Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology
Albert Borgmann
Brazos, 144 pages, $14.99
There is a troubling connection between the progress of technology and the decline of faith, believes Albert Borgmann, professor of philosophy at the University of Montana.
"For more than three hundred years now, modern technology has been dissolving traditional structures and indulging our weaknesses," Borgmann writes.
In these eight essays, he argues that rather than demolishing technology or running away from it, Christians must restrain and redeem it.
Borgmann explores how engagement with our world has yielded to a mere consumption of it. "Commodities by their very structure tend to lull and dull our senses and talents," he writes.
Citing the importance of communities engaging in cultural activities, Borgmann challenges Christians to strengthen reverence and piety wherever they find it, and to recover their capacity to engage in the arts. He also calls for lowering the wall between church and state to allow more public religious celebrations (like school Christmas pageants). Borgmann's prose is fairly erudite, and his arguments are compelling.
Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere
Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology is available at Christianbook.com and other retailers.
The University of Montana has a brief bio page for Borgmann.
For book reviews, see CT'sbook archive.
Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Our digital archives are a work in progress. Let us know if corrections need to be made.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
More from this Issue
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineYes, Charisma Has a Place in the PulpitBut let’s not mistake it for calling.
- Editor's PickSBC Membership Falls to 47-Year Low, But Church Involvement Is UpAmid the continued declines, Southern Baptists are celebrating back-to-back years of growth in worship attendance and baptism.