Here Are Your Gods

ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award When the Israelites exclaimed, "Here are your gods!" at the sight of the golden calf, they were attempting to hold on to the God of their history while fashioning idols for their own purposes. In today's Western world, plenty of shiny false gods still hold power--idols of prosperity, nationalism, and self-interest. Christians desperately need to name and expose these idols. We must retrieve the biblical emphasis on idolatry and apply it anew in our journey of following Jesus.In "Here Are Your Gods," Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright combines a biblical study of idolatry with practical discipleship. He calls readers to consider connections between Old Testament patterns and today's culture, especially recurring temptations to trust in political power.Now as much as ever, we need a biblically informed understanding of the many ways humans make gods for themselves, the danger of idols, and how God calls us to join him in the battle against idolatry as part of his ongoing mission to be known and worshiped by all peoples.

A scathing indictment of the gods of the West--idols we (you and I) have built with our own hands and inadvertently worship. The power and persuasiveness of Wright's prophetic work lies not in bombastic words (he's as irenic as ever) but in the convincing and gripping connection the author makes between idolatry back then and idolatry that we participate in within our present world. The strangeness of this journey between two worlds often leaves Westerners unconvinced about anything but glib connections. Christopher Wright's discourse shatters our shallow readings of Scripture. It will leave you with deeply rooted convictions and, alas, a thoroughly uneasy feeling about false temples and idols that we have built. A most timely evangelical critique of Western society and politics!--William J. Webb, adjunct professor of biblical studies at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, author of Corporal Punishment in the Bible, Chris Wright offers a biblically and theologically grounded, unsparing analysis of the idolatrous character of contemporary Western Christianity, formed in collusion with our wider cultures. His focus on idolatry bears on Christian thought and practice in areas as seemingly diverse as mission, creation care, justice work, addiction treatment, and the cultivation of theological maturity and ethical integrity. This timely book is a sobering call to repentance and the renewal of Christian vocation.--Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School, Christopher Wright has given us a powerful and incisive analysis of the nature of idolatry both in biblical times and today. He spares no punches as he exposes the dangers of political idolatry, which has tempted many contemporary Christians. Importantly, he not only diagnoses the problem, he gives us the remedy. This book should be a must-read for Christians as they engage with the political process.--Tremper Longman III, author of The Bible and the Ballot: Using Scripture in Political Decision, Communal idolatry is one of the most fundamental ways the Bible speaks of human rebellion and sin. Our failure to recognize this has had a crippling effect on the mission of the church in a world rife with idolatry. We have here a very helpful treatment of this theme, grounded in a careful reading of the biblical text and aimed at equipping God's people for its mission in today's world. I am deeply thankful to God for Chris Wright and his faithful and relevant scholarship, which is such a gift to the church today.--Michael W. Goheen, professor of missional theology at Covenant Seminary, St Louis, and director of theological education at Missional Training Center, Phoenix, Fearless, provocative, clear, direct, sharp, urgent, wide-horizoned: it was all those things when he wrote it. But in light of subsequent events, by the time it's published it is a tract for the times.--John Goldingay, senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Old Testament Ethics

Christopher J. H. Wright (PhD, Cambridge) is international ministries director for Langham Partnership. His many books include The Mission of God, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, and Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament.