I cannot recommend this book enough. Rosaria is the voice this generation needs. She's wise and articulate in her communication. This book will be one that I recommend and gift over and over.
And if you haven't heard her speak at the Liberty 2023 Convocation it's worth your time to listen!

*I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my review.

What a great book for this time in history. There was just so gold to be mined out of this book and so much I missed I'm sure. I would love to read this book again using the study guide so that I could learn more. Rosario doesn't beat around the bush. She tells it like it is even if she has to acknowledge areas where she has failed in, lies she has believed and needed to repent of. I find her faith in God and belief in His word and her ability to express those things refreshing and convicting.

The five lies she addressed in this book are:

1. Homosexuality is normal

2. Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a Biblical Christian

3. Feminism is good for the world and the church

4. Transgenderism is normal

5. Modesty is an outdated burden that serves male dominance and holds women back.

I wish somehow I could hang on to the way she's says things so that I could better express myself in challenging conversations.

"When we dispense with the wisdom of the creation ordinance, we abandon the standard of God's intention for men and women, the purpose for masculinity and femininity, and the order that God has set for families and civilizations."

I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

I received this book from Crossway via NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

"Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age" by Rosaria Butterfield is a thought-provoking and deeply insightful examination of the prevailing misconceptions that pervade our increasingly secular society. With clarity and compassion, Butterfield addresses these falsehoods head-on and provides a compelling case for embracing a Christian worldview. The book's central thesis is that there are five significant lies that dominate our anti-Christian age, and the author skillfully dissects each one, offering a compelling argument for the truth.

One of the most profound takeaways from this book is the author's ability to bridge the gap between faith and skepticism. Rosaria Butterfield, drawing from her own remarkable journey from a tenured professor and staunch atheist to a committed Christian, effectively dismantles these misconceptions. She invites readers to engage with the five lies - about gender, sexuality, identity, science, and morality - and equips them with the knowledge and wisdom to engage in meaningful dialogue with those who hold opposing views. Through her personal experiences and meticulous research, Butterfield underscores the importance of understanding the foundations of our faith and how they intersect with the modern world.

"Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age" is an essential read for anyone concerned with the challenges posed by an increasingly secular society. This book is particularly valuable for Christians who want to navigate and engage with today's cultural issues while staying true to their faith. Rosaria Butterfield's eloquent and compassionate writing style encourages readers to approach these controversial topics with empathy, grace, and unwavering conviction. Whether you are seeking to understand the cultural shifts of our time, engage in meaningful conversations, or simply deepen your own Christian faith, this book offers valuable insights and guidance that will help you stand firm in an anti-Christian age while fostering a spirit of love and understanding. In essence, it is a compelling and necessary guide for our times.

The sincere convert accepts a complete Christ. He loves not only the reward, but the labor. He seeks not only the benefits, but the burden of Christ. He takes up the commands, yes even the cross of Christ. In contrast, the unsound and perhaps unsaved person takes Christ by halves. He is all for the salvation but not the sanctification. He is all for the privileges, but neglects the person of Christ..They desire salvation from suffering, but do not desire to be saved from sinning.

Christianity is not about us being perfect but our faith in the One that is perfect. From Rosaria's perspective of being a feminist, liberal Professor, and living as a lesbian, she gave up everything for Christ. She believed the lies and found the truth that set her free. She has found meaning of the pain of what she gave up within the promises of God's word. She also understands how the lies will destroy families, communities and the only hope we have is the truth.

I struggle with the difference of acceptance and approval. I believed that they were the same. They are not the same. I believed the lie and struggled because of it. Acceptance involves listening, caring for, and praying and sharing the truth of God's word. Acceptance helps you in the landmines of lies. You know the difference of the lies and the truth. Acceptance means living in the reality and not fantasy. Rosaria in great detail explains how we can love thru acceptance. Approval is not kindness and pulls us away from the reality and truth.

The five lies are as follows:

Homosexuality is normal
Being a spiritual person is kinder than being biblical Christian
Feminism is good for the world and the church
Transgenderism is normal
Modesty is outdated burden that serves male dominance and holds women back.

