Dying to Live: The 21st Century Church

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Dying to Live: The 21st Century Church by Thomas Hohstadt

 

FOREWORD by David Bell

 

Recently I attended a Christian convention, on a beautiful mountain, in a timeless setting. Australian Christians have gathered on this hill for many decades to find food for their souls. The message, the mountain, and the manner of preaching have never changed, not in 50 years. Then I read this book by Thomas Hohstadt and I thought: not even a mountain top faith can survive the digital flood that is coming.

Thomas Hohstadt has written a new book about the church. Not another book about the church ... there are millions of them ... but a new book. That is to say, it is a new book about the new church which is still somewhere over the digital horizon. I found the book both disturbing and exhilarating. It is disturbing because it rightly demonstrates that the church of yesterday and today is doomed. No amount of pentecostal fire is going to prevent the institutional church from burning to the ground. Indeed it is probably hastening the day. The book is exhilarating because Thomas has immense theological talent and learning. This book is not a doomsayers diatribe, but a prophet's vision wedded to a scholar's learning. This is a book about the digital revolution and its impact on the way in which we encounter the Word, and the way we form communities.

The book also offers a powerful analysis of "this generation," which is the generation that is to inherit the digital earth. The 21st century church that they will inherit (and probably construct) is one that you and I can scarcely imagine. Our roots go back 500 years, and it is hard to think in any other terms than the church as we know it. The church of the 21st century has not even been planted yet, but Thomas has given us a clearer idea of what it is probably going to be like. This book is now on my table as a must book to share around. Australia, 1999 David Bell, Author, Cyberchurch http://www.xploreheartlinks.com/bkreview.htm