The Secular Squeeze
Reclaiming Christian Depth in a Shallow World
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
The real problem with secularism? It's boring.
Christians have for decades lamented the secularism of the modern world. Often secularization is seen as a fierce, malevolent force out to devour everything in its path. But John Alexander suggests the real danger of secularism is that it is empty and shallow: it has squeezed the world flat.
Modern secular culture has produced people who see themselves as little more than highly evolved machines. They live ina world with no heroes, only celebrities, and with no causes more grand than acquiring a nice house.
The only adequate response to secularism's emptiness, Alexander argues, is a remnant church that actually lives by the truth of Jesus' story, a gospel that offers people something truly worth living and dying for. 'The Secular Squeeze' couples trenchant cultural analysis with stirring, constructive insight into how Christians can disavow the false myths of secularism and take up a cross with nails.
John F. Alexander has been a teacher of philosophy and a columnist for 'The Other Side' magazine. His books include 'Your Money or Your Life'.
"'The Secular Squeeze' strikes sparks as it whizzes by. If you can hang on for the ride, you will see yourself, God, and the contemporary cultural crisis much more clearly than before you picked up this book."
Mark Noll, McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College
"In a joyful style that only the joy of the gospel can produce, Alexander helps us thread our way through the wilderness of modernity - that is, from Plato to Rembrandt to Woody Allen to Schwarzenegger - by reminding us of God's story for our lives. What a profoundly entertaining book."
Stanley Hauerwas, The Divinity School, Duke University
"In 'The Secular Squeeze' John Alexander is at his best.... He plumbs the depths of our narcissistic culture...and argues persuasively for communities of faith and justice where Christ the Servant King reigns."
Joe Roos, publisher, 'Sojourners'