These lies are the root of what keeps people from God. It is the truth that Rosaria brings forth thru her own experience, study, family, and church that is a shining light of hope. Lies do not bring hope and we need the hope of the truth that Christ testified. It is not about our feelings but the truth. We need the truth of the gospel. The gospel is not a get out of jail card but a realization that there is more. A life that is abundant in worship and awe of the God that saves. Praying that others will be blessed by this book.

A special thank you to Crossway Publishing and netgalley for the aRC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, there's a lot of good food for thought in there. On the other hand, there's so much here that felt reactionary to the culture.

The book also felt quite a bit longer than it needed to be. If you want to get a sense of what the book was about, you can just read the introduction and it covers everything fairly sufficiently. I appreciated Butterfield's thoughts on transgenderism and the fact that she relied so heavily on scripture to support her arguments. That said, a lot of this was preaching to the choir.

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age is a challenging book that addresses sexuality in the culture and what the Bible says. Butterfield draws from her own experience as she confronts these 5 lies with the Bible. Not everyone will agree with all she says, but it is worth the read and will give you food for thought.

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age
By Rosario Butterfield
Pub Date 12 Sep 2023
Crossway
Christian


Netgalley and Crossway sent me Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age for review:


Using the word of God, best-selling author Rosario Butterfield debunks five lies modern culture embraces about sexuality. 


I definitely recommend Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age five out of five stars if you are looking for truth that goes against everything secular society would have us believe.


Happy Reading!

A brilliant book discussing very important topics in our Christian age. It walks you through 5 different lies, focusing on Christian truths on sexuality and gender roles. I really enjoy how Rosaria walks us through the 5 different lives whilst unpacking her own story as she goes. It's fascinating to learn how she journeyed through such a vast transformation, really demonstrates the strength of God's power to renew our minds as we journey with Him. It has definitely challenged the way I view femininity as a Christian woman, and I appreciate her clear and direct approach, which is also met with good intentions. The book is designed to help people who know others who are facing challenges/are stuck in lies themselves, and I think this would be very helpful for this, and also for your own journey, but it requires an open mind in order to do so.

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age is a book that sets out to expose five lies that today's culture promotes and that have entered the church as well.
The author starts with her own testimony of coming to faith, the journey of unpacking some of the lies she discusses in the book.
It is a well-written book, and Rosaria Butterfield is definitely well versed in the subjects she broaches. I learned a lot and found the explanations clear.
What I loved is that in every chapter the Gospel is central to addressing each lie, though at some point it feels repetitive.
One aspect that I disliked was the harsh tone used at times. Though I myself am I christian and understand the importance of these issues, it was difficult to read at times.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

Rosaria Butterfield is one of the smartest authors and people I have read. Her life experience is so incredibly valuable and her insights are profound. Her knowledge of scripture is unlike I have never read or seen. I am constantly learning from Rosaria and am inspired by her generosity, hospitality, and perspective.

This book is no different. This is a timely book for myself and our culture. I hope that this book opens eyes and helps Christians see how they have bought into the lies fed to us by culture and the world.

Highly recommend this helpful book!

Thank you NetGalley and Crossway for the copy!

Rosaria Butterfield has an incredible testimony. She has taken many of her life experiences and used them to discuss some of the hottest topics of our current day. This is a book written for Christian believers, looking at how today's church is dealing with - or failing to deal with - those issues.

For Christians who are serious about their faith and believe in biblical inerrancy, this is a must read. The author is insightful, an expert in the subject matter, and compassionate. The lies she details here are struggles she has dealt with herself or seen close friends battle. She speaks from experience. This is not something she read in a book or saw on TV. This was her life for many years.

Highly recommended to bible believing Christians.

Due to subject matter, this is not for younger readers. Parents of tweens and teens should read it before deciding if their children are mature enough.

