Michael Scott Horton

As one who enjoys reading, there are very few books that I genuinely loathe…“Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand is one that comes immediately to mind. (And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy the story…it’s just that the train-wreck of John Galt’s 80-pages-plus “radio address” near the book’s end ruined it.) However, on VERY rare occasions, I discover a book that I simultaneously loathe and love. Horton’s “Beyond Culture Wars” falls into this purgatorial category.

I will begin show more with the main reason that I loved the book. First, I wholeheartedly agree with the book’s major premise that the American church, in both its mainline/liberal Protestant and conservative Evangelical expressions, has decidedly lost its way, trading in its theological identity for some sort of mushy socio-political alternative lifestyle. Many within the church have mistakenly identified particular political and economic agendas as theologically “orthodox” when the reality is that Scripture has very little, if anything, to say about it. Take, for example, the debate about the comparative advantages and disadvantages of capitalism versus socialism. If we were quite honest, the Bible says next to nothing that could be construed as “favoring” one over the other. Or, better, what the Bible does say about the nature of human solidarity stands as a burning critique of BOTH capitalism AND socialism’s sinful excesses. Yet, the Church has essentially allowed itself to be co-opted by proponents of particular economic philosophies which, in turn, has a) alienated those who do not share that economic philosophy from the message of the Gospel and b) has distracted the American church from her primary mission of evangelism and the salvation of souls.

Horton is at his best when he is attacking the American civil religion that has disguised itself in Judeo-Christian robes. This leads him to positions that many I know would find surprising and perhaps offensive. For example, Horton does not wish for a return of prayer in the public schools, not because he doesn’t believe in prayer but because the prayer that is offered in such circumstances is not nor could it ever be prayer offered to Jesus Christ. Instead, the nation offers up prayers to a generic “god” who would best be named the American Dream and those who join the prayer intercede not for the coming of the heavenly Kingdom but for the success of the national self-interest.

However, when it came to providing answers, I found that I largely HATED Horton’s solutions. First, Horton annoyingly tries to lay the blame for this current “identity crisis” that has infected American Christianity on 19th and early 20th-century revivalism, especially in its involvement with emancipation, women’s suffrage, and prohibition. Having been raised in one of those disparaged “revival” movements (i.e., Pentecostalism), I felt that Horton’s analysis of the impact of revivalism in America fell flat. In reality, it was an attack that, in my opinion, was driven more by his disagreements with Charles Finney’s hamartiological views than with any careful analysis of the actual effects of the various revival movements. Furthermore, it could be argued that these high levels of religious movement’s broader social engagement that are responsible for American religious vitality compared to, say, Europe.

I also struggled with Horton’s commitment to the “Two Kingdoms” ideology of Luther and the later Reformation. He purposely avoids, it seems to me, discussing the ways in which Calvin attempted to use the civil government in Geneva to enforce theological orthodoxy, especially in his burning of Michael Servetus. I would think that, given Calvin’s clear heroic status in Horton’s mind, he would have taken time to address this tragic event, especially because it speaks directly to his claim about the key troubles of our own times. There is a significant history lesson here but, since it would come at Calvin’s expense, Horton would rather avoid it.

At the end of the day, while I agreed largely with Horton’s diagnosis of the issue, I’m not altogether convinced by his proposed cure, steeped as it is a Reformed theology that I find almost repugnant in some respects. For me, the most fascinating part of reading Horton’s book was recalling that it was published in 1993…just over 25 YEARS ago in those long-forgotten halcyon days of the Clinton administration. Reading Horton’s warnings in the midst of Trump’s ascendancy demonstrated how little the American church has actually learned. The problems Horton identifies have magnified ten-fold. Instead of backing down, religious leaders have chosen to double down on doomed-to-fail attempts to attain and retain worldly power. The questions Horton raises in this work are even MORE valuable analytical tools in our own world. show less

Michael Horton's book, God of Promise:Introducing Covenant Theology, is a wonderful primer for anyone interested in understanding the basics of the Reformed hermeneutic. As Horton says explicitly, it is not that covenant is viewed as the central dogma of Scripture, but rather that covenant is the framework of Scripture. In fact, “God's very existence is covenantal: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in unceasing devotion to each other; reaching outward beyond the Godhead to create a show more community of creatures serving as a giant analogy of the Godhead's relationship.” God's revelation to us is framed in that of a covenant, that of a relationship, because He Himself exists in covenant, in relationship.

Beyond that, our very existence is covenantal also. “We were not just created and then given a covenant; we were created as covenant creatures—partners not in deity, to be sure, but in the drama that was about to unfold in history. As covenant creatures by nature, every person has a relationship with God.” Horton highlights the fact that God is covenantal, relational, and deals with us as covenantal beings. We are created for a relationship. Even as fallen and unredeemed, we are in a relationship with God.


