The Reading List

Professional Readings for Culture Warriors

Some Assertions

I’m sure you’re already taking sides just having read the title. Culture war does that to people. I’ll assert early on that no one on the planet can win culture war. Those who claim they can will not be featured here. Their books will not be listed here. Those who consider themselves “professional” culture warriors who stand to gain personally from this conflict have left out one preeminent truth—that God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, has already carried the day.

Yet, living in a war zone requires us to know something of war. You need to know the location of “shelters,” the meaning of “defense alert” signals, where to turn for “important information,” and how to arm yourself with the appropriate “weapons.” The books listed herein comprise “professional” readings and you should see them that way. You need to wage culture war as if your life and livelihood depends on it, because they do.

Perhaps you do not believe that we are engaged in warfare for the culture. If so, you need not reference this list of readings. For those of us who do, here is one last thought by way of introduction. Stewards of the truth see our culture pulled and tugged to justify agenda-laden freedom and pleasure philosophies of all sorts. We have grown weary of what’s happening in our culture and we’re tired of humanists forcing their notions of “freedom” and “pleasure” upon us. If the spiritual essence of our culture has faded from existence, and some say it already has, we plan to stand with our forefathers who held that God’s truth was preeminent to their personal freedom. We need to journey to find out what they knew: what it means to pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor in order to contend for the faith on the culture war’s many battlefields. I offer these books for your consideration as they have pointed me in the way I should go.

Part One: Foundations

If there truly were war colleges for culture warriors, they would no doubt require prerequisites for admission. These books offer appropriate focus for the future culture warrior. If you understand these authors early on, you’ll have no problem staying the course through the academic treatments that follow.

Moreland, J.P. Love Your God With All Your Mind. NavPress, 1997.

The culture war is fought in each of our hearts, souls, and minds, just as the enemy would want. And, he would want us disarmed from the collective strengths we draw by banding together into a synergistic force. Our enemy has given us cable television and HBO right into our living rooms; the internet mainlined straight to our brains, affluence in our wallets, success in our businesses, apathy in our politics, and isolation in our churches. When the Columbines and the clinic bombings and the impeachment trials stir us to try to do something, the enemy fills our hearts with guilt at our own failings, our souls with hopelessness at our lack of faith, and our minds with helplessness at our relative inability to change any of these huge problems that have been years in the making.

Easily one of the best books I’ve read in the last 10 years, Professor J.P. Moreland of Biola University, suggests here that the church is intellectually disarmed in the marketplace of ideas just at a time when the main thrust of our enemy’s attack is on the intellectual battlefield. How prepared are we to contend for the faith intellectually or do we give ground to the enemy intellectually because we do not trust our own rational minds? Moreland is engaging and answers clearly. At only 200 pages, even men will find this an easy read. The 33 additional pages of appendices are a rich bibliographical resource of information that’s worth your time to review. If you had time to read only one of these foundational books, read this one first. Afterwards, you’ll make time for the others.

Guinness, Os. Time For Truth. Baker Books, 2000.

If the enemy’s main point of attack is intellectually based, then the war’s center of gravity is “truth.” The Joint Chiefs of Staff define center of gravity as “those characteristics, capabilities, or localities from which a military force derives its freedom of action, physical strength, or will to fight” (JCS Joint Pub 1-02). In the culture war, truth is not “the first casualty.” Rather, it is the prize. Capture the right to define what truth is and you can remake the culture into whatever you desire. Os Guinness examines truth and ethics and character and leaves you at the same time frustrated and hopeful.

In a very tidy 125 pages, Guinness examines the “lies, hype and spin” of our western culture and concludes that freedom is inextricably connected to true Truth. When you read Guinness, use a highlighter or a pen and record the salient facts that stand out to you on those pages. Use a note card as a book mark and write down the page numbers where your scribblings and highlights are located. My personal copy is a mess, but I’ve used it as a resource countless times in so many contexts.

Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Leadership. Moody Press, 1967.

This classic of the faith is a must for anyone with a heart to lead in a desperate cause. Herein you will discover spiritual leadership traits, frustrations, elations, humility, challenges, and opportunities. I teach leadership and management courses to adult undergraduate students and I have found no better than Sanders to describe leaders who are called to spiritual leadership in the finest tradition of Nehemiah.

Sanders includes a list of qualities that are essential to leadership. These two chapters offer the reader a self-assessment of sorts. You should take some time to review them. If God has called you to contend for the faith in the culture, you will need at least a working knowledge of these qualities should you not possess them. No one of us possesses them all. But then, neither did Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah, et al. so take heart—you’re in great company.