In a post-Christian world, speaking out against mainstream societal beliefs is becoming harder. In some cases, it is virtually impossible to speak out without becoming ostracized or persecuted for asserting biblical truth. Politicians wanting to be elected or re-elected often have to mirror the mainstream opinions about some of the most divisive issues of this age. Ongoing divisive issues include Abortion, liberal views on Sexuality, Gender Bias, Women's roles, etc. Before anyone starts labeling the author with nasty labels, note that author Rosaria Butterfield writes with a specific audience in mind: "This book is for Christians not embarrassed by the Bible and its teaching on women’s roles and callings." She writes with conviction on what the Bible teaches. Her targets are not fellow humans per se but on how the devil is poisoning society with lies, in particular, lies that accelerate the anti-Christian mindset. Such mindset has emboldened extremists to threaten anyone holding on to a biblical standpoint with increasing hate, verbal abuse, and even violence. Instead of obeying the laws of God, humans are increasingly building a modern tower of Babel, one that defies biblical wisdom and challenges God's authority. Highlighting five lies in such an anti-Christian era, Butterfield boldly challenges the status quo that claims the following:

1) "Homosexuality is normal"
2) "Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a biblical person"
3) "Feminism is good for the world and the Church"
4) "Transgenderism is normal"
5) "Modesty Is an Outdated Burden That Serves Male Dominance and Holds Women Back."

Before dealing with these, the author lays down some foundational premises. Beginning with the creation ordinance in Genesis, she shows us that there is an authoritative order for the world; men and women are relational; God has established gender binary; and the roles and rules pertaining to Adam and Eve. All the lies mentioned in the book challenges one or more of these ordinances. Simply put, the mainstream acceptance of these lies are challenging biblical Truth. Sometimes, they even try to silence God's Word with human sense of entitlement.

The first lie is the hot issue of homosexuality. In many countries, it has become an accepted practice so much so that in some places, the teaching of homosexuality as a norm has become part of the school curriculum. Butterfield writes that this teaching of homosexual norm is to say God's Word does not apply to sexual orientation. The second lie of presuming "spiritual persons" are kinder than biblical ones is based on an erroneous philosophy that is self-promoting and narcissistic. The third lie that espouses feminism as good for all has less to do with the Truth of God's Word but more to do with a self-proclaimed form of defending against any kind of abuse by males. The fourth lie has somewhat displaced feminism because it affirms "gender fluidity" to the point that one can determine one's own gender to the point that some even claim that gender is no longer some biological fact but personal choice. The fifth lie looks at the place of modesty as outdated, serving only male dominance and holding women back.

My Thoughts
==============
When I read the title of this book, my first thought was "Wow! What a courageous lady." In our modern climate, speaking biblical truth is becoming an increasingly uphill task. People would quickly shut down any challenges to their rights, whatever their rights may be. Just the mention of words like "homosexuality," "transgenderism," "feminism," and "biblical" would quickly produce a defensiveness that amount to an atmosphere of hostility that utters "bigot," "intolerance," "gay-haters," etc. I caution anyone from jumping into that state of mind, especially in a TLDR era. Our society is breeding a generation of people who are quick to fire accusations and slow to listen to the actual contexts. So one of the contexts to remember is that the author is writing to "Christians, especially Christian women who aren't ashamed of the Bible and its teachings." It is like a society giving a specific seminar to interested members who want to honour the principles of that society. There will be people who will criticize Butterfield for her views but let those be the people she is addressing in the first place: Christians, especially Christian women who are not ashamed of biblical teachings.

Secondly, this book will offend some people. Some might even start condemning the author even before reading the book. We need to be careful not to put words into the author's mouth. Even though her views might be unpopular, there is always room for constructive criticism. Dissent is ok but let that be done with civility and mutual respect. When she writes that the statement "Homosexuality is normal" is a lie, she is not attacking gay rights. Neither is she saying that one cannot legally be gay or lesbian in society. She is criticizing those who might be teaching homosexuality as some divine gift from God. She is not attacking homosexual persons or transgenderism, but an uncritical spread of a false teaching that contradicts biblical teaching. If left unchecked, God's order will be disrupted with increasing recklessness. Imagine a road system where there are multiple junctions without working traffic lights or orderly rules of the road. If every driver sets their own right of way rules, it would lead to many dangerous situations and fatal accidents. Likewise, in the philosophical and theological traffic system, if anybody decides for themselves their own gender, sexual orientation, and their self-entitled right to write their own biological make-up, it would cause confusion and disorder, especially among younger minds who might not even be aware of what is male or female in the first place!

