Letter to the American Church
Letter to the American Church book cover

Letter to the American Church

Hardcover – September 20, 2022

Price
$19.99
Format
Hardcover
Pages
139
Publisher
Salem Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1684513895
Dimensions
6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Weight
11.2 ounces

Description

"This book is like a bucket of cold water thrown into the face of a sleeping church.xa0 I found myself arguing with Eric over some points, but I was struck with the uncanny parallels he draws between the compliant churches in Nazi Germany and our churches today. If you are inclined to think you might disagree with what he has to say, here is my challenge: read this book and ask yourself ‘where does Eric have itxa0 wrong’?. I think you will find that question more difficult to answer thanxa0 you expected. I personally think this is Eric Metaxas’ most important book for us today." -Erwin W. Lutzer, Pastor Emeritus, Moody Church, Chicago "Eric Metaxas has spent years researching and writing about giants of our faith; from that wealth of insight and understanding he has taken a new step. In Letter to the American Church he has issued a call to action. The message is historically informed, Biblically sound and I believe “Spirit-directed”. I pray every Christ follower in our nation will take to the time to read and consider what Eric has presented." -Pastor Allen Jackson, World Outreach Church Eric Metaxas is an author whose books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of a nationally syndicated radio show and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City , he is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times , the New Yorker , The Atlantic , and the Wall Street Journa l. He lives with his family in New York City.

Features & Highlights

  • In an earnest and searing wake-up call, the author of the bestseller
  • Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
  • warns of the haunting similarities between today’s American church and the German church of the 1930s. Echoing Bonhoeffer’s prophetic call, Eric Metaxas exhorts his fellow Christians to repent of their silence in the face of evil before it is too late.
  • “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.
  • Not to speak is to speak.
  • Not to act is to act.
  • God will not hold us guiltless.”
  • Can it really be God’s will that His children be silent at a time like this? Decrying the cowardice that masquerades as godly meekness, Eric Metaxas summons the Church to battle. The author of a bestselling biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Metaxas reveals the haunting similarities between today’s American Church and the German Church of the 1930s. Echoing the German martyr’s prophetic call, he exhorts his fellow Christians to repent of their silence in the face of evil. An attenuated and unbiblical “faith” based on what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace” has sapped the spiritual vitality of millions of Americans. Paying lip service to an insipid “evangelism,” they shrink from combating the evils of our time. Metaxas refutes the pernicious lie that fighting evil politicizes Christianity. As Bonhoeffer and other heroes of the faith insisted, the Church has an irreplaceable role in the culture of a nation. It is our duty to fight the powers of darkness, especially on behalf of the weak and vulnerable. Silence is not an option. God calls us to defend the unborn, to confront the lies of cultural Marxism, and to battle the globalist tyranny that crushes human freedom. Confident that this is His fight, the Church must overcome fear and enter the fray, armed with the spiritual weapons of prayer, self-sacrifice, and love.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(929)
★★★★
25%
(387)
★★★
15%
(232)
★★
7%
(108)
-7%
(-107)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Thoughtful as always, Metaxis sounds an urgent alarm for the American church!

This is a timely book over which one can quibble endlessly on the theology-- it certainly is not completely how I would make the argument. Nonetheless, Metaxis is exactly the right man to write this book given his other books on Luther, Wilberforce and, most centrally, Bonhoeffer. He recounts the history, and there is no doubt that we are on the wrong track and headed towards disaster if we don't repent and get serious.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A mostly effective call to the Church for moral action

In this slim volume Metaxas issues a call to the Church to become bold in opposing evil, even and especially when practiced and advanced by the government. He accurately calls it a biblical imperative almost as important as winning souls for the Kingdom of God.

Metaxas, author of a popular but much-criticized biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, draws parallels between the establishment church of Germany prior to World War II, which Bonhoeffer opposed, and the American church of today. He clearly holds Bonhoeffer as the standard to which today's pastors, and believers, to emulate.

There is a lot to like here. And yet, what keeps this book from being a tour de force in my mind is the author's hesitancy to be specific about what he doesn't like. He calls out three notable pastors for failing to sign a rally-the-troops letter here and another notable pastor for fuzzy preaching, and that's basically it. His argument would have been better served by being specific and showing the harm he believes the view opposing his causes.

Recommended with reservations.
✓ Verified Purchase

Another eye opener

Ever wonder why the German people failed to help the Jews...find out here. And see that history does repeatitselfunfortunately
✓ Verified Purchase

Finally!!! Someone has said it! THANK YOU!

As I write this review, I find myself overwhelmed with emotion! I’m not even sure that I totally understand why I am crying when that is not something that I do very often. I am not sure if my tears are only for me and the way I am feeling after reading this, or my empathy for what God must be feeling over how we as a church have let Him and each other down. Eric puts into words what my soul has been feeling for decades. I have tried so often to express these exact sentiments to friends and family for so very long! I have been discouraged, angered, and saddened as I have attended church after church over the years, only to be met with well-meaning, but impotent sermons, and supposed Bible studies, as well as futile attempts to provide value or draw seekers through entertainment. The topics being discussed on a weekly basis, instead of providing CLEAR and precise direction for congregants to keep to the narrow path and how to help others find the Way, instead provide, at times, ambiguous or general direction for what course might lead them to a more blessed life and ultimately salvation. This lack of clear direction (or in some cases flat out misdirection) has doomed so many to destruction as they wander off course and end up on the wide path to destruction, and simultaneously the destruction of our society. Most seem to have absolutely NO idea how far off the path they have wandered, all the while believing they are on the “safe” road. These pastors, or “shepards” will be held accountable. We MUST get this important message out to pastors and church leaders before it is too late. However, like Eric said, this is not just a letter to American pastors, but a letter to the American Church which includes ALL of us who proclaim to be followers of Christ. What will WE do with this message? Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!! Thank you Eric for your faithfulness in writing this, and thank you Lord for your mercy and patience and this urgent reminder of your will for us. We cannot continue to sit in our churches and homes rehashing comfortable concepts while the trains filled with the lives, hearts and minds of millions roll past us on their way to be tortured and killed. There is an enemy of all of our souls actively seeking whom he may devour, and he does so through isolation and silencing us through fear or shame. Not to speak IS to speak! Not to act IS to act!! Now or never!