One of the main aspects of covenant theology, as outlined by Horton, is the emphasis on continuity. As someone who has just relatively recently embraced the fact that the Old Testament exists for a greater reason that tormenting me in my Read-the-Bible-in-a-year efforts, this is a great encouragement. “Covenant theology begins with continuity rather than discontinuity, not because of any a priori bias, but because Scripture itself moves from promise to fulfillment, not from one distinct program to another and then back again.” Reading the Scriptures through the lens of the mega-narrative of promise-fulfillment has allowed me to understand greatly the purpose and point of the Scriptures, and has allowed me to see more greatly the presence of Christ from Genesis 1:1 and on. It has also helped in keeping me from inserting my self and my felt needs into the Old Testament narrative, moralizing and stripping the Scriptures of their intention, to reveal Christ from cover to cover.

What is a covenant? “Covenant...is a broad term encompassing a variety of arrangements—most notably, conditional covenants of law and unconditional covenants of promise.” Horton spends plenty of time unpacking the “variety of arrangements”, but this definition will suffice at the most basic level. At an even more basic level, a covenant is a relationship between two entities. Horton spends time fleshing out what a covenant is, looking at ancient near eastern treaties/covenants and how they mirror the covenant framework of the Scriptures. Horton gives a clear and succinct(for him) exposition of Suzerain-vassal treaties and how they relate to the covenants of Scriptures, and to the layout of the entirety of Scripture. He then devotes some chapters to outlining the differences between covenants of promise(unilateral) and covenants of law(bilateral). After this, Horton spends a chapter going over the different covenants in Scripture and how they relate to each other, what they do and do not accomplish/promise, and how they relate to us today.

The chapter I had the hardest time with is also the chapter I enjoyed the most. Horton's chapter on covenant signs and seals was brilliant, too brilliant for me at points. More than a few times, I was completely lost in this chapter. Sometimes this happens when I am reading Michael Horton. It almost feels as if he slips into Professor Horton lecturing to third year M-Div students...and that is not me. And that is probably not best for a book entitled “Introducing” anything. Complaints on that issue aside, I will revisit that chapter a few more times and look at the referenced material because how he connects Communion and Baptism to the covenants, and how that relates to the Christian life is fascinating and seemingly Scriptural, if a bit below the surface for many of us raised dispensational, or at least ignorant of any possible covenant framework of Scripture.

The final chapter on covenant obedience is worth the price of the book and the read up to it alone. Horton explains clearly the motivation and necessity of obedience in the life of a Christian, while also dispelling the false motivations and false necessity of obedience with which most of us continually struggle. As a whole, while at times deeper than probably necessary for an introductory text, God of Promise is a great primer on covenant theology and just a fun read. show less

A Presbyterian paean of praise to the ordinary life. There’s a good bit of winsome and accessible wisdom here encouraging Christians to pull back from the flashy and exhausting (not to mention disillusioning) drive to Change The World, and to reorient ourselves to minding our own business, working with our hands, and living quiet lives of responsibility and love within the spheres God’s given us. This is a good antidote to the voices within and without the church that beat on us with the show more incessant reminder that we’re wasting our lives if we’re not Changing The World, which is such a joy-killing message when most of us are ordinary people just trying to get through our ordinary lives without making too much of a mess of it.

As a bonus for me, while reading the prefatory material, I had the thought that the powerful closing lines of Eliot’s “Middlemarch” would be a fitting epitaph for this book, only to find these very words opening the main content. Hooray for the classics! show less

"This book is for those who are tired of being starring characters in their own life movie. You want to be written into God's unfolding drama. But where to start?" (14).

Michael Horton gets a seminal truth that seems to be lost on many in the American Church today: it's not all about you. So much of church growth strategies, sermon series, and the books that line shelves at the bookstore focus on man. A survey of the theological landscape would lead one to believe that God exists to serve us, show more instead of the true theocentric drama that Scripture declares.

Horton asks the reader to askew their fear of doctrine. "Your heart can only embrace someone you know something about. . . . our closest relationships are not with people about whom we know little. It is only as we get to know people and they prove their character, love, and care that we grow in our desire for their company. . . [T]he unexamined faith is not worth believing" (16).

Ever chapter of Core Christianity revolves around Horton's 4 D's: drama, doctrine, doxology, and discipleship. Doctrine grows out of the biblical drama, or the story of God's self revelation. The drama yields doctrine. Doctrine tells us what the drama means for us. These doctrines, rooted firmly in God's drama, fill us with doxology, or praise. Doxology yields the fruit of love and good works, or discipleship. Each chapter follows the method of following the 4 D's.

Horton takes a covenantal view of theological issues, walking the reader through topics like the Trinity, revelation, sin, the Lordship of Christ, the incarnation, and eschatological hope.

All in all, this book is a wonderful primer. It summarizes Horton's premise laid out in his massive systematic theology, The Christian Faith. I recommend this book strongly based on the explanation of the 4 D's alone! show less