The Beauty of Intolerance by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell

Many Christian parents are seeing a radical change in the core values of their children. The children no longer share the moral standards and beliefs of their parents. The McDowells have written this book to help parents deal with this cultural shift that is separating them from their children.

Most young people think their moral views are correct for them. They want to be loved and accepted even though their beliefs and lifestyles are different from previous generations.

The McDowells start with helping us understand the nature of moral truth. Rather than getting truth from the Bible, young people follow the cultural idea that moral truth is found within the individual. The McDowells also look at the meaning of tolerance and how it has changed. The traditional meaning was to love the individual without approving of the sinful condition. Now it includes accepting, affirming and respecting the individual and the sinful condition or Christians are labeled intolerant and hateful. They include quite a bit of information on homosexuality which I found very helpful.

A few fictional scenarios are included to show possible ways parents can interact with their children on a couple issues. They also provide a strategy to help parents clarify biblical values with their children. They suggest, for example, “Every truth, every rule, and every guideline coming from God's Word is issued from the loving heart and character of God for our own good.” They also suggest parents be aware of instruction at school, movies watched, etc. “The doctrine of cultural tolerance has permeated our society. It will take every intentional and concerted effort on your part to counter its influence.”

The McDowells believe it is possible to truly love and accept people with whom we significantly disagree. The information and strategies presented in this book are very helpful to that end. I recommend this book to parents and others who want to understand the cultural shift and know how to deal with it in a godly way.

You can find out more about the book here.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Josh McDowell is the author or coauthor of 142 books. He is a popular international speaker and has been at the forefront of ministry regarding cultural trends for over five decades. He and his wife have been married for 43 years. They have four children and ten grandchildren. You can find out more at www.josh.org.

Sean McDowell, PhD, is an assistant professor at Biola University in the MA Christian apologetics program. He is also the bestselling author of over fifteen books and is an internationally recognized speaker. He and his wife have three children and live in Southern California.

Shiloh Run Press, 256 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.