Discerning the Spirit of the Age

Derek Tidball, Kingsway Publications, 2002, £8.99. ISBN 1 84291 062 0

This is a book that addresses many of the issues that churches are grappling with as they seek to relate to the postmodern world. It takes the multinational companies of Nike, McDonald’s and Disney and seeks to understand its culture and ‘spirituality’ and how the Christian gospel can learn from, or reject lessons from those companies.

It is a very readable book for all and easy to follow with clear headings. The book’s beginning comes from a series of talks on a church house party weekend and therefore is rooted in the local church. It would thus be ideal for use as house group studies and discussion.

As a ‘consumer’ of all three companies, the book was interesting and relevant and certainly made me think. However, it seemed to make certain assumptions about me as a consumer as if there was only one type of consumer. An obvious omission from the book was in the Disney section where more could have been made of the sense of wonder that Disney evokes and how that could help the Christian church in evoking a sense of wonder of God

That being said, this book is a good ‘tool’ for any church as it seeks to be relevant to the culture in which it finds itself.

Reviewed by Stephen E Robinson, a minister in the Nottingham East Circuit.

Headline Autumn 2003 p.25