You should never attempt to engage our opponents, not to mention our enemy, without a specific call from God to contend for Him. To do so is to launch out on your own which is dangerous, inviting certain defeat. If you doubt He has called you, read this book before you engage anyone. At only 248 pages, you may proceed quickly, but my guess is that you’ll want to take your time with this book that addresses the heart of your calling.

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline. HarperCollins, 1978.

Culture warriors need to take care of themselves. Sometimes when the going is roughest, you may be the only one to see to your own emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs. Reading Foster is not an inoculation against the sin that is so prevalent in our culture. Nothing will prevent you from wandering across that line of cultural sin. Culture warriors will come into close proximity to the worst our culture has to offer. This is not a matter of “if” but of “when.”

Much like taking a great multi-vitamin or completing a routine check-up, Foster’s book is preventative medicine for those times when you need to be disciplined and steady in the face of opposition or worse. You won’t need to memorize these many disciplines but at least know where to find them when you need them. They will help you through the rough times, but read them when times are good, as well.

While weightier works await you below in Part Two, I had considered placing Celebration of Discipline there with the more substantial academic treatments. Just over 200 pages in length, Foster will take some time to digest but you will learn to love this book quickly. Don’t let the challenging vocabulary or style discourage you. Priceless nuggets of truth await you and when you discover them and take them as your own, your labors will be rewarded. Foster will be a good warm-up for the more difficult reads below. Here’s a hint: read “The Outward Disciplines” first and the others will pass more easily. I found new ideas on the discipline of fasting fascinating.

These four books will prepare you—heart, soul, and mind—for your further study and ultimately the task ahead. They are relatively short reads and available in paperback—easy on the wallet. More importantly, you will quote them again and again in your efforts to contend for the faith.

Zacharias, R. and Vitale, V. Jesus Among Secular Gods: The Countercultural Claims of Christ. FaithWords, 2017.

We are asked to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us for the reason for the hope that we have. We go to Church, attend Bible studies, participate in small groups, and share our time, talent, and treasure with those people and things that edify the body of Christ. But I’m going to tell you that you still need to exercise your mind to combat the forces that threaten your family—ideas and arguments and pretensions and things that set themselves up as an affront to God. These are intellectual constructs—things of the mind. Are you a parent who felt disarmed intellectually while recently engaging your college student son or daughter on the basic foundational principles of the faith? You needn’t feel disarmed any longer.

In Jesus Among Secular Gods: The Countercultural Claims of Christ, Ravi and his co-author, Dr. Vince Vitale approach you with the bedside manner of seasoned physicians. The thundering velvet Truth of the cultural patient’s prognosis may slam you, but you’re left looking for that bus. Atheism and its major acolytes of scientism, hedonism, relativism, and others are found in the X-Rays of reality, and yet are dissected by these skilled philosopher-surgeons before your eyes. Let’s face it. You wouldn’t have studied these alternative worldviews of your own volition. These personal trainers made you look there. You’ll be relieved at the clarity you find.

Part Two: Advanced Readings

Here, I recommend more difficult and time-consuming reading, but necessary if you’re to possess the heart, soul, and mind of a culture warrior whose life and livelihood depend on it.

Hunter, James Davison. Culture Wars: Defining the Struggle for America. Basic Books, 1991.

This is the textbook. Check out this expensive book from the library. Hunter started examining the culture wars dispassionately, and then discovered one side was being unfairly left out of the fight—ours. Make no mistake; this is a more difficult read. Allow yourself enough time to synthesize the ideas that are crafted together into a subtly emerging picture of the current struggle. Sometime during this read, you’ll get angry with Hunter and want him to just get on with it. Don’t. If you hang in there to the end, you’ll prove to yourself why that’s not a good thing to do. Keeping your “head, when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you” is the key, with apologies to Rudyard Kipling.

Kreeft, Peter. How to Win the Culture Wars. InterVarsity Press, 2002.

This is an easier read that slaps you in the face with truth and the reality that will have you wanting to find out how to be slapped again. Some of his word choice regarding the sexual revolution and our cultural sin is surprising and harsh and rough—like war. Mature adults will understand he’s placing the difficult subject of culture war in historical and eternal context. He’ll make your brain hurt to the point that you won’t mind your brain hurting. His is the only book I’ve read (other than the Bible) that properly defines the culture war’s end state: what the culture should look like when the war is over. You may disagree with how he said it, but you’ll love what he said.

