Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes

by Nancy Pearcey

Overview

Don’t Think, Just Believe?
That’s the mantra in many circles today—whether the church, the classroom, the campus, or the voting booth.

Time for a Reality Check
Nancy Pearcey, bestselling and critically acclaimed author, offers fresh tools to break free from presumed certainties and test them against reality. In Finding Truth, she explains five powerful principles that penetrate to the core of any worldview—secular or religious—to uncover its deepest motivations and weigh its claims. A former agnostic, Pearcey demonstrates that a robust Christian worldview matches reality—that it is not only true but attractive, granting higher dignity to the human person than any alternative. Finding Truth displays Pearcey’s well-earned reputation for clear and cogent writing. She brings themes to life with personal stories and real-world examples. And the study guide in Finding Truth was shaped by questions from readers like you, from teens to college professors, and is ideal for individual or group study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780781413084
Publisher:	David C Cook
Publication date:	03/01/2015
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	386,245
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Nancy Pearcey is author of the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion Award winner Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity and the 2000 ECPA Gold Medallion Award winner (coauthored by Harold Fickett and Chuck Colson) How Now Shall We Live? Formerly an agnostic, Pearcey studied under Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri. She earned an MA from Covenant Theological Seminary and pursued further graduate work in History of Philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Heralded as “America’s pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual” (The Economist), Pearcey is professor and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University. She is a fellow of the Discovery Institute and editor-at-large of The Pearcey Report. As founding editor of BreakPoint, she also coauthored a monthly column with Chuck Colson in Christianity Today. Pearcey has contributed to several books and published more than a hundred articles. She has spoken in the US Capitol and the White House; at universities such as Princeton, Stanford, and Dartmouth; to actors in Hollywood and artists in New York City; on NPR and C-SPAN. Her earlier books include The Soul of Science and Saving Leonardo.

What People are Saying About This

Kelly Monroe Kullberg

“Pearcey has done it again … shows how biblical truth is both more convincing than competing worldviews, and also more appealing.”
            —Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Founder, The Veritas Forum

J. P. Moreland

“A great book … Nancy Pearcey has been to the church what Francis Schaeffer was to the believers of his day: a cultural intellectual who provides careful, thoughtful, and well-researched critiques … I highly recommend this delightful book.”
            — J.P. Moreland, Professor of Philosophy, Biola University

John Erickson

“Secular worldviews have become the intellectual fast-food of our day—nice taste, no nourishment … This book ought to be in the survival kit of every student heading off to college.”
            — John R. Erickson, Author, Hank the Cowdog

Ravi Zacharias

"Pearcey invites readers to 'TEST EVERYTHING' ... She illustrates how competing systems of thought borrow from Christianity even while rejecting it.... An IMMENSELY PRACTICAL and INSIGHTFUL resource."

J. Warner Wallace

“Describes my life as an atheist perfectly … If I’d read this book as a young man, I think I would have been challenged to re-examine my views much earlier.”
            — J. Warner Wallace, Author, Cold-Case Christianity

David Naugle

“Wonderfully insightful … helps readers avoid becoming ‘intoxicated’ with idols and false ideas.”
            — David K. Naugle, Author, Worldview: The History of a Concept

Gregory Koukl

“Chock full of gems … Pearcey has the unique ability of getting to the heart of things.”
            — Gregory Koukl, President, Stand to Reason

Phil Robertson

“Dismantles humanism, atheism, reductionism, and every other ism … Pearcey’s arguments combined with the Gospel of Jesus leave all other worldviews outside of Christianity without a leg to stand on.”
            — Phil Robertson, Duck Dynasty

Doug TenNapel

“We live in a culture beset by the twin dragons of modernism and postmodernism. Nancy Pearcey draws a sword and cuts their heads off … Totally readable.”
            —Doug TenNapel, Creator, Earthworm Jim

Paul Copan

"Deftly exposes the inconsistencies and the failures of a host of modern idols.”
            —Paul Copan, Professor of Philosophy, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Lee Strobel

“Nancy Pearcey at her best—totally profound, persuasive, and yet practical.  Read it with your highlighter handy!”
            — Lee Strobel, New York Times bestselling Author

Sean McDowell

“Fantastic! … Sharp critique of secular culture and a helpful guide for correcting it.”
            — Sean McDowell, Author, Speaker

Editorial Reviews

"As Pearcey (author of the 2005 classic Total Truth) so ably points out, both explicitly and through poignant real-life stories, “finding truth” is not a dry intellectual exercise ... She leads the reader step-by-step through these principles in an accessible way, providing concrete examples ... This book would make a fantastic graduation gift for high school seniors, especially those on their way to college ... I hope that Christians might pass on copies of Finding Truth to non-Christians, who might find Pearcey’s analysis of secular worldviews convincing and her presentation of Christianity appealing."
Christianity Today

