Fault Lines: Shortlisted for the 2021 Costa First Novel Award

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John O.’s point—shared by many, if not most of the authors on Christianity Today’s reading list, and evinced by the list’s very existence, is that you really don’t get what the Bible is trying to say about social justice until you read social science and history. The left has figured out who to blame for the financial crisis: Greedy Wall Street bankers, especially at Goldman Sachs. The right has figured it out, too: It was government's fault, especially Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Raghuram Rajan of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business says it's more complicated: Fault lines along the tectonic plates of the global economy pushed big government and big finance to a financial earthquake. To him, this was a Greek tragedy in which traders and bankers, congressmen and subprime borrowers all played their parts until the drama reached the inevitably painful end. (Mr. Rajan plays Cassandra, of course.) But just when you're about to cast him as a University of Chicago free-market stereotype, he surprises by identifying the widening gap between rich and poor as a big cause of the calamity."—David Wessel, Wall Street Journal A high-powered yet accessible analysis of the financial crisis and its aftermath, Fault Lines was awarded the FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. Rajan . . . was one of the few who warned that the crisis was coming and his book fizzes with striking and thought-provoking ideas."— Financial Times

Best Crisis Book by an Economist and Named one of Bloomberg News's Thirty Business Books of the Year for 2010 To those who are watching the effects of CRT and are wondering what comes next in this catastrophe, stand strong. Ensure your foundation is strong so it will not be replaced with a foundation of lies. I tread lightly and cautiously when critiquing a man of Voddie Baucham’s stature for three reasons: This is a political book, and a bad one. Instead of presenting a path forward, he attempts to point out everyone else's flaws.

Fault Lines shares for the first time findings from Dr. Pillemer's ten-year groundbreaking Cornell Reconciliation Project, based on the first national survey on estrangement; rich, in-depth interviews with hundreds of people who have experienced it; and insights from leading family researchers and therapists. He assures people who are estranged, and those who care about them, th

Other authors, like Shai Linne in his upcoming book The New Reformation, humbly admit that they don't have all of the answers and that they may get some things wrong. I didn't get that sense from Fault Lines. In fact, it seems like this book is an "all or nothing" approach to the conversation. I expected that as I’ve seen anti-social justice pastors and authors calling for excommunication for members who disagree with them on these matters. I’ve seen their social media tirades. Sadly, this is a trend on both sides of the race and justice spectrum. When I began my interviews with estranged people, I was not aware that they experienced such an acute sense of shame and isolation. One of my first interviews revealed the stigma attached to estrangement and gave me a powerful goal for this book. This book is an eye opener. So few books have been written in such a scholarly manner. The author has studied estrangement for decades, surveying hundreds of people. Ex: In Chapter 6, he raises objections about a list of 'anti-racist' books from Christianity Today. And after circuitously saying that he's not criticizing reading these books per se, nor denying that some of them may make good points, he says his real concern is, "what this list represents: what it means. I am taking issue with the presuppositions behind it." Apparently Baucham thinks sometimes the significance of things is not right on the surface, but in underlying issues. But then later on, in Chapter 7, he is critical of Tim Keller for not signing the Dallas statement, and quotes him as saying about it-- and by the way he falsely cites it as a direct quote--, "[T]he statement can’t be judged based upon whether or not the words are right,” he said, “but by the consequences those words might eventually bring about." Baucham seems to find that reasoning objectionable. But it's literally the same reasoning he used to reject the Christianity Today 'anti-racist' list! And this kind of inconsistency of thought abounds throughout the book.The author sets forth the unbiblical underpinnings of CRT, intersectionality, white fragility, etc. In the end, what is revealed is a strategic worldview that is being propagated. At the heart of this worldview is the radical promotion of the hegemony - the group of people who are white, heterosexual, native-born, able-bodied, and male. Anyone not a part of this group is considered a minority. But more importantly, this minority is numbered among the oppressed. In classic Marxist fashion, the oppressed must rise up and overtake the hegemony. In this fabricated arrangement, there is no forgiveness. There is no gospel. The only thing left are the oppressors and the oppressed. In this scheme, original sin is redefined as “racism.” The agenda of social justice, which is presented as a worldview renders the gospel invalid and impotent. I don't agree with everything in Fault Lines, but I don't disagree with everything, either. As stated early, I just wish Dr. Baucham would have spent more time laying out a robust view of biblical justice that counters secular social justice. I wish he would have been more cautious in labeling people who disagree with him. I wish he would have been more fair in quoting others, especially believers. I fear that more division may come from this book, though Dr. Baucham states that this isn't his desire and calls those who agree not to harbor animosity, either. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).