Phillips, Timothy R. and Okholm, Dennis L. (eds). Christian Apologetics in the Postmodern World. InterVarsity Press, 1995.

Apologetics is culture war fighting by another name (sorry, that’s not my idea—see 2 Corinthians 10:5). Stressed by apologetics? Do you let others be your apologists? This challenging book will ease you into the notion of becoming one. Another book, Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli is a better organized list of subjects and reasoned response, but Phillips/Okholm is a “safe place” for you to discover that you can become your own apologist, which I’m convinced God wants for us. Once you’ve discovered the water’s fine, read Kreeft/Tacelli.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu, available in the public domain.

Sun Tzu was hardly a saint—he lived hundreds of years before Christ. Yet his military theory became relevant in real time with the advent of unconventional warfare writ large in Vietnam, and which today helps describe culture war, the most unconventional of wars:

All war is based on deception.
For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.
That general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.
Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.
Know the enemy, know thyself, and you will live to fight a hundred battles.

Why should we read Sun Tzu? Our opponents know this work (sometimes quoted in a White House press briefing) and it might help us know ourselves as well.

MacArthur, John. The Truth War. Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Read this capstone book last, as it summarizes the ideas (armor) you need for battle, and wraps them up neatly as a good review of the content in this entire reading list. MacArthur sends you out motivated like Jude to contend for the cause of Christ in the world. According to recent surveys, the Church’s post-modern shift is more readily apparent than ever. This is the best book that places our culture war doctrine and strategy in today’s context for today’s Church and culture.

Swenson, Richard. Contentment: The Secret to a Lasting Calm. NavPress, 2013.

What is contentment? The best source I can find on the subject, other than the Biblical texts, is a book by Dr. Richard Swenson of Margin fame. You need to read the entire book. As I read it, I was struck by his presentation of contentment in contrast with joy, satisfaction, and happiness.

As I describe it, in the iPad of life, if joy, satisfaction and happiness are the “apps” of our world, then contentment is our operating system. Joy and happiness are surface emotions. Contentment is more of an underlying, deeper character quality. Joy and happiness get all of the media attention these days. You have but to reference the nearest television commercial to understand that contentment isn’t exactly what the world is offering to you. Happiness garners the bright lights. Contentment? Not so much.

But, Paul says it clearly in Philippians 4:12. “I have learned the secret of being content . . . .” In our current culture, it seems contentment remains a secret. Read this book and discover the “secret” for yourself.

Part Three: Sword of the Spirit

Culture warriors must not neglect the ultimate weapon. In Part One, you were encouraged to begin basic training for the culture war. In Part Two, I asked you to do some heavier lifting. Now I suggest that you turn to the most authoritative source of culture-war data on the planet.

When is it victory? When is the war over? What do you want the culture to look like after the culture wars? These answers and so much more are in the scriptures. Why would we look anywhere else? As Dr. Peter Kreeft would say, “Read the book.” Write a list of scriptures you can call your own — and use them. Below is my list. Feel free to copy it, and expand it.

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5
Here’s the text that best describes your strategy, your weapons and your mission.

John 14: 6
The culture won’t care if you go to church on Sunday. But the culture will consider it a declaration of war when you quote this verse.

John 8: 32
Many people think the truth will set them free, which is a great sound-bite, but only if they first know the Lord. Truth is the prize in culture war, and the only truth which wields real power comes from above, if you know Him.

Ephesians 6: 12
Who your enemy is, and isn’t.

John 18: 33 – 38
This is Jesus’ intellectual discourse with the cultural representative of His day. He offers us an example of how to deal with a politician.

1 Peter 3: 15
If in your heart you have not set apart Christ as Lord, disengage the enemy immediately. If you’re not speaking with gentleness and respect, go back and read Foster again. If you have set apart Christ as Lord and spoken with gentleness and respect, and still no one is asking you for the reason for the hope that you have, ask them why.

Deuteronomy 6: 5, Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34, Matthew 22: 37 – 40
These scriptures trace the covenant changes between God and man – a point not lost on our culture war enemy, Satan, who attacks our minds, the greatest change in our historical relationship with God.

Romans 1: 18, James 1: 13 – 15
The mind is the womb of sin.

1 Timothy 3: 15
This is the desired end-state after the culture war: that the Church survives as the pillar and foundation of the truth.

Revelation 5
This passage describes when we know the culture war is over, and Who wins!

Ephesians 6: 18
Prayer first, during battle, and last.

Jude 3 and following
The call to action.