, both culture and the church are allowed to be harmed by the world.

Olasky and Schlossberg expose the ditches of rationalism and pietism on both sides of the road, and then they guide readers onto the straight path. A Christian worldview recognizes the importance of both reason and piety, and they blend these two together in submission to God's Word. Christians are to love God, but prayer and study of Scripture are to be manifested in discipline of the nations. Reason is necessary to apply the Bible to assorted areas in culture, but wisdom is lost when reason replaces Scripture.

Use reason wisely, and be a truly pious Christian. But don't serve either out of proportion; blend them together into a glorious view of the world and subsequent reform of culture.