Rethinking Worldview

Awe-struck with Their Savior

I'd just spent a couple of hours in a particularly discouraging meeting, and when I checked my e-mail afterward a bit of providential encouragement was waiting. My friend Diana Moore, whose husband Pete was a mentor of mine back in Houston, finished Rethinking Worldview and reported that not only had she enjoy it, but she'd made use of it in her counseling work, too. She granted permission for me to share this quote:

"As a Biblical Counselor, I spend much time working with discouraged people. In the past two weeks, I have read your last chapter to most of my adult clients. Without exception, their hearts have been lifted by being exposed to the scene in heaven that caused them to once again be awe-struck with their Savior. You put the information together so beautifully. The connection to 'on earth as it is in heaven' has literally given hope to many over these weeks." -- Diana J. Moore, Biblical Counselor

It's always a pleasure to hear from readers, but I take particular joy in having given back to someone who did so much to help form my own perspective. Thanks, Diana! God has once again used you to say the right thing at the right time.

The scene in heaven Diana refers to is found in Revelation 4 and 5, which I write about in the book's final pages. If it's permissible to have a "favorite" passage in the Bible, this would be mine. It's where the new song, my favorite song, is sung:

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

It's hard be anything but awestruck with such music in the air.

World Magazine's Graduate Recommendations

In the May 3 issue of World Magazine, Marvin Olasky includes Rethinking Worldview in a list of recommended books for graduates, echoing his endorsement of the book when it came out:

A good graduation gift for the smaller pool of college survivors heading to seminary or graduate school is J. Mark Bertrand's (Re)Thinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007). Bertrand's four worldview pillars, his explanation of how to move from consumer to critic to contributor, his discussion of personal unity and diversity within the Trinity, and much besides, make this book worth having and giving.

Here's a link to the full article (log-in required).

David Dockery's Endorsement

"Rethinking Worldview is an engagingly written work to strengthen believers in their efforts to engage the world in a winsome and effective manner. Built around the themes of worldview, wisdom, and witness, this excellent book provides an illuminating and thoughtful way forward for the 21st century Church to think, live, speak, and worship. Mark Bertrand has made a splendid contribution to the ongoing conversation regarding Christian worldview thinking. After reading this book I wanted to shout "Yes, and Amen!" I heartily commend this book and trust that it will receive a wide readership."

DAVID S. DOCKERY
President, Union University

Gideon Strauss's Endorsement

"J. Mark Bertrand has written a book on worldviews that is inviting to people who read novels. It is rich in reference to Scripture and literature, winsomely anecdotal, finely crafted, and clear in style. Rethinking Worldview invites us on a journey of discovery about the world in which we live, and equips us with the navigational tools necessary for that journey. I will be recommending it to my friends -- especially to the passionate and tough-minded young adults I am encountering on college and university campuses."

GIDEON STRAUSS
Editor of the journal Comment

David Naugle's Endorsement

"For those of you suffering from 'worldview fatigue,' or who think it's a theologically unhelpful concept, or who are new to the notion altogether, read this book. It's like a satisfying draught of ice-cold, refreshing water on a hot summer day! It offers reinvigorating approaches to the priceless Christian worldview concept, properly focuses our attention on its wisdom-giving properties, and propels us to full-bodied Christian witness and cultural engagement on its basis. Bertrand's book is a rich gift to serious citizens of the kingdom of God."

DAVID NAUGLE
Professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University and author of Worldview:The History of a Concept (Eerdmans 2002).

Leland Ryken's Endorsement

"The strength of Bertrand’s book is its comprehensiveness, as the author turns the prism of worldview until every angle has been illuminated. Bertrand maintains our interest throughout his long discussion with an incipient narrative thread in which his understanding of worldview is told as the sum of his own discoveries and experiences in relation to worldview. The book actually has the quality of a suspense story in which the reader is led to wonder what Bertrand discovered next in regard to worldview."

LELAND RYKEN
Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English, Wheaton College

Marvin Olasky's Endorsement

"Rethinking Worldview throws off sparks able to light the dry tinder that many Sunday school classes and seminary seminars have become. J. Mark Bertrand’s four worldview pillars, his explanation of how to move from consumer to critic to contributor, his discussion of personal unity and diversity within the Trinity, and much besides makes this book worth having and giving."

MARVIN OLASKY
Editor-in-Chief, World Magazine