Product Description

Addresses what Christians should think and do to solidify their faith and make it not only "real" but something that is their own.

Students (among others!) need help today to make their Christianity "real"-something that is theirs and that they own for themselves. In the current climate of postmodern relativism, with its perceived lack of an "anchor" to hold one's faith steady, this book turns readers to those "things that cannot be shaken" (Heb. 12:27), especially in matters of sanctification.

Rod Mays and Scott Oliphint focus specifically on providing biblical responses to the Christian concerns that seem to come up most often in the dorm room, the classroom, and even the workplace, such as the authority of Scripture and whether Christianity is true, how to apply the gospel to felt needs, the challenge of inactivity, faith in the face of temptation, and connecting Christianity and the real world on a daily basis. Things That Cannot Be Shaken compellingly highlights what believers should think and do to solidify their faith in environments that seek to undermine it at every turn.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #947978 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
-The authors make vivid the two-way street of our communion with God and God-s being with us. Their book is full of things that we today need urgently to take to heart.- J. I. Packer, Board of Governors- Professor of Theology, Regent College

Review

"The authors make vivid the two-way street of our communion with God and God's being with us. Their book is full of things that we today need urgently to take to heart."
—J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College

About the Author

K. SCOTT OLIPHINT is professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and has written three books and numerous scholarly articles.

ROD S. MAYS is the national coordinator of Reformed University Ministries, the campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America. He has also served as senior pastor of Presbyterian churches in South Carolina, Mississippi, and West Virginia.

Customer Reviews

A stirred soul, but not shaken
Today's world is a place where ultimate truth is too often disparaged and minimalized. In fact, many skeptics belittle the idea that there is such a thing as exclusive truth, especially when it comes to religion. In Things That Cannot be Shaken, Reformed thinkers K. Scott Oliphint and Rod Mays use the Bible as the central foundational source to show that there are certain things we can know for sure, including God's blueprint for life.

Basing each chapter on stanzas from the 1779 John Newton hymn, "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken," the authors begin their work by stressing the overall authority of the written Scripture. Utilizing a presuppositional apologetic viewpoint, they propose that the Bible--"not our senses and our mental faculties"--should be the ultimate authority or "we will be forever confused and confounded with the issues that press in on us every day" (p. 32).

Once the Scripture is accepted as the foundation, the believer must understand that fulfillment in life only comes through following God. Those desiring the things contrary to God end up resorting to sins such as using drugs, drinking to excess, and even cutting parts of one's own body with razor blades. "We must worship something," the authors write on page 54. "And if our misdiagnosis of our felt needs leads us to pursue something created rather than the Creator, then we will attach ourselves to that creating thing religiously. We will, in fact, worship it."

One of the more challenging chapters of the book was titled, "We are not alone." The authors believe that there are too many distractions in life, including "time-saving technology" that ends up eating up more time rather than conserving it. Even too many church activities can get in the way. "Could it be that the church is no less guilty than the culture in its attempts to entice us into the programming whirlwind?" they ask on page 96. The result of a hurried lifestyle? Missing the opportunity to properly sit at the feet of the Savior and meditate on God's truth.

In Chapter 4, a Calvinistic view of salvation is stressed because the work of Christ "was planned and agreed upon before time began." When the Holy Spirit comes into the lives of the sheep (John 10), a struggle for holiness ensues. Two words are used--"mortification" and "vivification"--to explain how Christians live their lives warring against sin while partaking in life with the Holy Spirit.

The final chapter compares this world to C.S. Lewis's Narnia, a place where Lucy and her siblings were not destined to spend the rest of their lives. The authors write on page 151: "As we know Christ here, more and more, we are preparing ourselves to know him better there, where he will have a new name. There we will see him face to face, and his presence, now invisible to us, will be visible in all its glory."

Praise God for those things of God that cannot be shaken!

P.S. This is review #300. Yee-haw! It's been fun reviewing these 300 books during the past eight years, which has been my pleasure. Thanks for your many comments. Now if I only had more time to read...

Pastor Mark L Turcio
This book was well written. The authors deal with the issue of pluralism and relativism in our American culture quite well. The book can be used as an excellent source of counseling to a generation of College students and Grad students who have been inundated with this view. The book also deals with those inside the church who are bitten by the philosophy of the age. The reader will be engaged throughout the book to evaluate his/her philosophy and to weigh it against the belief of an absolute standard for truth. Like many philosophers and their philosophy. Only time (The next Generation) is able to prove the shaken foundation that many place their beliefs on. The book also can serve as an excellent means for equipping pastors, leaders and lay people with an objective standard for truth against the subjective non unifying spirit of the age. E Pluribus Unum the American motto on the great seal of the nation since 1782 was founded on the principle of "out of many one" The idea of unity over and against relativism shows the strength of unity and single-mindedness, and the weakness of a culture that allows many truths. This book accomplishes both an accurate understanding of the futility of relativism, and the strong foundation of the things that cannot be shaken. Read it!

Reminding Believers of the Gospel and Its Power
Believers are often the question is asked by the skeptic, "How do you know what you believe is right?" This is increasingly true today with reality of a culture baptized in relativism. Christians then, ought to have an answer.

K.Scott Oliphant and Rod Mays aim to help Christians better answer such questions in their new book Things that Cannot be Shaken. The book flows out of the hymn by John Newton, Glorious things of Thee are Spoken. The authors walk through the hymn and interact with Scripture to reinforce biblical truth.

It seems, though not stated explicitly, that the book is written for those in the university scene. If this was not the intention then it is an ideal application. Those believers who are interacting with worldviews on college campuses must have some basic things nailed down.

One of these things is the issue of authority. I love that Oliphant and Mays attack this first, for it is the basis for reason and discussion. In the context of asking questions like, "But what about the Koran? What about the Book of Mormon? Is there really only one way to God?" The authors state:

"The problem posed in reconciling biblical truth with apparent contradictions in experience of course, is the problem of authority. This problem is not a new one."

What I really enjoyed about this book is the explicit gospel-centeredness of it. The authors were continually reminding me of the cross and the gifts that were purchased. They talked much about the Holy Spirit, the battle of sanctification, and the joy of salvation. So in this sense it is not so much a book on apologetics but a book on the greatness of the realities of the gospel, which then becomes an informed and passionate apologetic.

I enjoyed the writers' style in this book. They were no doubt intentional in appealing Christians who live in culture. They were relevant. They used a lot of everyday illustrations to communicate truth. In a personal favorite they write:

"The newer generations living in the twenty-first century have never known what life is like without television or videocassete/CD/DVD recorders or TiVO. Because of technology, we can, at least in some sense, `create' the reality we desire. It is now possible, for example, to program electronic screens with what we want to see when we want to see it. We can use pre-selected iPod tunes as the soundtrack for our lives. This has the double effect of on the one hand, creating the feelings and ambience we desire and on the other hand, letting the rest of the world go by."

They also talk about the relationship between pornography, drugs, self-mutilation, sports fandom, sex and the gospel. Further, they go on at length about the movie Momento and its counter cultural effect.

Overall, I was challenged, encouraged, and refreshed by this quick read. The authors serve believers well in reminding us of the Things that Cannot be Shaken.