Os Guinness – författare

In a world torn apart by religious extremism on the one side and a strident secularism on the other, no question is more urgent than how we live with our deepest differences—especially our religious and ideological differences. The Case for Civility is a proposal for restoring civility in America as a way to foster civility around the world. Influential Christian writer and speaker Os Guinness makes a passionate plea to put an end to the polarization of American politics and culture that—rather than creating a public space for real debate—threatens to reverse the very principles our founders set into motion and that have long preserved liberty, diversity, and unity in this country.

Guinness takes on the contemporary threat of the excesses of the Religious Right and the secular Left, arguing that we must find a middle ground between privileging one religion over another and attempting to make all public expression of faith illegal. If we do not do this, Guinness contends, Western civilization as we know it will die. Always provocative and deeply insightful, Guinness puts forth a vision of a new, practical "civil and cosmopolitan public square" that speaks not only to America''s immediate concerns but to the long-term interests of the republic and the world.

Why am I here? What is God''s call in my life? How do I fit God''s call with my own individuality? How should God''s calling affect my career, my plans for the future, and my concepts of success?

First published in 1997 by distinguished author and speaker Os Guiness, The Call remains a treasured source of wisdom for those who ask these questions. According to Guinness, "No idea short of God''s call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment."

In this newly updated and expanded anniversary edition, Guinness explores the truth that God has a specific calling for each one of us and guides a new generation of readers through the journey of hearing and heeding that call. 

With more than 100,000 copies in print, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith.

In 1968, at the climax of the sixties, Os Guinness visited the United States for the first time. There he was struck by an impression he’d already felt in England and elsewhere: beneath all the idealism and struggle for freedom was a growing disillusionment and loss of meaning. “Underneath the efforts of a generation,” he wrote, “lay dust.”

Even more troubling, Christians seemed uninformed about the cultural shifts and ill-equipped to respond. Guinness took on these concerns by writing his first book, The Dust of Death. In this milestone work, leading social critic Guinness provides a wide-ranging, farsighted analysis of one of the most pivotal decades in Western history, the 1960s. He examines the twentieth-century developments of secular humanism, the technological society, and the alternatives offered by the counterculture, including radical politics, Eastern religions, and psychedelic drugs.

As all of these options have increasingly failed to deliver on their promises, Guinness argues, Westerners desperately need another alternative―a Third Way. This way “holds the promise of realism without despair, involvement without frustration, hope without romanticism.” It offers a stronger humanism, one with a solid basis for its ideals, combining truth and beauty. And this Third Way can be found only in the rediscovery and revival of the historic Christian faith.

First published in 1973, The Dust of Death is now in audio as part of the IVP Signature Collection, featuring a new preface by the author. This classic will help listeners of every generation better understand the cultural trajectory that continues to shape us and how Christians can still offer a better way.

The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life''s purpose. Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God''s call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.

Why am I here? What is God''s call in my life? How do I fit God''s call with my own individuality? How should God''s calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study.

According to Guinness, "No idea short of God''s call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment." With tens of thousands of readers to date, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith.

Also availbale in audio format, narrated by Os Guinness.

Facet by facet this internationally acclaimed Christian thinker examines life and the universal search for its meaning. What is "the call"? Far bigger than our jobs, deeper than our personal accomplishments, higher than our wildest ideas of self-fulfillment, our "calling" addresses the very essence of our existence. Discovering it in times past has changed whole nations and cultures. It could do the same to ours. A classic reflective work in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and Oswald Chambers,now ready to challenge the latest generation of high school and college graduates.

In the post-Christian context, public life has become markedly more secular and private life infinitely more diverse. Yet many Christians still rely on cookie-cutter approaches to evangelism and apologetics. Most of these methods assume that people are open, interested, and needy for spiritual insight when increasingly most people are not. The urgent need, then, is the capacity to persuade―to make a convincing case for the gospel to people who are not interested in it.

In his magnum opus, Os Guinness offers a comprehensive presentation of the art and power of creative persuasion. Christians have often relied on proclaiming and preaching, protesting and picketing but are strikingly weak in persuasion―the ability to talk to people who are closed to what is being said. Actual persuasion requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach. Guinness notes, “Jesus never spoke to two people the same way, and neither should we.”

Following the tradition of Erasmus, Pascal, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge, and Peter Berger, Guinness demonstrates how apologetic persuasion requires both the rational and the imaginative. Persuasion is subversive, turning the tables on listeners’ assumptions to surprise them with signals of transcendence and the credibility of the gospel.

This book is the fruit of forty years of thinking, honed in countless talks and discussions at many of the leading universities and intellectual centers of the world. Discover afresh the persuasive power of Christian witness from one of the leading apologists and thinkers of the era.