Liberation from Smartphones | CT Books

[Also: Christianity Today and Christianity Yesterday] Also: Christianity Today and Christianity Yesterday | [View online]( [ChristianityToday.org]( [CT Books newsletter]( Tuesday, May 16, 2017 Liberation from Smartphones I fought the good fight. I resisted the currents of modernity with everything I had. But in the end, I suppose it was always an ill-fated quest. And so, when I unwrapped my iPhone 7 on Christmas morning, I had quietly resigned myself to betraying the brotherhood of the flip phone, and finally taking up residence in the 21st century. Being a latecomer to smartphones carries certain advantages. Having managed without one for so long, I'm blessedly unencumbered by the sort of compulsive attachment to which others attest. Do you shudder at the prospect of spending an entire day, let alone an hour, without your phone? Frankly (and "there but for the grace of God…"), I can't wrap my head around that. My own idiosyncratic tendencies aside, most people seem unable to live without their smartphones. But at the same time, they worry that these devices are reshaping their minds and hearts to a dangerous degree. In [12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You](, Tony Reinke diagnoses some of our most alarming habits—and lifts up biblical wisdom as an antidote. Kudos to our reviewer, Jeff Haanen (director of the Denver Institute for Faith & Work, and a frequent CT contributor), for [steering a sensible course]( between techno-utopianism and luddite-like antipathy. "We miss the point," he writes, "if we become either pro- or anti-technology. Instead, liberation from our smartphones (and all our technology) is best summed up by the psalmist: 'I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts' (119:45)." Christianity Today and Christianity Yesterday I've been hooked on reading history ever since the summer before my senior year of college, when I picked up David McCullough's prize-winning biography of John Adams. And although I work for a magazine with "Today" conspicuously featured in its name, I've always sought to include coverage of books that shed light on our evangelical past. That past, after all, powerfully shapes how we understand our present. There's no easy partition between Christianity Today and Christianity Yesterday. Elesha Coffman, former managing editor of Christian History magazine, is an exceptionally sure-handed guide when it comes to exploring this terrain. (In 2016, Coffman began teaching at Baylor University.) Most recently, I asked her to [review]( Geoffrey Treloar's [The Disruption of Evangelicalism](, published as part of InterVarsity Press's "History of Evangelicalism" series. The book makes a fresh appraisal of evangelicalism during the early 20th century. As Coffman explains, "Treloar seeks to rehabilitate this era, casting it as a time not of narrowness and rancor but of breadth and creativity. Instead of two hardened camps, fundamentalist and modernist, lobbing rhetorical shells between their respective seminaries, Treloar describes a wide spectrum of evangelicals with most of its vitality at the center." [Matt Reynolds](mailto:ctbooks@ChristianityToday.com), Associate Editor, Books Christianity Today To reply to this newsletter: ctbooks@christianitytoday.com Add newsletter@lists.christianitytoday.com to your address book. [Featured Articles]( [Your Smartphone Is Neither a Cancer nor a Cure-All]( A balanced, biblical take on the devices we can't seem to live without. Jeff Haanen [Fundamentalists, Modernists, and the Rest of the Story]( Early 20th-century evangelical history was more than two camps lobbing grenades at each other. Elesha Coffman More from Christianity Today [Teams in Mission: Are They Worth It? (Part Two)]( TEAM missionaries research teamwork. [You Can Debate Franklin Graham on Martyrs, But Not the World's Persecution Problem]( DC summit rallies victims and advocates from 130 nations, including Vice President Pence. [Why US Christians Risk Their Lives to Teach in North Korea]( Two arrested from private university in Pyongyang that gives evangelicals a way in. Follow Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [RSS]( [Subscribe to this newsletter]( In the Magazine [Current Issue]( [Luther's Return to a Gospel of Grace Is Still Relevant 500 Years Later]( [Reading the Reformation in 2017]( [Pro-Life's Reformation Ripples]( [View Full Issue]( [Subscribe Now]( Related CT Newsletters [CT Entertainment]( Reviews and perspectives on movies, TV, and music. [Sign Up Now]( [CT Connection]( The official newsletter of the global media ministry. [Sign Up Now]( [CT Books]( Delivered via email to subscribers weekly. [Subscribe]( | [Email Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Advertise]( | [Subscribe to CT]( You are currently subscribed as: {EMAIL} Copyright ©2017 [ChristianityToday.org]( Christianity Today, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved.