Review of Herbert Schlossberg's Book, Idols for Destruction: The Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture

Writing in the late 1980s, Herbert Schlossberg provides a thorough analysis of current trends in American culture in his book Idols for Destruction: The Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture. Many scholars have examined Western civilization and concluded that we are in its declining years. Some use analogies of space: rise, zenith, and fall; others use analogies of biology: birth, maturity, and death. Schlossberg refuses to see all cultures as following these patterns, but rather attempts to use the concept of judgment, based on the biblical example of the prophets: “With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction” (Hos. 8:4). If the idols are destroyed, and we return to worship the true God, we can expect God’s blessing. However, if we continue down the road of idolatry, our culture will certainly be judged just as many cultures that went before us.

Summary

The book is divided into chapters regarding idols of history, humanity, money, nature, power, and religion. Then it hesitantly offers a prediction if the current trends hold, and instruction for the Christian community whether or not the trends hold.

Idols of history are defined as ideologies that look to institutions of history for salvation. These include improvements to humanity due to evolution or the Enlightenment’s inevitable march of progress. More commonly, they include Marxism and Western social engineering. The basic assumption for all of these ideas is that history itself is determining what is good, and anyone who disagrees needs to get out of the way. These ideologies all have a basic problem in that they do not allow for any transcendent standard of right and wrong so they cannot account for a critique of the current trends. T...

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...mmon American Christian who needs to hear his message. Even many seminary students will need a dictionary nearby while reading it. Today’s idolatry is not as obvious as dancing with the prostitutes around an Asherah, and Christians need clear descriptions of what to avoid. The challenge for Christian leaders who read this book is to simplify the content so as to teach their people what a modern idol looks like.

Overall, this book is an exceptional example of critiquing our culture with a firm grasp of the philosophies of the day. Our culture is rampant with idols that need to be destroyed. Twenty years have only made the idols more pronounced. This book ought to be required reading in Christian secondary education across the country.

Works Cited
Schlossberg, Herbert. Idols for Destruction: The Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture. Weaton: Crossway, 1990.