Review: Beyond Belief to Convictions

          by Josh McDowell & Bob Hostetler

reviewed by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                   Vol. XVII, No. 9, Nov/Dec 2004

In this very readable book of exactly 300 pages, Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler address one of most important issues of our time: the impact of our postmodern culture on our children. The essence of postmodernism is that there is no objective truth, no definite right and wrong, what’s right for you may be wrong for me and vice versa.

Obviously, such a perspective denies the existence of God, ultimately reduces existence to the material, and argues that all claims of “truth” are simply arbitrary beliefs society conditions us to accept. In short, postmodernism is about as anti-biblical as you can imagine. Yet this is what is taught by government schools, secular colleges, and the media, and so is particularly pressing on our youngsters.

Beyond Belief to Convictions provides tools to “correct our young people’s distorted beliefs and lead them to deepened convictions about God and His word.” McDowell and Hostetler provide families and the church with “solid reasons to believe and a biblical blueprint for living out those beliefs in relationship with others”, as it says on the jacket.

The book does not just point out the problem. It very clearly addresses how to strengthen our youth’s beliefs and understanding and to equip them to stand firm in the face of worldly pressures, including a number of resources available to families, churches, and Christian schools.

I strongly recommend this book for every Christian.