It should be noted that Voddie resists bitterness against ideological opponents and refuses to take cheap shots throughout. He states that he found SBC to always be fair to him, for example, and declares that they treated him as an equal. Even when, and partly because, they fired him for having different theological views.

It is impossible to understand Voddie’s approach to the Bible without first understanding the path he has walked. Raised in a non-Christian, single-parent home, Voddie did not hear the gospel until he was in college. His journey to faith was a very unusual and intellectual one. Consequently, he understands what it means to be a skeptic, and knows what it’s like to try to figure out the Christian life without relying on the traditions of men. As a result, he speaks to ‘outsiders’ in ways few Bible teachers can. Throughout this book, Baucham compares the cultural rumblings around us to an earthquake. To his credit, the upheaval that came upon us last summer was not at all a surprise to him. He has been watching the infiltration of CRT and intersectionality principles into the thinking of many in the faith community for years. The time is coming when we will all have to make a choice. As the chasm widens under our feet, which side will you jump to for safety?I can't recommend this book enough. I received it yesterday and finished it today. I had a falling out with my son in April and it hurt me so much I decided to sever my relationship with him. Then I went through a period of grief that was ferocious, like nothing that I had ever felt before. I tried to find a counselor for grief, but this wasn't the answer. I was finally able to figure out that what was happening with me was estrangement. The problem was that I couldn't find anything to read that helped. This book was the answer. It identified the problem, discussed the fact that estrangement was fairly common and defined and explained it extremely thoroughly. The second half of the book was all about hope and how to reconcile. Even that was helpful beyond measure because it explained why our initial attempt at reconciliation was so difficult for me. Estrangement is the mysterious, intractable and secret pain affecting millions of families (including my own).With Fault Lines, Karl Pillemer courageously rappels into the deep social crevice created by these devastating rifts. Using original research and empathic storytelling, Pillemer doesn't just explore this territory, but he shows us a way out. This is an extremely important and insightful guide for anyone wrestling with the heartbreak of estrangement." I've studied abortion; I've participated in prolife blog tours and have written numerous, lengthy prolife and anti-abortion essays for high school and (secular) college. I'm no newbie to the grotesqueness of researching abortion. I knew about Margaret Sanger and her Negro Project. I even knew a little about Kermit Gosnell. I knew they were vile people. Horrible beyond description. What I did not know was the extent of their evil. One final thought, any book that seeks to talk about the history of social justice and does not mention anything about how the term was coined by professing Christians about 200 years ago and has been used by evangelicals (like Carl Henry) for the last century, is simply not dealing honestly with the complexity of this topic.

The proposed global reforms that [Rajan] lists in Fault Lines run the gamut from the prosaic to grandiose. Along with revamping Wall Street's pay system, he offers innovative ideas on building capital buffers into the global credit system, obviating much of the need for bailouts of companies deemed too big or too enmeshed in the financial system to fail."— Barron's Baucham believes that the coming catastrophe is unavoidable: “These fault lines are so deeply entrenched, and the rules of engagement so seriously complex, that the question is not if but when the catastrophe will strike.” The way forward will require clear thinking and Christian courage. The way forward involves faithful allegiance to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ringing in my ears is a line from a sermon that John Piper preached many years ago, where he exhorted his readers to “out rejoice all their enemies.” Like Athanasius, we must rise up and live contra mundum. But living against the world does not suggest that we stop loving people in the world. As Baucham notes, “We must love each other with a tenacious, biblical, Christlike love.”Fault Lines has a strong claim to be the economics book that best caught the spirit of 2010. Raghuram Rajan's receipt of the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs annual business book award only confirmed his book's widespread popularity. It is not hard to see why so many people liked it. Fault Lines eschews hyperbole for a lucid and balanced account of the crisis."— Fund Strategy Ex: In Chapter 1, he calls the Social Justice movement and its impact on the church, a "looming catastrophe" (in fact he uses some form of the word "catastrophe" 17 times in the book). But then he also says, "I don’t think anyone would say that what we are dealing with here rises to the level of the Spanish Inquisition or the Protestant Reformation in terms of threatening our unity." But his pervasive earthquake analogy pretty clearly suggests social justice is a threat to the unity and integrity of the church. So which is it? Raghuram G. Rajan, Winner of the 2013 Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics, The Center for Financial Studies Fault Lines is a book I'd recommend with caution. I caution readers to be wary of slapping a label on other believers for statements that may line up (or seem to line up) with or resemble secular CRT. I believe there is common grace and lost people have the ability to see sin in the culture, even if they don't have biblical answers. Dr. Baucham uses atheists throughout his book to prove this point. Further, I would caution readers not to read only this book and walk away with a full and firm stance on race and social justice. Don’t use social media and books like these to create an echo chamber where you only listen to voices you agree with. Even in this book, Dr. Baucham advocates for reading broadly. Take his advice. 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