Christianity Today

"Finding Truth is a seminar between two covers, providing depth of information and guidance toward an informed faith through the Study Guide offered at the end. Its goal—helping the reader to communicate Christian convictions—leads the Christian to think, to study, and to interact with ideas. Sure to facilitate powerful discussion, the study questions at the end will develop critical thinking skills and flex spiritual muscles. Pearcey’s wonderfully readable style makes it a resource for anyone serious about discovering truth. Woven throughout are stories of people such as Dr. Michael Egnor (a leading brain surgeon), acclaimed hip-hop artist Lecrae Moore, and Pearcey’s own journey to faith, that make the book fascinating and real."

Defend Magazine - Marilyn Stewart

"Pearcey promises that the principles she lays out will 'provide you with the tools to recognize what’s right and wrong with any worldview—and then to craft a biblically informed perspective that is both true and humane.'  She makes the promise and she delivers on it. Finding Truth is, all-in-all, a worthy successor to Total Truth."
—Challies.com

www.challies.com

"Scholarly but fully accessible ... Pearcey surveys the various idols upon which the various schools of modernism and postmodernism have built their systems: reason, imagination, economics, matter ... Just as Paul warns that those who serve idols will exchange the glory of the immortal God for the images of animals, so Pearcey warns that worldviews that begin with a false staring point inevitably end up reducing man from a free individual made in God’s image to a determined and dehumanized unit in nature ... A full, carefully-nuanced exposé of the bankrupt, dead-end nature of materialism ... A splendid coup d’état."
—Hope's Reason: A Journal of Apologetics

Hope's Reason

"Pearcey promises that the principles she lays out will 'provide you with the tools to recognize what’s right and wrong with any worldview—and then to craft a biblically informed perspective that is both true and humane.'  She makes the promise and she delivers on it. Finding Truth is, all-in-all, a worthy successor to Total Truth."
—Challies.com

www.challies.com - Tim Challies

Chock full of gems … Pearcey has the unique ability of getting to the heart of things.”
            — Gregory Koukl, President, Stand to Reason

Gregory Koukl

Fantastic! … Sharp critique of secular culture and a helpful guide for correcting it.”
            — Sean McDowell, Author, Speaker

Sean McDowell

Wonderfully insightful … helps readers avoid becoming ‘intoxicated’ with idols and false ideas.”
            — David K. Naugle, Author, Worldview: The History of a Concept

David Naugle

Pearcey has done it again … shows how biblical truth is both more convincing than competing worldviews, and also more appealing.”
            —Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Founder, The Veritas Forum

Kelly Monroe Kullberg

Secular worldviews have become the intellectual fast-food of our day—nice taste, no nourishment … This book ought to be in the survival kit of every student heading off to college.”
            — John R. Erickson, Author, Hank the Cowdog

John Erickson

We live in a culture beset by the twin dragons of modernism and postmodernism. Nancy Pearcey draws a sword and cuts their heads off … Totally readable.”
            —Doug TenNapel, Creator, Earthworm Jim

Doug TenNapel

"Deftly exposes the inconsistencies and the failures of a host of modern idols.”
            —Paul Copan, Professor of Philosophy, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Paul Copan

A great book … Nancy Pearcey has been to the church what Francis Schaeffer was to the believers of his day: a cultural intellectual who provides careful, thoughtful, and well-researched critiques … I highly recommend this delightful book.”
            — J.P. Moreland, Professor of Philosophy, Biola University

J. P. Moreland

Dismantles humanism, atheism, reductionism, and every other ism … Pearcey’s arguments combined with the Gospel of Jesus leave all other worldviews outside of Christianity without a leg to stand on.”
            — Phil Robertson, Duck Dynasty

Phil Robertson

Describes my life as an atheist perfectly … If I’d read this book as a young man, I think I would have been challenged to re-examine my views much earlier.”
            — J. Warner Wallace, Author, Cold-Case Christianity

J. Warner Wallace

Nancy Pearcey at her best—totally profound, persuasive, and yet practical.  Read it with your highlighter handy!”
            — Lee Strobel, New York Times bestselling Author

Lee Strobel

"Pearcey invites readers to 'TEST EVERYTHING' ... She illustrates how competing systems of thought borrow from Christianity even while rejecting it.... An IMMENSELY PRACTICAL and INSIGHTFUL resource."

Ravi Zacharias