While John MacArthur is credited as the principle author of this book he writes only the introduction and two chapters out of twenty.  The rest of the book is written by staff members of Grace Community Church or are revisions of positional papers from the church that MacArthur pastors.  The volume offers a solid conservative biblical response to some of the hot button issues facing the church, and the world, today.

Right Thinking is organized around four parts: entertainment and leisure, morality and ethics, politics and activism, and tragedy and suffering.  Many chapters present strong challenges to our culture, as well as culturally influenced evangelical communities, including subjects such as entertainment, celebritism, homosexuality, the environmental movement and mercy ministries.  Other chapters provide helpful insights concerning controversial issues such as internet dating, video games, in vitro fertilization, birth control, passive euthanasia, global warming, racism, and illegal immigration.  The final section addresses biblical response to personal and global suffering and pain.

In a volume handling such difficult subjects some disagreement is to be expected.  While conservative Christians will embrace chapters on abortion and homosexuality, not all will agree on the position taken concerning divorce and remarriage or ecological responsibility.  But Right Thinking offers an excellent starting point on twenty or more tough issues and all the information needed on some.  I particularly appreciated Austin Duncan’s chapter on video games: “Where Virtual Reality Meets Real Life.”  If you have a pre-teen or teenage child, especially a boy, you will want to carefully consider what Duncan has to offer.

Right Thinking is a good primer for working through some of the most difficult problems facing the Christian in the twenty-first century.
 

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