In Search of the Common Good, Jake Meador
In Search of the Common Good, Jake Meador
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In Search of the Common Good
Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World

Author: Jake Meador, Timothy Keller

Narrator: Jim Denison

Unabridged: 7 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/24/2019


Synopsis

Common life in our society is in decline. Our communities are disintegrating, as the loss of meaningful work and the breakdown of the family leave us anxious and alone—indeed, half of all Americans report daily feelings of loneliness. Our public discourse is polarized and hateful. Ethnic minorities face systemic injustices and the ever-present fear of violence and deportation. Economic inequalities are widening.

In this book, Jake Meador diagnoses our society's decline as the failure of a particular story we've told about ourselves: the story of modern liberalism. He shows us how that story has led to our collective loss of meaning, wonder, and good work, and then recovers each of these by grounding them in a different story—a story rooted in the deep tradition of the Christian faith.

Our story doesn't have to end in loneliness and despair. There are reasons for hope—reasons grounded in a different, better story. In Search of the Common Good reclaims a vision of common life for our fractured times: a vision that doesn't depend on the destinies of our economies or our political institutions, but on our citizenship in a heavenly city. Only through that vision—and that citizenship—can we truly work together for the common good.

About Jake Meador

Jake Meador is the editor in chief of Mere Orthodoxy, an online magazine covering the Christian faith in the public sphere, and a contributing editor with Plough. His first book was In Search of the Common Good: Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World. Jake's work has been published in First Things, National Review, Books and Culture, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Front Porch Republic, and the University Bookman. He lives with his wife and children in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob on August 26, 2019

Summary: Observing the breakdown in community in both church and society, the author traces the root causes, and the practices of Christian community that can lead to recovery of community and a church that seeks the common good in society. Many attentive culture watchers have noted the parallel decl......more

Goodreads review by Mark on September 14, 2019

I've very much enjoyed a fair number of Meador's essays, and I encourage him to keep writing books. I simply didn't find this one to be as helpful as his essays. I felt I got a lot of genuflection toward good ideas (I share his unease with available political options, for example, and his general Ku......more

Goodreads review by Ethan on June 10, 2019

An exploration of the challenges of early 21st century Western culture. The author does well at even-handedly investigating what has gone wrong with our culture: the loss of community, the rise of rampant individualism, the loss of value in work and effort, the commodification of everything, etc. Thi......more

Goodreads review by Joel on April 26, 2019

This is a thoughtful and extremely clear distillation of some big ideas. Meador makes the case that the social fabric of American culture is disintegrating (a claim that shouldn't be too controversial in a post-2016 world), but backs up his case in a uniquely-Christian way. Part 2 of this 3-part book......more