IVP: Narcissism, Worldview, and Human Flourishing

DeGroat, Chuck. Foreword by Richard J. Mouw. When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse. Downers Grove: IVP, 2020. 208 Pages. Cloth. $22.00.  https://www.ivpress.com/when-narcissism-comes-to-church

Sire, James W.  Foreword by Jim Hoover. The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog (Sixth Edition). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2020. 312 Pages. Paper. $32.00. https://www.ivpress.com/the-universe-next-door

Ream, Todd C., Jerry Pattengale, and Christopher J. Devers, Editors. Foreword by George M. Marsden. Public Intellectuals and the Common Good: Christian Thinking for Human Flourishing. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2021. 146 Pages. Paper. $25.00. https://www.ivpress.com/public-intellectuals-and-the-common-good

Three recent InterVarsity Press Academic imprint titles are before us in this review.

First, identifying and healing emotional and spiritual abuse.

Why does narcissism seem to thrive in our churches?
We've seen the news stories and heard the rumors. Maybe we ourselves have been hurt by a narcissistic church leader. It's easy to throw the term around and diagnose others from afar. But what is narcissism, really? And how does it infiltrate the church?

Chuck DeGroat has been counseling pastors with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as well as those wounded by narcissistic leaders and systems, for over twenty years. He knows firsthand the devastation narcissism leaves in its wake and how insidious and painful it is. In When Narcissism Comes to Church, DeGroat takes a close look at narcissism, not only in ministry leaders but also in church systems. He offers compassion and hope for those affected by its destructive power and imparts wise counsel for churches looking to heal from its systemic effects.

DeGroat also offers hope for narcissists themselves—not by any shortcut, but by the long, slow road of genuine recovery, possible only through repentance and trust in the humble gospel of Jesus.

Chuck DeGroat (LPC, PhD) is professor of pastoral care and Christian spirituality at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and senior fellow at Newbigin House of Studies in San Francisco. He served as a pastor at churches in Orlando and San Francisco and founded two church-based counseling centers. He is a licensed therapist, spiritual director, and the author of Toughest People to Love and Wholeheartedness.
(Publisher's Website)

Sadly, this is a necessary book. My primary concern is about its application, specifically, a kind of hypochondria. I can easily imagine a layperson upset with his pastor hearing about this book and saying, "That's my pastor," even if it is a situation where that layperson is sinfully refusing to forgive others. I can also imagine this being used inappropriately by an ecclesiastical supervisor to lead a congregation to depose a pastor from a parish for reasons other than doctrine, life, or ability to do the job of pastor. 

As I began, this is sadly a necessary book. True narcissism exists and has devastating consequences that are remembered for generations within a congregation that survives their experience with one who is given to be a good shepherd of the Good Shepherd. The Merton quote before the Table of Contents is haunting. Learn about Gaslighting on p. 118ff. See 126-127 for examples of Spiritual Abuse. The author provides a way forward for all (147ff.)

My opening critique has more to do with sinful human nature that the actual content of this title. Yet, a book with all of the law necessary to call a true narcissist to repentance needs special care, and most importantly, the Gospel of Christ to bring forgiveness, reconciliation, and true healing. Recommended.

We now examine an update of a classic text. What is unique in this edition on the topic of Weltanschauung/Worldview?

For more than forty years, The Universe Next Door has set the standard for a clear, readable introduction to worldviews. Using his widely influential model of eight basic worldview questions, James Sire examines prominent worldviews that have shaped the Western world:

• theism
• deism
• naturalism
• Marxism
• nihilism
• existentialism
• Eastern monism
• New Age philosophy
• postmodernism
• Islam

Intertwined with this analysis, he presents an overview of intellectual history giving insight into the current state of Western thought and culture. Critiquing each worldview within its own frame of reference and in comparison to others, Sire encourages readers to wrestle with life's biggest questions and examine the core beliefs and commitments on which they are building their lives.

The sixth edition, updated by Sire's longtime editor Jim Hoover, features new explanatory sidebars, helpful charts comparing worldviews and illustrating their historical flow, and a chapter on challenges to a Christian worldview in the twenty-first century. New discussion questions will help readers reflect more deeply on the ideas in each chapter.

The Universe Next Door has been translated into over a dozen languages and has been used as a text at over one hundred colleges and universities in courses ranging from apologetics and world religions to history and English literature. In a world of ever-increasing diversity, The Universe Next Door offers a unique resource for understanding the variety of worldviews that claim the allegiance of mind and heart.

James W. Sire (1933–2018) was a widely-respected apologist, author, and lecturer who served for more than thirty years as senior editor at InterVarsity Press. He is the author of more than twenty books, including the seminal apologetics title The Universe Next Door, which was first published in 1976 and has sold over 350,000 copies in five editions and has been translated into eighteen foreign languages. Sire's teaching and books often covered the concepts of worldview and Christian apologetics. His many books include The Universe Next Door, Apologetics Beyond Reason, Beginning with God, Scripture Twisting, Discipleship of the Mind, Chris Chrisman Goes to College, Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, Habits of the Mind, Naming the Elephant, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, Why Good Arguments Often Fail, and A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics.

(Publisher's Website)

The publisher's description of what's new in the 6th edition is accurate. There are genuinely helpful additions to the previous edition (2009), which we reviewed  in 2010: http://lhpqbr.blogspot.com/2010/08/lhp-review-additions-to-your-worldview.html What we said then is still relevant to this edition.