Finally, I appreciate where Butterfield is coming from and her courage to speak biblical truth in the way she has done. The Bible teaches us to speak the Truth in love as well as to expect persecutions in an increasingly ungodly world. By writing specifically to Christians, and not just any Christian, but those who want to be unashamed of biblical teaching, she is equipping Christians to defend the faith as per biblical principles and teachings. She is concerned about people who have been silenced by mainstream opinions that are deceptively right on the outside but erroneous on the inside. Christians have a duty to speak up in the Name of Truth. Godless society is deceiving ordinary Christians in a big and insidious way. By letting biblical truth shine the path for us, Christians can learn to be sober minded and watchful of the lions waiting for any chance to devour them. Kudos to the author for a courageous pushback against a world that is not only deceiving others but also itself.

Rosaria Butterfield (PhD, Ohio State University) is an author, pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, and former professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse University. She is the author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert; Openness Unhindered; and The Gospel Comes with a House Key.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Rosaria Butterfield, a former English professor, now a Christian pastor and author, has recently published a new book titled “5 Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age”. In this book, Butterfield uses Scripture to confront and debunk five common lies that are often promoted in our secular culture today. In a beautiful humble confession, Rosaria says that she once believed these lies herself, but has since come to understand the truth through her faith in Christ.
Written in a memoir-style, Rosaria shares her own personal struggle with these falsehoods and weaves in cultural studies, literary criticism, and theology to help readers appreciate the beauty in biblical womanhood, marriage, and motherhood.
In the preface, Rosaria makes it clear who the book is for: Christians, especially Christian women who aren’t ashamed of the Bible and its teachings. Following on in her introduction, Rosaria emphasises that we're living in an era that is hostile to Christianity, a time of disarray – much like the age of Babel. She references Romans 1:21-28 to illustrate how people have traded the worship of the Creator for that of the created, truth for lies, and natural sexuality for shameful desires.
The five lies are:
Homosexuality is normal
Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a biblical Christian
Feminism is good for the world and the church
Transgenderism is normal &
Modesty is an outdated burden that serves male dominance and holds women back.
Phew! While there is a lot to digest in this book, it is actually quite simple to read through. The text is divided into five sections, with fifteen chapters in total. Rosaria shares her own personal experiences and provides historical data and cultural examples to support her insights. Additionally, she offers comforting words from Scripture that remind us that although the world may be evolving, God remains constant and He alone is the answer to the lies we may be confronted with.

Personally I loved the section about feminism and the focus on what biblical submission is and isn’t. The inclusion of footnotes on each page was a reader (and nerd) delight - instead of painful endnotes, you can indulge on little diversions as you read each page.

Overall, I would fully endorse this book as a must read by not only women of the church, but anyone wanting to strengthen their ideologies around these topics. As the book has a study guide, I would hope that many churches use it as a tool to help build healthy marriages and healthy, Godly families.

It gets five solid, blinging stars from me.

I received an ARC from Crossway through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I ended up DNFing this book for several reasons, which is super unfortunate because I had high hopes.

The positive: it’s a very gospel centered, gospel forward book which is amazing and beautiful and what it should be. That’s the good I have to say.

The negative: I just don’t fully agree with her view on biblical womanhood and felt like if I don’t agree, I’m wrong. Along with that, while the book is extremely gospel forward (again, a positive), I just found it super repetitive. I made it through 30% and I was ready for her to make her next point because a dead horse was being beat.

I also felt like when it came to the topic of homosexuality, grace wasn’t given and it was just discussed in a very harsh manner. It was all about repentance - which is definitely necessary, I’m not discrediting that - but hardly any grace. And where there was grace, it still felt harsh.

