This book does an excellent job of both explaining and reacting to the *isms of the world. Sire manages to not only explain the *isms in understandable terms, he makes it interesting by using a realistic life example: going to a secular college. The book is held together by the thoughts and dialogue of Chris Chrisman and unexpected counterpart: Bob Wong. Both characters are students that go into college with opposite convictions, and through a set of similar circumstances, they both begin to doubt and question their beliefs. The book uses their circumstances to teach the reader about relativism, pluralism, individualism and more. Sire uses easy to understand logic and philosophy coupled with the each situation to convey the the truth: that there are absolutes.

In this book Sire narrates the story of Chris Chrisman, a typical Christian teen, going off to college and encountering other students who feel just as strongly about their worldviews as he does about the Christian one. Specifically, as the subtitle indicates, he deals with relativism, individualism, and pluralism. The story begins with narrative and then Sire gets down to business, exploring these three areas.

In the section on relativism he deals with six claims: 1) All religions boil down to the same thing; 2) It's true for you, it's not true for me; 3) All religious systems, if followed sincerely, lead to the same spiritual reality; 4) No religious or intellectual commitments can claim to be true; all are subject to revision; 5) All claims of all kinds are claims within a structure of language. They get their truth from their conformity to this structure and the presuppositions that inform it; 6) God does not exist. Naturalism is true. Religious claims are only metaphors that help people live in harmony. Any metaphor is as good as any other if it leads to harmony, for that is the best we can hope for. There is no life after death. He responds to each claim in turn and concludes with a two page presentation on Logos as the Christian alternative to relativism (67f).

He then turns to individualism and provides the Christian answer of community. He delves into community in the Old and New Testaments as well as touching on Christian community at college. Obviously he advocates for Christian college students joining organisations such as Campus for Christ or IVCF.

In discussing relativism he recounts how society has privatised religious belief and excluded it from the realm of public discourse. The public realm is composed of scientific fact and procedures. Opinions, beliefs, and purpose are relegated to the realm of the private. Religion is therefore something that one should do outside of the public realm, just like you do not force everyone to like strawberry ice cream you cannot impose your religious beliefs on them. He responds with the language of the "cosmic lordship of Christ" (127). All things were created by and for Christ and thus he has a claim over all realms. Christians are thus to live out that reality in their great task.

This is a great book for Christians looking to broaden their horizons before they go off to university but don't expect anyone who has rejected God to be convinced by the arguments found in it. The book assumes a Christian worldview on the part of readers and an openness on the part of others towards the Christian message. As long as Christians are confident of their own worldview and live out of it (i.e. loving others, following the beatitudes and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit) others will be open to Jesus' message. ( )