{"product_id":"making-the-best-of-it","title":"Making the Best of It","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat should be the Christian's attitude toward society? When so much of our contemporary culture is at odds with Christian beliefs and mores, it may seem that serious Christians now have only two choices: transform society completely according to Christian values or retreat into the cloister of sectarian fellowship.In Making the Best of It, John Stackhouse explores the history of the Christian encounter with society, the biblical\n\u003cbr\u003erecord, and various theological models of cultural engagement to offer a more balanced and fruitful alternative to these extremes. He argues that, rather than trying to root up the weeds in the cultural field, or\n\u003cbr\u003etrying to shun them, Christians should practice persistence in gardening God's world and building toward the New Jerusalem. Examining the lives and works of C. S. Lewis, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer for example and direction, Stackhouse suggests that our mission is to make the most of life in the world in cooperation with God's own mission of redeeming the world he loves. This model takes seriously the pattern of God's activity in the Bible, and in subsequent history, of working\n\u003cbr\u003ethrough earthly means--through individuals, communities, and institutions that are deeply flawed but nonetheless capable of accomplishing God's purposes. Christians must find a way to live in this world\n\u003cbr\u003eand at the same time do work that honors God and God's plan for us.In an era of increasing religious and cultural tensions, both internationally and domestically, the model that Stackhouse develops discourages the \"all or nothing\" attitudes that afflict so much of contemporary Christianity. Instead, he offers  a fresh, and refreshingly nuanced, take on the question of what it means to be a Christian in the world today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44156232138990,"sku":"9780199843947","price":61.94,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9612\/7726\/files\/9780199843947.jpg?v=1706231908","url":"https:\/\/bookland.com.au\/products\/making-the-best-of-it","provider":"Book Land AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}