Through The River: Understanding Your Assumptions About Truth by Jon & Mindy Hirst
So there have been some culture wars these past few decades here in the West. Among the many skirmishes, one of the most enduring pitched battles has been over epistemology – as Pontius Pilate famously asked, “What is truth?” Postmodernists like myself tend to draw attention to the contingency, and situated-ness of truth. To call a truth ‘timeless’ seems like an insult to its vitality. Modernists tend to favor truth they can absolutize, a rigid and uncompromising set of morals and values that frame the foundation of existence – to do otherwise feels like slippery relativism. This conversation often ends in a stalemate of inflexible systems wherein each side loses and neither system is closer to grasping truth. Is there a way out of the impasse? Biblica's [1] Through the River, a new book by Jon and Mindy Hirst (with Dr. Paul Hiebert), encourages us to examine our assumptions about truth and how those assumptions affect our relationship to the world at large. In so doing, the Hirsts offer a new perspective on truth that allows us not only to better understand how we view truth but how we might become better equipped to communicate truth in a combative culture. Their claim is that “our ability to struggle through the concept of truth in today’s world is crucial to determining our success in the Christian life, our relationships and our kingdom work.” Through the River is a challenging and fascinating book told allegorically, taking the reader on a journey through River Town, weaving a memorable tale on how people can live in close proximity while having radically contrasting views. River Town’s three communities live and act so differently because each group is using a distinct set of assumptions about truth (truth lenses). In short, Through the River pulls off a mean feat: It offers a view of truth that seeks to solve the compatibility issues between worldviews and capitalizes on their strengths in such a way that each becomes better without becoming the same. Readers might not all agree with the attempted integration, but you will be the better for having read it. You just might beat your culture war swords into plowshares. Jon and Mindy Hirst are the co-founders of Generous Mind, a think tank designed to help people make their thoughts count. The late Paul G. Hiebert (1932–2007) was Distinguished Professor of Mission and Anthropology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and previously taught at Fuller Theological Seminary. Through the River is Jon and Mindy’s unique approach to Dr. Hiebert’s important and groundbreaking studies in truth. [hide] [2] :: Special Viral Blogger Section :: Link-love for your review: Through the River blog [3] Jon and Mindy Hirst on Twitter: @generousmind [4] Through the River Facebook Fan Page [5]. Through the River Facebook discussion group [6]. Generous Mind Blog [7]. Interview Availability: Jon and Mindy Hirst are available for blog & podcast interviews. You will receive this contact information via email if you select Through the River this month. Your Commitment: Remember, your commitment is to write a blog post (minimum 50 words) about Through the River within 30 days of getting it, and cutting & pasting your post to this one. Thank you! [/hide] [1] http://www.biblica.com [2] http://viralbloggers.wufoo.com/forms/through-the-river/ [3] http://throughtheriverbook.com [4] http://twitter.com/generousmind [5] http://facebook.com/pages/Through-the-River/97523594915 [6] http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116401856022 [7] http://generousmind.blogspot.com
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