Real Christianity

Real Christianity
by William Wilberforce

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Book Summary Information

Author: William Wilberforce
Editor: Bob Beltz
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-11
ISBN: 0830743111
Number of pages: 203
Publisher: Regal Books

Book Reviews of Real Christianity

Book Review: I Expected Better
Summary: 2 Stars

Perhaps the problem is me; perhaps my expectations were too lofty. But I had higher hopes for this book. It turned out to be a standard exhortation to believe wholly, and to live in that belief. While I embrace that thesis, in our modern plural world, we need to push harder and further than that. And I also have issues with the adaptation in front of me.

Wilberforce states that Christianity has been hijacked by a warm, fuzzy, abstractly noncommittal set of practices that let "believers" live their same old lives without having to change. He calls on Christians to reject this nebulous religion for true faith based on prayer, Bible study, and self-sacrifice leading to more Godly lives. So far I fully agree.

But the application he proposes unnerves me, especially as his argument nears its culmination. His na?ve belief in the pious potential of the rich and powerful, coupled with his patronizing attitude to women, rings hollow. Maybe I read too much Borg and Crossan or Jacques Ellul, but I can't reconcile Wilberforce's hierarchical conservatism with Biblical Christianity.

The later it gets in the book, the more Wilberforce's ideas make me squirm. He makes totalizing statements about anybody who disagrees with him, including youth, foreigners (especially the French), and secularists. He is guilty of seeking simple solutions to complex problems, putting too many people in too small a bucket. It's too pat for the real world.

Though most of his principles are stated in generalities, they're the sort of generalities that serve as code for his fellow evangelicals. When he speaks of liberal theologians who "have gutted the faith of [its] theological foundations," Wilberforce's contemporaries probably knew that was a wink to his fellow abolitionists. Modern readers likely will rush to homosexuality and other hot-button issues.

To top all this off, I have problems with the adaptation. I see why Bob Beltz wanted to update the language. But his chapter notes indicate that he took material out, such as one point where Wilberforce name-checked a list of 18th-century theologians we wouldn't recognize. At another point he also added in a quote from C.S. Lewis which he thought succinctly encapsulated Wilberforce's point.

So I have to wonder: how much else did Beltz add in or take away? How much of the book in my hands is really William Wilberforce, and how much of it is Bob Beltz? This is a major concern for me, if Beltz is trying to co-opt Wilberforce for his current concerns. Barring time and energy to read through the original text, I can only wonder at the answer to this question.

Most of the book isn't bad. In many places, it says what many self-proclaimed Christians need to hear. But his lapses into dogmatism and his right-wing tendencies may alienate as many readers as they attract. And the adaptation is problematic. Maybe I let Wilberforce's legend loom too large in my expectations, but this isn't the book it should have been.

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Summary of Real Christianity

Just in time for the release of Amazing Grace, the movie about the life of William Wilberforce, is this edition of his classic book from 1797, Real Christianity, paraphrased in modern language and made more accessible to contemporary readers. This is the book that helped abolish the slave trade in the United Kingdom, and called Christians to live a more authentic life of faith more than 200 years ago. The timeless truths it contains will speak to readers in fresh ways today. Christians who eschew cultural Christianity in favor of a real faith in Christ will find the principles here thought-provoking and applicable. The social justice orientation will appeal to readers of Jim Wallis, Os Guinness, Charles Colson, Shane Claiborne, John Perkins, Bono, and Nancy Pearcy. Readers will also find the book is a good litmus test of the authenticity of their own faith.

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