Before a Tsunami hits the tide goes out a long way. When you see the tide go out it is time to get ready for the wave to hit.

All too often the Christian church has waited for the wave to hit before thinking through the issue at hand. For the last 30 years we have all too often been playing catch up and reacting to societal shifts rather than proactively applying Biblical wisdom to the twists and turns of cultural trends. However, with the fluid nature of society in our present time, we are very grateful to thinkers who are helping get on and even ahead of the curve. Forewarned is certainly forearmed when a shifting society starts to slide.

Andrew T. Walker in his meaty book, ‘God and the Transgender Debate’, has done us a great service in helping us think through the latest wave that is breaking in our Western World. Andrew serves as the Director of Policy with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is well positioned to write such a volume. It is best described as a book in 3 parts. After introductory material giving the lay of the land, Andrew dives straight into Genesis 1-3 and gives a detailed overview of human sexuality, God’s good design and the catastrophe and confusion that ripples out from the fall. This section is thoroughly Biblical, very clear and helpful. It says nothing particularly new but does a great job in showing how gender dysphoria is symptomatic in this sin infected world. There is also some really good material here on being made in God’s image and all that that means. Chapter 7 then fast forwards to the hope of a glorious future beyond the frustration and confusion of this world, all available in Jesus Christ. It is a compelling chapter that moves beyond coping and managing to discipleship, wholeness and hope. Having laid this Biblical foundation Andrew then gets very pastoral firstly helping the reader think through how to love and serve gender dysphoric people both as individuals and also as churches. These are deeply convicting pastoral chapters and though they are specifically honed on the subject of transgender, the principles that Andrew highlights have much broader application. This section of the book is great and very thought provoking. The final section of the book moves very specifically to practical things. Through case studies and worked examples Andrew starts to explore what repentance looks like, how to speak to children of various ages about these issues, whether you should make gender neutral toilets in your churches and other tough questions that are thrown up by this complex issue. Whilst you may not agree with all his conclusions, Andrew certainly shapes and sharpens thinking both with his clarity and depth of application.

I think in Western Society the tide is well and truly out and already the waves are beginning to break as the latest Tsunami of societal disorder begins to flood in. This book is of great value and help in thinking through this issue, it is informed, pastoral and practical. It filled in gaps in my knowledge and stretched my thinking. It is Biblically robust, well reasoned and sensitive. This is by far the most comprehensive book I have read on the transgender debate from a Christian viewpoint, and I would heartily recommend it to pastors, congregation members and the chapter on speaking to children to every parent in your church. Whilst it is 174 pages long it is very well written and extremely readable.

In God in Public, the eminent New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham, Professor N.T. Wright attempts to utilise the Christian gospel for the political challenges of the modern world.

Wright sets the scene by describing, “a deep uncertainty about who we are and what we're here for, and I suggest that this malaise is directly linked to the banishment of God from the public square two hundred years ago” (p2). And so in what is essentially a collection of lectures and talks, Wright seeks to reintroduce God and the Bible into the public sphere. A highlight of the book is Wright's insightful survey of intellectual and political history. The critique of secularism and the way he tracks the progress of the Western Enlightenment narrative is compelling and he pulls no punches in a damning indictment of Western democracy. It's a refreshing antidote to the New Atheist rhetoric of our age (“religion” is the root of all evil) and Wright seeks to create a space for the gospel to provide clarity and a fresh sense of direction for public life. To those concerned that this all sounds rather abstract, Wright duly supplies the concrete and practical examples to ground his discussion of “God in Public”. He uses examples of churches “doing God in public,” i.e. those looking after and defending the rights of asylum seekers, supporting the homeless etc. There are also lengthy examples given of Christian voices on the national and international stage. Wright rejects the privatisation of religion in favour of a church calling authorities to account and being active in society, particularly in defending the rights of the poor and marginalised. This is all framed with the Christian’s vocation in bringing to bear the “present-day meaning of Jesus' universal kingship” and how Christians should be advancing Jesus' kingdom project in the world. I reserve comment on Wright's theological enterprise until later in the review, but, insofar as it seeks to dissuade the church from sticking its head in the sand or retreating underground, it serves as a valuable reminder for Christians to be a light to the world. For those interested in the more philosophical underpinnings of today's (post)modern world, Wright offers a fascinating theological response to the ills of postmodernism. After exposing the contradictions in postmodern theory and its treatment of the Bible, Wright ingeniously utilises the terms of the debate to introduce the Bible as the great meta-narrative that challenges and subverts other worldviews. He sketches a biblical challenge to post-modernity, in the form of a meta-narrative of love that cannot be deconstructed into selfish power (because it is quite the opposite), and a biblical account of human knowing (an epistemology of love) that goes beyond the polarisation of objectivism and subjectivism. Wright believes that a fresh engagement with the biblical narrative will provide an account of human knowing and truth that the “post-postmodern” world so desperately needs. It's a bold and intellectually stimulating part of the book. It does however run the risk of overwhelming those not overly familiar with the terms and concepts, and also on the other side, it risks disappointing those well versed who will see it as far too sketchy and lacking the necessary detail to expound a thoroughly convincing philosophical argument. How we as Evangelicals should approach Wright's theology in the book deserves an essay in itself, but I can offer some cursory remarks here.  The truth Wright is calling Christians to speak to power seems a diluted, politicized gospel that does not emphasize the centrality of the Cross and the related doctrines such as atonement for sin. Rather tellingly, Wright states that “if the church can translate what we believe Jesus would say into the language, and the coherent arguments, of the wider world then such obedience can become a possibility” (p.72). Thus Wright's primary aim is not to make Christ known; it is rather to bring about just and merciful rulers and authorities, and if that means stripping out what is distinctly Christian to achieve that end, then so be it.  Despite Wright calling rulers to justice and mercy “within the framework of the historical victory of Jesus in his death and resurrection and of the future, coming, final victory of God over all evil” (p.72), these rulers need not recognise their own sin or Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Surely this is putting the cart before the horse and blurring the fruit of the gospel and the root of the gospel. To bring about God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, we first need to bring these rulers to the foot of the Cross. It is by the Cross-Centered preaching of the gospel that brings the truth that will ultimately save the world, rather than a diluted gospel that will merely bring temporal social justice and keep authorities in check. When sin is mentioned, it feels like it is for the sake of completion as opposed to it being a central and foundational part of biblical truth. Wright even goes as far as to suggest a pluralistic, “fresh grasp of God's truth” (p.95) with Christian, Jewish and Muslim voices at the table speaking for “God” in the public square. Furthermore, Wright indirectly targets and seeks to unsettle traditional evangelicalism at various points in the book. For example, he rather disparagingly describes how “some people seem to yearn for the days when things were nice and simple, when a supposedly biblical gospel of salvation from sin and going to heaven could be preached” (p.37). He hangs out to dry a “type of conservative Christianity represented by the “not of this world” viewpoint” (p.64); he provocatively tries to relegate atonement theology in the gospels; admits to advocating a “controversial” (p.67) reading of Scripture as part of his world-affirming, Jewish messianic framing of the Christian narrative that he stands against “semi- or crypto- gnostic readings”. He takes various other swipes against what are essentially caricatures of Evangelical standpoints (e.g. “personal salvation”, “going to heaven” etc.). Though this book is not from the conservative evangelical stable there is still much value to be gleaned from this book and Wright's theology. Wright offers a vivid, rich account of the resurrection and he is very helpful on eschatology and new creation in the present day vocation of Christians to be image-bearers and stewards of creation. Wright also provides a helpful analysis of God's sovereignty in the midst of tyrannous order, and a particularly intriguing section on how Jesus' death shines light on the concepts of truth and authority. Overall, for those wanting a bold and intellectually stimulating theological response to “we don't do God” politics, Wright's God in Public will not disappoint. For those disheartened by the marginalisation of God and the church in the public sphere, this book will provide plenty of resources for fruitful engagement and insight. However, while it might introduce a fascinating and at times compelling political theology, people, as with everything should read discerningly and be cautious of wholeheartedly adopting Wright's contentious biblical framework. I close with some words from the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 2:2-8 - And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.  But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. By Simon Jones