THE TEST:

A SEEKER'S JOURNEY TO THE MEANING OF LIFE

In a very real sense, The Test is Dean's life work. This book expounds the great themes that have filled his thoughts and engaged his heart for decades. It distills the materials offered in his seminars. It displays and defends what he believes to be the one true worldview. It exalts the One who gave us that worldview, and the One who dwells so luminously at its very center. It interacts fairly, criticially, and respectfully with competing worldviews. And it fulfills Dean's longstanding desire to speak of these things to his own generation, a generation that he loves and longs to see revelling in the Light of Life.

As the title indicates, this book targets seekers: postmodernists, atheists, Hindus, Buddhists, New Agers, Muslims, and anyone else who can't quite shake the feeling that there may be something to the God of the Bible after all; folks who want to resolve such doubts, and folks who are willing to work hard at doing so.

It also targets Christians, especially newer Christians; all who desire greater clarity about what they believe and why they believe it, and who also want to share their faith more effectively with those who seek.

If you fall into either of these categories, The Test should be of considerable interest to you. Here are several reasons why.

1. It advances a fresh paradigm on the meaning of life

This foundational theme is developed in Part 1 of the book, where Dean argues that our life--religiously and philosophically considered--is not at all the pointless "mess" that so many of our postmodern friends in high places like to discuss. True, the religious diversity around us poses a great challenge. But there is another--and far more hopeful--way of looking at it. Perhaps this diversity is actually part of a spiritual test, a test set before us by an (as yet) Unknown God who is probing our love of the truth about the great "questions of life" that have ever occupied the deepest thoughts and concerns of the family of man. In Part 1 of The Test, Dean not only sets forth this thesis in great detail, but cites much good evidence to support it, evidence from the realms of nature, conscience, and the very make-up of the human mind.

2. It defends the spiritual and philosophical trustworthiness of Christ and the Bible

This is the burden of the second leg of the journey. Here Dean explains why nature, conscience, and the make-up of our own minds cannot supply us with the much-needed answers to the questions of life. Accordingly, if we are ever to have these answers, we must receive them as a gift from Unknown God. In other words, we need him to send us a Teacher to reveal his spiritual truth to us. After showing why natural science and philosophy cannot fill this exalted role, Dean goes on to suggest that the Unknown God has clearly singled out Jesus of Nazareth as the Teacher we need, and the Bible as his very Word. How has he done this? By granting us a body of supernatural signs so abundant, so diverse, and so unique that they boggle the mind! Moreover, their implications boggle the mind, as well. For if the signs prove their point, it means something stupendous has happened among us: it means that we now have before us the holy grail of all religion and philosophy: the God-given answers to all the ultimate questions of life. Which is to say, we now have before us each and every building block for the one true worldview!

3. It surveys--in considerable depth--the biblical worldview

At the outset of the journey, Dean defines a worldview as a way of looking at reality as a whole, based upon a particular set of answers to nine ultimate questions of life (see the Table of Contents for the nine questions). Here on the third leg of the journey he brings his readers to the feet of Jesus of Nazareth, where they hear Jesus' answers to each of those questions, and also evaluate them in order to see if they are duly intuitive, reasonable, ethically satisfying, and productive of hope. With seekers especially in mind, Dean pauses at the end of each chapter to discuss common questions and objections concerning Jesus' teachings, even as he seeks to draws out the practical implications of those teachings for all who seek.

4. It compares and contrasts the biblical worldview with others that surround us today

If life really is a test of our love of the truth, this fourth aspect of the journey is both vital and unavoidable. It is not enough simply to choose a particular worldview based on our personal preferences or on what seems to "work" for us. Rather, we must familiarize ourselves with all the main worldviews--naturalistic, pantheistic, and theistic--look at the evidence for each, and then go on to ask which one best commends itself to head and heart as being true. For this reason, readers of The Test will continually find themselves travelling down the highways and byways of comparative religion, especially in the extensive appendices at the end of the book. In sum, this is a journey where seekers meet all the contenders in the modern war of the worldviews, and where they can judge for themselves which one, if any, has the strength to prevail.

5. It relates the story of Dean's own test

This autobiographical touch was important to Dean, since his goal in writing The Test was not simply to describe or defend a particular worldview, but actually to come alongside his readers and help them on their personal journey to the truth about God. Feeling that the story of his own arduous search for spiritual reality might contribute to this end, he gladly tells the tale.

6. It is readable and richly illustrated

As one who aspires to communicate weighty thoughts in worthy words, Dean has tried not only to make The Test understandable, but a pleasure to read. To this end he structured the book with great care, endeavoring to give it the feel of a true journey of intellectual discovery, unfolding in one logical step after another. Also, he has lavishly supplemented the text with numerous charts, tables, and diagrams; and he has tried to adorn his philosophical arguments with memorable anecdotes and creative illustrations. Be prepared, then, for a journey with fresh vistas at every turn, vistas that should transform a challenging climb into an adventure and a delight!

If this short day hike into Test territory has caputred your interest, you may wish to explore a little further by viewing the excerpts made available in the side bar of this page.

May God richly bless you richly as you take his test, as you make your own special journey to the meaning of life.