Maybe I misinterpreted what I read, but it left me annoyed and frustrated. I give it three stars, only because the gospel is shared and at least central.

I tried to make this book last as long as possible to savor every word. As usual, Rosaria writes in the truth-filled, love-saturated grace we have come to know and expect from her. She discusses hard topics of our time in a firm and clear manner pointing to Christ our savior. This is a must read for every person wanting a clear picture of what the Bible teaches about 5 common lies of our age including homosexuality and feminism. I will be buying this book when it comes out so I can share it with others. Rosaria writes so clearly and invites the reader in with humble kindness. God will be glorified through this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crossway for an ACR in return for my honest opinion of the book.

Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age is a fantastic book to answer questions you may have about homosexuality, tolerance, feminism, transgenderism, and modesty. Rosaria Butterfield writes on these tops from a Christian perspective, but also as one who has come to see some truths about these topics from life experiences that were not all that Christian. She has not found the truth to some of these lies easily. It's hard. Doesn't seem fair. sometimes, And may even go against some popular ways of thinking. But truth is truth and Rosaria brings it to us by answers specific questions on each of these topics.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning not only what Rosaria has to say, but what the Bible has to say about these topics as well.

Rosaria Butterfield, formerly a lesbian feminist and now a married Christian, addresses the current debate over homosexuality, feminism, transgenderism, and the appropriate responses to these issues. Relying on solid exposition of Scripture, peppered with observations of renowned theologians, Butterfield explains the difference between acceptance and approval, exhorting true and loving Christians to exhibit the former but refrain from the latter. Exhibiting true love is addressing sin, not approving it. True love is leading the sinner from his sin, not accommodating it. Butterfield addresses the book primarily toward women, but fathers and grandfathers, and indeed pastors and counselors, will benefit from the truths in this book. I highly recommend it. Although I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and Crossway, I have purchased a hard copy for my library, and will use it as a reference tool in the future.

Hats off to the book cover designer for this one. It perfectly illustrates the warning Butterfield gives concerning modern sex and gender ideologies. At many points in this book, I thought, "Yikes, I don't know if I agree with that, " but Butterfield explains each point with reason, conviction, and clarity. Reading this book felt very much like experiencing Titus 2:4-8.

On the outset, I was unaware of the content of the book before I read it. I suppose the back cover synopsis might have been more elucidating than the title, but for whatever reason, I didn’t read it.

I was startled out of my ignorance in the introduction with a word picture painted specifically to feed into the fear of the Christian reader. Reading the introduction of this book elicits the very same feelings you might get after watching an hour of Fox News or CNN. In other words, it’s meant to feed fears and anxieties to compel the reader to come back and read more or to take action in some way. The introduction sets the tone for the entire book, and I cannot therefore recommend it because the spirit of fear does not come from God and using the tools of darkness to drive out darkness can never be successful. It only fuels the darkness.

After the introduction, Rosaria sets off to dispel five lies of the “anti-Christian” age. Even the title of the book makes one’s pulse quicken. The lies (and parts of her explanations of the truth, or the cure) are based on relative terms and vague ambiguities. For instance, the first lie she addresses is “homosexuality is normal.” But what is normal is relative to the population. Normal is a relative term and what’s normal changes over time. Normal is a moving target. Precision of language is important in effective communication. In her third lie, “transgenderism is normal,” she says the root sin of all transgenderism is the sin of envy, and those suffering from the sin should repent of their envy and find a good church. Making blanket statements about the root sins of others is a bold claim when you cannot possibly claim to know them all well enough to diagnose their root sin. Secondly, what even is a “good” church? The word “good” is relative. She’s going to bat for the truth because she’s observed the church being more and more divided over the lies she is dispelling, so that begs clarity. What on earth is a “good” church here? How does one struggling with transgenderism who might want to find a good church know how and where to look for one? The answers are not found in this book. In the last lie, she addresses “modesty is an outdated burden.” I was astonished that she felt compelled to address her “disapproval” of the biography of a woman who came out of ATI because of the impact her testimony of spiritual abuse could have to the modesty and virtues of women in the church. Silencing victims within the church doesn’t build the kingdom of God, it builds the kingdoms of men. Jesus Christ was never ashamed or afraid of the truth. He never sought to quash the truth from being known. The truth is what sets us free. Hiding it protects the perpetrators.

