THE DEATH OF WESTERN CHRISTIANITY
Drinking from the poisoned wells of the cultural
revolution
By Patrick Sookhdeo
Isaac Publishing. 224 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 0 997 703 344
This book is well written and is a bold and clear presentation of Dr Sookhdeo’s thesis: ‘The death of Western Christianity’: drinking from the poisoned wells of the cultural revolution’. It is also helpful in finding out what LGBTQQIP2SAA means.
In his introduction, by the use of various (global and secular) statistics, Dr Sookhdeo develops his thesis with clarity and laments the decline of church attendance over decades. He does not hold back as he surveys the evidence: ‘Since the 1960s Christian leaders have progressively betrayed the gospel’; ‘The humanist leaders were zealous and creative evangelists, surpassing the fervour of Christian missionaries’. He believes that the hypocrisy of many contemporary evangelical groups like God TV and Christian Today have led to a failure to discern the good from the bad in today’s godless Western culture by their support for, and praise of, ‘raunch culture celebrities’.
Too scared to challenge lies
In this book we have: an analysis of Western culture, morality and materialism today (Chapters 2-4); a diagnosis (chapters 5-8), starting with what is truth in a post-Christian era? Post-truth ideology is defined and while recognising that, ‘there are no absolutes in postmodern thinking’, he laments that people ‘are too scared to challenge lies, because they themselves do not know what to believe’. Where does the visible church stand here? Dr Sookhdeo acknowledges that it is not unaffected by this worldly infection and the implications of living in a post-truth era are spelled out. The intolerant marginalisation of Christianity is found to lie in rejection of Christianity’s claim that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ who alone is God’s final revelation.
A solution? (Chapters 9-10); the loss of a Christian identity is the West’s problem today. A vacuum has been created by unbelief and Islam is poised to fill the gap. What is to be done? Dr Sookhdeo suggests that the church returns to the, ‘basics of the Christian faith’ seen in its creeds which (again) should be incorporated into corporate worship services. Christian communities need to train their young, disciple converts and believe that the Great Commission is still operative today and in the future.
Knowledge of Islam
Dr Sookhdeo is well equipped to write this book. He has been in the vanguard of holding forth the truth as it is in Jesus while being fully engaged for over 40 years in evangelism and church planting. He has provided the global church with aid in times of famine, war and natural disasters, while also providing essential training of Christian ministers and pastors through the work of the Barnabas Fund. His expertise includes a thorough knowledge of Islam in its various forms and of the forces that are now wreaking havoc in Christendom. What Dr Sookhdeo says needs to be said, heard and taken to heart – without ‘losing heart’. Acknowledging that things are this way, we must surely ask: ‘What can the righteous do?’
This book reminds me of that helpful tome, Evangelicalism Divided by Iain H. Murray (Banner of Truth, 2000) which records the crucial theological changes in the years 1950-2000 within the evangelical camp of the Church of England especially on the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture. Dr Sookhdeo’s work is a contemporary ‘Part Two’ in this very sad saga of gospel decline in the West. He says what many evangelicals (and not only they, but others in Christendom too) are thinking. He analyses the sick patient – the visible church – and gives his clear diagnosis and prognosis.
Driven to prayer
We should not be surprised that this is not what God’s people want to hear. It is not easy reading as it documents attacks on the people of God. It exposes the hypocrisy of the visible church and it reveals that the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) considers Christian missionaries as, ‘spreading prejudiced views’ and holding ‘hateful attitudes towards homosexuals, transgender and inter-sexuality’ (p.125). This book is guaranteed to drive its readers to urgent prayer. Prayer is needed because wisdom and grace are required from God to navigate the present climate of opposition to biblical Christianity. Prayer for revival is urgent.
