The New Faithful

I just finished an excellent book written by Colleen Carroll* in which she investigates the current movement among young adults towards orthodoxy ("right teaching"). She has a clear command of the statistical and anecdotal research, though she employs less synthesis than I would prefer. She makes it clear that this generation of young adults are rejecting Postmodernity's twin evils of moral relativism and ethical decline in favor of universal truths and religious convictions. She also makes it clear that they are trying to engage the wider culture through evangelism and transcending denominational or religious boundaries in an ecumenical pursuit of truth. But she devotes an insufficient amount of time explaining why; instead she lets the anecdotal evidence speak for itself. What the text lacks in scholarly integrity she makes up for with a tonnage of evidence in favor of her claim. I found myself able to relate so well to the portrait she was painting of today's young adult. I felt at times while reading that I was observing myself through the author's eyes. Her claims resonated with me because I have lived what she is describing in this book. I am in fact in the process of trying to decipher the best way to live out my orthodox beliefs and still engage the heterodox culture in which I reside. She offers little instruction for how this can be done, but satisfies my suspicion that I'm in very good company in the process. It's good to know you're in a multitude; I hope to discover more books that will alert the public to the existence of this multitude and the impetus behind it: He Who is the Fountain of All Truth, Christ the King.

Speaking of Whom...Happy Christus Rex Sunday! May all the nations bless His holy name!

*She has since gained a new surname, Campbell, and pens a biweekly column in OSV you should read if you like her book.