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caleb_karnosh22's review against another edition
5.0
In this book, Carl Trueman sets out to show that the ideas surrounding sexuality & sexual identity that have come to dominate the social imaginary are filled with conscious philosophies and intuitions that have deep historical roots. Trueman thoughtfully and intentionally follows the philosophical developments that contributed to our modern understanding of the self and how our understanding of "self" has become so intertwined with sexuality.
Not that I needed much convincing, but I think this book confirmed for me that, as a society, we are far closer to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World than we are to Orwell's 1984.
This is just a side comment but: I think what Willie James Jennings does in his work The Christian Imagination is what Trueman is doing with this book only on a different topic and from a different perspective. While Jennings seeks to show the historical and anthropological development of the social imaginary he refers to as Whiteness that impacts Western society's view on race; Trueman seeks to give a historical account of how our current culture here in the West exists within a social imaginary rooted in expressive individualism that influences our understanding of the "self." Jennings and Trueman would certainly disagree on many things but I think they would both offer helpful critiques of one another. Hopefully someone out there who is way smarter than me makes a similar connection and writes about it.
Not that I needed much convincing, but I think this book confirmed for me that, as a society, we are far closer to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World than we are to Orwell's 1984.
This is just a side comment but: I think what Willie James Jennings does in his work The Christian Imagination is what Trueman is doing with this book only on a different topic and from a different perspective. While Jennings seeks to show the historical and anthropological development of the social imaginary he refers to as Whiteness that impacts Western society's view on race; Trueman seeks to give a historical account of how our current culture here in the West exists within a social imaginary rooted in expressive individualism that influences our understanding of the "self." Jennings and Trueman would certainly disagree on many things but I think they would both offer helpful critiques of one another. Hopefully someone out there who is way smarter than me makes a similar connection and writes about it.
ryanxvx's review against another edition
5.0
This one will take some digesting. A truly phenomenal and surprisingly dispassionate look at the sexual revolution and its consequences on society writ large. Trueman is nothing if not fair to his opponents, something that, I regret to say, really surprised me. He has a deep understanding of all of the movements he's presenting here. It's important to note that this isn't a Christian tirade against the decline of Western society. It's a historian's attempt to answer the question of how we got where we are today. Highly recommended, even if you're secular.
cfrakes12's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most important books for Christians of every variety to read. From pastors to lay leaders to congregants this book is deep, dense and insightful for our current context and cannot be highly recommended enough.
daggrmissel's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
This book took me several months to finish. I had pencil in hand and had to underline and make notes to soak up the main points of the book. This was a well thought out and well articulated explanation for our society and the psychological man. I found it accessible, but in depth. I would be very interested to read more from Carl Trueman.
rox74's review against another edition
5.0
This book was a thought-provoking, well-explained, comprehensive, and brilliant book, which is exactly what I've come to expect from Carl Trueman's books. I've spent several months reading it with a friend, discussing the ideas, and writing summaries for each chapter, but I still feel as though I'm only just wrapping my head around the main ideas. It's not a challenging book, as Carl Trueman does a wonderful job of making his points very clear, but it's a quite meaty book and the ideas impact so much, if not all, of our modern world. All Christians would benefit from reading this book. In my view, it's a must read.
tim_michiemo's review against another edition
5.0
4.9 Stars
Carl Trueman’s "The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self" is a phenomenal work of cultural, philosophical and historical analysis. It is probably the best work of Christian cultural analysis that I have ever read so far (though… I still have plenty more to read). Trueman’s book is essentially an explanation of how modern society has come to a place where a man can say, “I am a woman trapped in a man’s body.” Trueman focuses primarily on expounding the works of Philip Rieff, Charles Taylor, and Alasdair MacIntyre and their understanding of the rise of the “psychological man” and “expression individualism.” Trueman then traces the ideas of these three intellectuals through Western history, showing how the ideas of Rousseau, the Romantics, Marx, Freud, Reich, and Marcuse have psychologized our ideas of self, how our psychologized selves have become sexualized, and then how our sexualized selves have become politicalized.
I cannot stress how great work this is. As Christians we are all swimming in the modern morass of the psychological and sexualized self – this is the water we are all swimming in. Yet, as Christians, we are often shocked when the secularized society around us charges head-long into greater sexual immorality. Yet Trueman masterfully shows us that there are intellectual developments within Western culture that have laid the groundwork for such sexualized ideas of self. And these notions go far further back than the sexual revolution of the 1960s, but back to Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau, and to Romantics like Percy Blythe Shelly and William Wordsworth. And like a master builder, Trueman walks us through history showing us how the building of modernity has been constructed, and how the furniture of the sexualize self-have been put into place.
I cannot commend this book any more highly. The only critique that I have is that many of the philosophical and historical ideas and terms can be difficult to the casual reader. But I think this book is worth the challenge. It is worth the work of thinking through these ideas because it will better equip you as a Christian to identify where these notions of the sexualized self are coming from. Even though it is brief, Trueman ends his book by stating that the historic age that this modern one is most like is the 2nd century, where Christians were a minority in a prevalently pagan world. Thus, Trueman in this book is equipping us to be the exilic church, a Christian witness that understands the times and looks forward to the hope of heaven!
Carl Trueman’s "The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self" is a phenomenal work of cultural, philosophical and historical analysis. It is probably the best work of Christian cultural analysis that I have ever read so far (though… I still have plenty more to read). Trueman’s book is essentially an explanation of how modern society has come to a place where a man can say, “I am a woman trapped in a man’s body.” Trueman focuses primarily on expounding the works of Philip Rieff, Charles Taylor, and Alasdair MacIntyre and their understanding of the rise of the “psychological man” and “expression individualism.” Trueman then traces the ideas of these three intellectuals through Western history, showing how the ideas of Rousseau, the Romantics, Marx, Freud, Reich, and Marcuse have psychologized our ideas of self, how our psychologized selves have become sexualized, and then how our sexualized selves have become politicalized.
I cannot stress how great work this is. As Christians we are all swimming in the modern morass of the psychological and sexualized self – this is the water we are all swimming in. Yet, as Christians, we are often shocked when the secularized society around us charges head-long into greater sexual immorality. Yet Trueman masterfully shows us that there are intellectual developments within Western culture that have laid the groundwork for such sexualized ideas of self. And these notions go far further back than the sexual revolution of the 1960s, but back to Enlightenment thinkers like Rousseau, and to Romantics like Percy Blythe Shelly and William Wordsworth. And like a master builder, Trueman walks us through history showing us how the building of modernity has been constructed, and how the furniture of the sexualize self-have been put into place.
I cannot commend this book any more highly. The only critique that I have is that many of the philosophical and historical ideas and terms can be difficult to the casual reader. But I think this book is worth the challenge. It is worth the work of thinking through these ideas because it will better equip you as a Christian to identify where these notions of the sexualized self are coming from. Even though it is brief, Trueman ends his book by stating that the historic age that this modern one is most like is the 2nd century, where Christians were a minority in a prevalently pagan world. Thus, Trueman in this book is equipping us to be the exilic church, a Christian witness that understands the times and looks forward to the hope of heaven!
benciticus's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent historical and philosophical tracing of the emergence of modern Western society's view of self and how this view of self informs our current cultural imaginary (our everyday perception of reality and the good) for the individual.
Truly a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the widely accepted approach to personal identity of our day.
Truly a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the widely accepted approach to personal identity of our day.
helenofbris's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry