There are books that inform, and then there are books that reframe. How Now Shall We Live? by Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey is the latter — a sweeping, glorious, 656-page case that Christianity is not merely a private religious experience but a total explanation of reality, and that living it out means transforming every corner of culture.
Chuck Colson himself called it “the most important book I have ever written,” and having read nearly everything he produced, I’m inclined to agree. The 2000 Gold Medallion Award winner for best book about Christianity and society, this volume does something rare: it takes the intellectual tradition of Francis Schaeffer and translates it into accessible, practical engagement with the real world — science, law, politics, family, the arts, education.
Colson and Pearcey answer three fundamental questions: Where did we come from? What has gone wrong? And what can we do about it? Their answers are unapologetically biblical. Creation. Fall. Redemption. Those aren’t just theological categories — they’re the framework for understanding everything from modern bioethics to pop culture to criminal justice reform. When you finish this book, you will never look at the news the same way again.
Nancy Pearcey — described by The Economist as “America’s pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual” — brings extraordinary intellectual rigor. What Colson supplies in storytelling and evangelistic passion, Pearcey supplies in philosophical precision. Together they make a formidable team.
If you want your faith to help you counter what your children are learning in school, challenge the decadence of popular culture, and impact the lives of unsaved neighbors and family members — consider this book required reading. Period.
📚 Purchase: Available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
Book Details: Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers | 1999 | 656 pages | ISBN-13: 978-0842355889