Endorsements for By the Waters of Babylon

Here are some endorsements for my new book, By the Waters of Babylon: Worship is a Post-Christian Culture:

“Scott Aniol’s book contributes to several discussions at once. He provides an insightful critique of the Missional Church movement, interacts with the current discussion about Christianity and culture, and offers biblical direction for shaping worship in local congregations. The book is an important defense of conservative Christianity that manages to remain charitable in the face of significant disagreements. Aniol’s work should be required reading for every course in ecclesiology, missiology, and liturgics.”

—Kevin T. Bauder
Research Professor,
Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis

“In seeking to be biblical yet missional in worship, is your church finding it difficult to traverse the narrows between the Scylla of irrelevancy on the one side, and the Charybdis of cultural captivity on the other? With the wisdom and foresight of a skillful navigator, Scott Aniol points the way forward through a sophisticated examination of the emerging movement that has transformed many evangelical churches. Aniol contributes significantly to the contemporary discussion because he has a head surrendered to the Word of God and a heart fully dedicated to speaking the gospel to contemporary culture. This book will reset the discussion concerning what it means to worship God with missional force and scriptural fidelity.”

—Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Professor of Systematic Theology,
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Sacred cows usually make poor hamburgers, but Dr. Aniol’s book serves up tasty ones by addressing issues that have become twenty-first-century sacred cows, namely missional terms, values, and attitudes that one critiques only at great peril. Aniol does so carefully, with the skill of a surgeon, using a biblically balanced scalpel to address emergent church challenges and sets forth insightful correctives. He engages cultural concerns within the set of the larger issues of contextualization in the disciplines of missiology and cross-cultural communication of the gospel. This is a must read for those engaged in analysis of worship styles and missiology alike.”

—Keith Eitel
Professor of Missions & World Christian Studies,
Roy Fish School of Evangelism & Missions

“Scott Aniol’s By the Waters of Babylon carefully assesses the nature of culture and worship with freshness and from a biblical base. Many will not agree with his conclusions, but no one engaged seriously in worship should fail to read this monograph. Clever, thought provoking, biblical, and firm, Aniol’s perspective is profoundly relevant to our churches today.”

—Paige Patterson
President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“In a day when cultural relativism has gripped the thinking of the church, we need Scott Aniol’s reminder that God is not only a culture maker but also a culture changer. I thank God for a book that exposes the myth of cultural neutrality, explains the wrong thinking that leads to it, and calls the church to embrace what he calls a ‘sanctificationist approach to culture.’ I heartily recommend Aniol’s timely and articulate challenge to the popular versions of syncretistic contextualizing of worship that are so harming the church today. I pray that we will heed his appeal and return to worship that is regulated by scripture alone.”

—Scott T. Brown
Pastor, Hope Baptist Church
President, National Center for Family Integrated Churches

“Dr. Aniol offers a groundbreaking treatment of the historical and philosophical underpinnings of Christian worship in the twenty-first century, integrating the themes of culture, mission, contextualization, and song for the post-Christian church. The research reflected here is of timeless value, and I expect to refer to it for decades to come.”

—Mark Snoeberger
Professor of Systematic Theology, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary