The Intolerance of Tolerance
Over the past several months I have been (slowly) working my way through D.A. Carson's book The Intolerance of Tolerance. It is a truly insightful book that speaks to the "Tolerance" movement that has become so popular here in American and Western Europe. He addresses many problems with this movement but focuses his writing on the central idea that this movement towards toleration is exceedingly intolerant! What Carson shows is that in calling for everyone to tolerate everything (A term that has seriously lost any weight over the past 200 years) there is a large amount of intolerance for those who oppose this. I plan to write more in depth about this book as a whole when I finish it but for now I thought I would leave you all with a quote from the book that I found very interesting:
One of the things that supporters of the new tolerance fear is the claim to truth that could easily turn totalitarian. But one of the remarkable features of Christianity is that at the heart of our faith is the Lord Jesus, who claims to be the truth (John 14:6) and yet who goes to the cross to save others. The exclusiveness of his claim is never diminished, yet this truth incarnate goes to the cross for the sake of others. While we insist on the power and non-negotiability of truth, we are also humbled by a God who in the person of his Son discloses truth crucified. (Page 125-26)
I thought this was a great point and hope you will to!
Until Next Time
Michael