This volume has a more academic feel to it [than Here We Stand, the book we were comparing it to in 2010]. That in itself should NOT put it out of reach for lay readers, but it is rich in detail, has abundant footnotes, and is pretty comprehensive in cataloging worldviews. Sire provides an expanded discussion of some philosophies/theologies presented in Here We Stand and would be a good book to read after that. As a confessional Lutheran Christian, I see Here We Stand as a necessary prequel/antidote to the confessional Reformed worldview Sire presents. Not everything in Christianity is reasonable. Some topics must be held by faith, like the Incarnation, Resurrection, baptismal regeneration, and the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar because God in Scripture says so!

One danger of apologetics, logic, and worldview studies is a temptation to make reason equal with Scripture or its master. Both must be avoided.

I found this book particularly helpful in better understanding the philosophies and religious worldviews of the American founders. Some of the most influential men behind the Declaration and Constitution were Deists or Unitarians depending upon your definition of those terms. Yes, there were many Christians involved, and their worldview shows in our founding documents. Yet, there is no explicit mention of the Gospel or Jesus Christ. Some contemporary commentators redefine as "Christian" founders who denied the divinity and exclusivity of Christ. Sire to the rescue!

As Headmaster of a classical Lutheran grammar school, I am preparing text recommendations for beyond our current K-5 offerings. We will likely begin a study of worldview with Veith's The Spirituality of the Cross. Now I will add both Here We Stand and The Universe Next Door to our worldview curriculum. Once we have covered basic logic, I will add apologetics to the mix with Parton's The Defense Never Rests and Religion on Trial and then will review Jahn and Sire at the high school level.

Is that a lot to expect of teenagers? Yes. But they are already thinking about these concepts because of the cultural exposure they receive. This will give our classically-taught teens better tools to determine what is true and how to stand up as winsome advocates for God's truth.

How did it go over the last decade? Our school has had a limited number of 6th-8th graders. Giving them a basic worldview catalog has helped them deal with the world that is as young adults. While we have not expanded to an in-person classical Lutheran High School, we have partnered with Wittenberg Academy.

 If you do own a fifth edition, the sixth is optional. Educators can get a copy of the 6th as a Teacher's Edition and continue having scholars read the 5th. I recommend the new edition if you do not yet own an edition of The Universe Next Door.

What is "human flourishing"? 

Evangelical Christians are active across all spheres of intellectual and public life today. But a disconnect remains: the work they produce too often fails to inform their broader communities. In the midst of a divisive culture and a related crisis within evangelicalism, public intellectuals speaking from an evangelical perspective have a critical role to play—within the church and beyond. What does it look like to embrace such a vocation out of a commitment to the common good?

Public Intellectuals and the Common Good draws together world-class scholars and practitioners to cast a vision for intellectuals who promote human flourishing. Representing various roles in the church, higher education, journalism, and the nonprofit sector, contributors reflect theologically on their work and assess current challenges and opportunities. What historically well-defined qualities of public intellectuals should be adopted now? What qualities should be jettisoned or reimagined?

Public intellectuals are mediators—understanding and then articulating truth amid the complex realities of our world. The conversations represented in this book celebrate and provide guidance for those who through careful thinking, writing, speaking, and innovation cultivate the good of their communities.

Contributors:

• Miroslav Volf
• Amos Yong
• Linda A. Livingstone
• Heather Templeton Dill
• Katelyn Beaty
• Emmanuel Katongole
• John M. Perkins and David Wright

(Publisher's Website)

Apparently, the phrase "human flourishing" is an updated translation of the Greek word εὐδαιμονία, used by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pyrrho, Epicurus, and the Stoics. What has it been translated as previously in English? Happiness. Welfare. As in "the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence and "general welfare" from the Preamble to the Constitution.  

What is its source? Possibly Daniel N. Robinson's 1989 Columbia University Press title, Aristotle's Psychology.

I've encountered the new term "human flourishing" in several distinct but related places: The Acton Institute, the group Made to Flourish and its journal Common Good,  and this volume from IVP Academic. Do a search on YouTube and you'll find it seemingly everywhere from divinity school videos to TED Talks.

You've heard some of the ancient words before: eudaimonia or makarios (see Matthew 5) in Greek or beatitudo ("Beatitudes") in Latin. The translation difference can be between true blessedness or elusive "happiness," whether contentment or a more subjective satisfaction.

My verdict? The concept is of the law. I do not believe that I am the intended reader of this volume. Lutherans like me should be aware of the "human flourishing" concept in order for us to keep properly distinguishing law and Gospel in the Church that we may avoid a new 21st Century Social Gospel.

This particular title is an attempt to introduce human flourishing and communicate about it within and outside the Church in a Christian way. What the movement and this title lack are Gospel predominance. Optional.

We have more to come from IVP!

Rev. Paul J Cain is Senior Pastor of Immanuel, Sheridan, Wyoming, Headmaster of Martin Luther Grammar School and Immanuel Academy, a member of the Board of Directors of the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education, First Vice-President of the Wyoming District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and a member of its Board of Directors, Rhetoric Teacher for Wittenberg Academy, and Editor of Lutheran Book Review.   He has served as an LCMS Circuit Visitor, District Worship Chairman, District Evangelism Chairman, District Education Chairman/NLSA Commissioner, and District Secretary. A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Rev. Cain is a contributor to Lutheran Service Book, Lutheranism 101, the Hymnal Companion hymn and liturgy volumes, and is the author of 5 Things You Can Do to Make Our Congregation a Caring Church. He is an occasional guest on KFUO radio. He has previously served Emmanuel, Green River, WY and Trinity, Morrill, NE. Rev. Cain is married to Ann and loves reading and listening to, composing, and making music.