To be so learned and studied, I confess, I expected more. This book reads as if it was written not in a spirit of love to help a brother or sister in Christ but in a spirit of deep shame for the part she played in the LGBTQ+ and feminist communities prior to her conversion.

I’d like to thank Crossway and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First sentence: The devil is a liar. And not just any old liar, a very good one. He normally avoid direct assaults. He prefers deceit, and misdirection.

I'm going to review in a slightly different format that I hope is at least as helpful if not more.

Who is the book for? Who is the intended audience? Butterfield's intended audience is Christian women. Christian women from all walks--backgrounds, experiences, viewpoints. She is writing to a) Christian women who are [very] likely going to agree with her on most if not all of these five lies, b) Christian women who MAY agree with her on some--though perhaps not all--of these five lies, c) Christian women who are likely to disagree with her more often than not. The book is written for those who profess to be Christian. It is not primarily written for the "world at large." She is not particularly seeking to change the minds of the whole, wide world--culture and society at large.

Why did she write the book? Why should YOU read it? (Should you read it?) Butterfield is, I believe, writing because she sees that these FIVE LIES are becoming more and more prevalent and embedded within the evangelical church. Not just the liberal, progressive, on the fringe churches. But becoming more and more common within "big eva" or the mainstream evangelical churches. Hardly any denomination exists that isn't facing at least the threat if not the actualization of these lies. Perhaps even coming from the top down--from the higher ups, the powers that be, the structural organization, the seminaries and schools of higher learning. Because this issue is embedded within the evangelical culture, within the mainstream churches, because even if you fence yourself off from the world at large and seek to live a bubbled-life, it's now becoming more common even within the church. There is no hiding from the lies addressed in the book. That is why you should read the book.

Is the book persuasive? I believe the book is well-written. I believe that the flow and layout of this one is logical, reasonable, biblical even. Butterfield uses Scripture AND testimony--her own--to write of these five issues, five lies. She writes clearly, in my opinion. She holds a VERY high view of Scripture. Because the evangelical church is losing that "high view" of Scripture, letting go of the notion that it is a) God-breathed, inspired, the VERY word of God, b) inerrant and infallible, always true, always faithful, always relevant, always authoritative, they are welcoming with open arms these lies from the world, from the devil. So is it persuasive? I think if you fall into the first two audiences (see above) those who likely already agree to a certain extent on a few of these lies, then the book will help affirm, reaffirm, establish, re-establish your position. Your confusion and doubts may clear up. If you fall into the third audience and are coming into the book with an I-don't-agree-with-this-this-is-nonsense attitude, the Holy Spirit might, can, may still use the book to enlighten. But if you are strongly opposed to everything Butterfield stands for, if you see her as "the enemy," then this one might not be persuasive enough. (But again, the Holy Spirit can work mighty wonders with hardened hearts, with the chiefest of sinners.)

So what are the five lies?

1) Homosexuality is normal
2) Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a biblical christian
3) Feminism is good for the world and the church
4) Transgenderism is normal
5) Modesty is an outdated burden that serves male dominance and holds women back.

Final thoughts...

Just as there are supposedly "four point Calvinists" or "three point Calvinists" I believe it is possible at least to approach this one believing several of these to be lies and yet not fully convinced that all five are equally lies or equally dangerous.

The book delivers on what it promises. It is about those five lies. If you hold those five lies to be true, to be your truth, chances are you will not particularly enjoy or find this one comfortable. If you recognize these five lies to be lies--to be false--then you will find this one (in my opinion) an absorbing, enlightening, engaging read. I particularly found the testimony bits to be incredibly moving and inspiring.