Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us, by Michael Horton. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022, xiv + 306 pages, $24.99.

“I’m telling you, this is the way modern society works—by the constant creation of fear.”[1] While those words are spoken by a character in a work of fiction, Michael Horton agrees that fear is a dominant force in modern life. The fact that this is true should not sit well with us, because fearmongering is dehumanizing. In Horton’s words, God “did not design us to live in a perpetual state of emergency” (2).

After an introductory chapter that shows how life in today’s world can be described as “A Pandemic of Fear,” the main chapters of this book are divided into two parts under the headings “The Fear to End All Fears” and “Facing Our Fears with Eyes Raised to God.” The theme of part one is that cultivating and maintaining the fear of God keeps other sources of fear in proper perspective. Horton describes fearing God as “living with the grain of reality” (28), noting that “living against the grain of reality is the epitome of insanity” (50). Nebuchadnezzar’s experience of madness in Daniel 4 is used to illustrate this point. Horton reflects upon that episode by noting that “the illusion is that we are in charge. It’s autonomy that is the myth—and the sooner we raise our eyes to heaven, the sooner our sanity will be restored” (57). This is probably the book’s most important insight. Soundness of mind depends on our ability to be grateful for the world as it has been given to us, even with all the constraints of reality and in spite of all the havoc wrought by human fallenness.[2] And Horton reminds us that the deepest gratitude is cultivated in our hearts when we abandon our reality-denying attempts at self-justification and lay hold of the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ.

In part two, Horton applies the principles outlined in part one to the sources of fear that confront us in the world today. There are chapters dealing with death, suffering, work, the environment, politics, religious liberty, the LGBTQ+ movement, and racial matters. One of the best insights in this section comes in response to the way technology and social media incline us to live in echo chambers and view anyone who disagrees with us as the intolerable “other.” Horton is right to remind us that we are to see all people, even those with whom we have sharp disagreements, as neighbors whom we are called to love.

In his chapter on politics, Horton takes on the hot topic of Christian nationalism, contending that it is inconsistent with our era of redemptive history and with our nation’s founding principles. While this line of argumentation deals a significant blow to things like theonomy and an established church, there is still a measure of complexity to this matter. Many Christians, whether or not they identify as Christian nationalists,[3] think that they should seek the welfare of their political communities by striving to order them according to the principles of right and wrong set forth in God’s moral law. This is made especially challenging when the dominant social imaginary[4] leads to grave misreadings of the light of nature. Confronted with such a situation, the notion of recovering the America that once embraced a generic Christian identity seems pretty desirable. That being said, it also seems that the only realistic way this might happen is if the church, as an institution, keeps its focus on its task of making disciples.

Horton begins this book by saying that his goal is “not to take sides in cultural and political debates” (17). In spite of this, the things that he says and the sources that he references concerning certain topics will likely alienate a number of readers who might otherwise have been open to considering his theological insights. I wish that Horton had been able to express more sympathy toward the concerns of Christians who take a different view than he does on matters like climate science, immigration, systemic racism, and Donald Trump. The book will appeal to Christians who prefer the kind of cultural and political engagement modeled by evangelicals like Russell Moore (who writes the forward in the book) and David French (whose writings are cited at several points). But many believers see serious deficiencies with that type of strategy.[5] Horton could have had a broader readership if he had been more solicitous toward those who think that a different approach is needed.

Endnotes

[1] Michael Crichton, State of Fear (New York: HarperCollins, 2004), 456.

[2] In connection with this, it is interesting to note that recent studies have shown that those who embrace progressive ideology, with its utopian vision that is uncongenial to gratitude, are especially prone to poor mental health. See Shaun Rieley, “Progressively Mental,” The American Conservative (Apr. 14, 2023): https://www.theamericanconservative.com/progressively-mental/, accessed April 15, 2023.

[3] A number of astute reflections are being written about various aspects of this subject. On the benefits of some form of cultural Christianity, see Ben C. Dunson, “Cultural Christianity Is About Culture,” American Reformer (Apr. 27, 2023): https://americanreformer.org/2023/04/cultural-christianity-is-about-culture/, accessed May 1, 2023. For a nuanced critique of one popular expression of Christian nationalism, see Kevin DeYoung, “The Rise of Right-Wing Wokeism,” The Gospel Coalition (Nov. 28, 2022): https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/christian-nationalism-wolfe/, accessed Dec. 7, 2022.

[4] “Social imaginary” is a phrase coined by philosopher Charles Taylor to describe “the way ordinary people ‘imagine’ their social surroundings.” Cited in Carl R. Trueman, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution (Wheaton: Crossway, 2022), 27.

[5] See the following articles: Carl R. Trueman, “David French and the Future of Orthodox Protestantism,” First Things (Nov. 25, 2022): https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2022/11/david-french-and-the-future-of-orthodox-protestantism, accessed Nov. 25, 2022; John Ehrett, “The Embarrassment Reflex: Evangelicals and Culture,” American Reformer (Oct. 5, 2021): https://americanreformer.org/2021/10/the-embarrassment-reflex-evangelicals-and-culture/, accessed May 8, 2023.

Andy Wilson is an OPC minister and serves as the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Laconia, New Hampshire. Ordained Servant Online, October, 2023.