Who Gets to Narrate the World?: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals

by Robert E. Webber

Overview

Who gets to narrate the world? The late Robert Webber believed this question to be the most pressing issue of our time. Christianity in America, he preached, will not survive if Christians are not rooted in and informed by the uniquely Christian story that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the burden of Webber's final book, Who Gets to Narrate the World?: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals. Convinced that American evangelicals are facing the demise of their entire way of life and faith, Webber challenges his readers to rise up and engage both the external and internal challenges confronting them today. This means that Christians must repent of their cultural accommodation and reclaim the unique story--the Christian story--that God has given them both to proclaim and to live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830877713
Publisher:	IVP
Publication date:	08/20/2009
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	137
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

The late Robert E. Webber (Th.D., Concordia) was Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary in Illinois. He founded the Institute for Worship Studies. He was the author of many books, including Common Roots, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, Ancient-Future Faith, Together We Worship and Listening to the Beliefs of Emergent Churches.

The late Robert E. Webber (Th.D., Concordia) was Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary in Illinois. He founded the Institute for Worship Studies. He was the author of many books, including Common Roots, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, Ancient-Future Faith, Together We Worship and Listening to the Beliefs of Emergent Churches.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Wake-Up Call
1. God's Narrative
2. God's Narrative Emerges in a Pagan Roman World
3. God's Narrative Influences the Foundations of Western Civilization
4. How the West Lost God's Narrative
5. Our Postmodern, Post Christian, Neopagan World
6. New Contenders Arise to Narrate the World
7. A Call to Narrate the World Christianly
Conclusion: A Challenge

What People are Saying About This

David Neff

"Bob Webber offers a broad-stroke survey of the grand narratives that seduce and bind us, and utters a passionate call for the church to teach and embody the whole sweep of God's story in a postmodern world."

Editorial Reviews

"Robert Webber's final gift to the Christian community. I would certainly recommend this book to beginning theology readers interested in understanding the relationship of the Christian faith and culture formation."

Daniel J. Doleys

"Bob Webber offers a broad-stroke survey of the grand narratives that seduce and bind us, and utters a passionate call for the church to teach and embody the whole sweep of God's story in a postmodern world."

David Neff

"The author encourages readers to not only become more familiar with the history of Christianity, but in so doing, to take a stand for the kingdom of God and regain spiritual ground Christians have unknowingly surrendered."

Heidi L. Ippolito

"Webber's warnings remain valuable for those of us in the West. We are not the only game in town."

David Embree

". . .an excellent survey of worldviews.

Church Libraries

"This was Bob Webber's last book; it puts together all of his thinking. I highly recommend this book, not only as a quick access to Webber's seminal ideas, but as a study worth using in small groups."

Scot McKnight

"Webber's critique will resonate with many. He offers a clarion call for evangelicals to address their lack of theological depth and their excessive individualism. His plea to return to ancient traditions will appeal to those seeking rootedness in an ahistorical, evanglical world devoid of rich tradition."

David K. Strong

"Who Gets to Narrate the World? is Webber's last book, and is a superlative note on which to leave this life."

M. O.

". . . A thought-provoking read, a call to vie for the biblical Christian narrative in your actions. Thank you Robert Webber."

Worship Leader

"If you read this book carefully you will hear the Christian store in new ways and be better prepared to resist the idolatries of modernity and postmodernity that Webber condemns."

Benjamin L. Hartley

". . . A thought-provoking read, a call to vie for the biblical Christian narrative in your actions. Thank you Robert Webber."

--Worship Leader, July/August 2008

"Who Gets to Narrate the World? is Webber's last book, and is a superlative note on which to leave this life."

--M. O., WORLD Magazine, June 14/21 2008

"If you read this book carefully you will hear the Christian store in new ways and be better prepared to resist the idolatries of modernity and postmodernity that Webber condemns."

--Benjamin L. Hartley, PRISM, January 2009

"Robert Webber's final gift to the Christian community. I would certainly recommend this book to beginning theology readers interested in understanding the relationship of the Christian faith and culture formation."

--Daniel J. Doleys, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth (rdwot.wordpress.com), February 20, 2009

"This was Bob Webber's last book; it puts together all of his thinking. I highly recommend this book, not only as a quick access to Webber's seminal ideas, but as a study worth using in small groups."

--Scot McKnight, Jesus Creed, June 13, 2008

"Webber's critique will resonate with many. He offers a clarion call for evangelicals to address their lack of theological depth and their excessive individualism. His plea to return to ancient traditions will appeal to those seeking rootedness in an ahistorical, evanglical world devoid of rich tradition."

--David K. Strong, Missiology, February 2009

". . .an excellent survey of worldviews.

--Church Libraries, Fall 2008

"The author encourages readers to not only become more familiar with the history of Christianity, but in so doing, to take a stand for the kingdom of God and regain spiritual ground Christians have unknowingly surrendered."

--Heidi L. Ippolito, Christian Retailing, May 19, 2008

"Webber's warnings remain valuable for those of us in the West. We are not the only game in town."

--David Embree, SCJ, Spring 2009

From the Publisher