One thing Baucham was extremely clear on, and that I agree with, is that a lot of Christians who support CRT do so from a genuine desire to help others. While their intentions are good, their support for such a vile ideology is not, and they need to examine CRT for what it really is, then decide whether or not to pursue supporting this idea. They need to investigate for themselves and not just accept what the media and society tell them. To be clear, I am completely, one hundred percent, wholly, totally, and unwaveringly against CRT, social justice, racial inequality, and every vile idea Marxism has birthed. However, I also agree with Baucham that, when we interact with brothers and sisters who disagree, we need to do so in a direct, but kind, manner. Thus, I will compose my review, such as it is, in a direct tone. What really saddens me is that he only wanted to interact with the secular versions of anti-racism but would not interact with exegesis offered by Christian brothers and sisters (who are cult members now according to Baucham). If scripture has such a high authority, there is no going to scripture to disprove anti racism. The argument of the book is basically”we are in a good place and dealing with racism will mess that up! #FaultLine.” How come he doesn’t deal with the concept of justice itself? Keller, for instance takes the time to walk through the meaning of the word mishpat from the Hebrew Scriptures and shalom and others to make his Biblical case. Voddie makes no attempt to interact with Christian scholarship. Truly disappointing for someone who brags about being all about scripture. Let me speak frankly, I think this is the most important book written in the last 20 years (perhaps more) not just on this subject matter but on any subject matter. I cannot recommend it highly enough. At the end of the day, Fault Lines represents one Christian conservative’s view on social justice. There is nothing wrong with being politically conservative or writing a book against CRT and social justice. I just don't feel that it added anything new or beneficial to the conversation for those who regularly listen to Dr. Baucham, Founders, Alpha and Omega Ministries, and others. I think there is value in their concerns for CRT and how it impacts the church, and I benefited from considering some of the implications of CRT in the church. However, I saw little to no engagement with the sins and errors of people on the anti-social justice side of the conversation. Fault Lines provides clear definitions and focuses on the central issue of the Christian worldview versus the imposter of Critical Theory. He often goes beyond this and calls it Critical Social Justice, but I will use the initials CT below.I tread lightly and cautiously when critiquing a man of Voddie Baucham’s stature for three reasons: The very heart of antiracism is the fact that there is no neutrality. Baucham writes, "antiracism means more than simply being "against racism." The new definition adds the dimension of activism. The antiracist, therefore, is one who "does the work" of exposing, combatting, and reversing the ubiquitous influences of racism in the past, present, and future." So one is either a racist, or an antiracist. But on the other hand, I think Voddie is too harsh in his remarks about other evangelical leaders with whom he disagrees, such as Tim Keller, Mark Dever, and even John Piper. At the beginning of his book, Voddie clearly targets his critique against TGC, T4G, 9Marks, etc. and in the course of the book uses inflammatory words like “heresy” and “cult” when talking about the infiltration of “critical social justice” into the church. But he fails to adequately distinguish the views of various leaders from one another (some are more deserving of critique than others).

In a well-written, well-organized study, he focuses on ten of the most important issues bedeviling a still shaky world economy. Neither too technical for laymen nor too glib for specialists, the book ought to be a significant contribution to policy-makers' discussions of where we go now."—Joel Campbell, International Affairs Independent Publisher Book Awards Results Announcement". Independent Publisher . Retrieved 13 July 2018. But what if there is more to the social justice movement than those Christians understand? Even worse: What if they’ve been duped into preaching ideas that actually oppose the Kingdom of God? 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.The author uses tons of case studies that are relatable and further explain what people are feeling in estrangement. While I can agree with assessments of Kendi’s “antiracist gospel” as one of continuous works and penance, Baucham has no response to the “combatting racism is a good fruit of salvation” crowd. In other words, gospel believing Christians who seek to live out Eph 2:11-22 and 4:1-6. For instance, as a Reformed and Confessional Christian, the Westminster Larger Catechism #135 and #136 detail a pretty pro-life view that would preclude things like Slavery and racism. This is how George Bourne argues to his presbytery and in his book “The Book and Slavery: Irreconcilable.” Baucham seems to posit that to be anti racist in any way is to be a member of this cult. So does that mean that the slaves who wanted their freedom and wanted racism gone are really all cult members? Baucham never hits the brakes on anti racism of any kind. I can only assume with the kind of logic and reason that Baucham does that some racism is OK and even necessary to be on the right side of the “fault line.” I don’t consider myself to be an authority on CRT and secular social justice, so reading and listening to Dr. Baucham is always insightful, even if I disagree with his trajectory or conclusions at times. Reading Fault Lines was no exception. I was fully expecting this book to point out a problem in evangelicalism—namely CRT and its impact on Christians. Dr. Baucham covered numerous errors and issues that have arisen with the popularization of critical race theory in the culture. I appreciated the depth of his knowledge on the topic and found myself resonating with a lot of his concerns, though some of his sources have a notably conservative slant to them. He has certainly done his research, but I wish he could have spent more time on some issues and given his opponents a more charitable reading—especially those in the church. Duren's review shows how some quotes were cut off without full context.