ATLANTA – September 16, 2016 – Christian parents worry. Recently, thousands of parents have released brand new college students into the choppy waters of colleges and universities, hoping their children not only survive academically, but also spiritually in dangerous and unknown seas.
Unfortunately, they are right to worry, says author and apologist Dave Richardson, citing a Barna study that reports a staggering 75 percent of teens involved in church, like casualties of the Titanic, plummet into skepticism, rebellion, and doubt after colliding with their own ideological icebergs, many of them faced in college.
Richardson, founder of Assumptions Institute, takes on the challenge of countering this in his new book released today, Transparent: How to See Through the Powerful Assumptions That Control You.
Richardson’s powerful iceberg analogy reminds us that what you don’t see supports the ice you do see. This is how it is with ideas, he explains. A deeper and less visible set of ideas generates and supports what we do see.
“When people buy into evolutionism, find socialism or Marxism appealing, or find relativism plausible, this is what’s really happening. People have accepted a deeper set of ideas—hidden ideas that make the more visible ideologies possible and attractive. The power of these deeper ideas comes from the fact that they are below the surface of discussion, instruction, narration, or debate, and thus people don’t see them,” Richardson says.
“What are these deeper, hidden concepts that separate our faith from our public life and cause the spiritual demise of so many? They are assumptions. Every notion believed and championed by anyone is actually built on the bedrock of certain assumptions. “
The Oxford University-educated author and speaker addresses Christians of all ages, as well as non-believers, in his book and new Assumptions Institute (http://www.assumptionsinstitute.org).
His intriguing ideas have been praised by Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig, Eric Metaxas and Josh McDowell.
He’s even created a practical tool for revealing assumptions, the Critical Assumptions Test, or CAT, and is developing an app for the test. The CAT helps people quickly see through the messages they encounter daily in the things they read, watch, and hear.
“I want to challenge you to use the Critical Assumptions Test to reveal the assumptions in the books and articles you read, the TV shows and movies you watch, the lectures and talk show debates you listen to, or conversations you have with friends,” Richardson says.
“Once the assumptions surface, you’ll know if they are true or not and if you should accept or reject them. You likely will find some of your own assumptions are faulty and need replacing; this will require humility and courage. And then apply your true assumptions to your work and studies, with God in the center of it all. Your life could be His adventure for you because you see Him, talk to Him, consult with Him, and show Him in everything you do.”
His goal is to help Christian leaders engage with their faith in their public lives, not separate that they are and how they act in their professional lives from their lives of faith.
Prior to founding the Assumptions Institute, Richardson served for 30 years on the staff of Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ, devoting most of his ministry to university professors.
The Atlanta-area resident holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, an M.A. degree in Theological Studies, and an M.Th. degree in Applied Theology from the University of Oxford.
Transparent: How to see through the Powerful Assumptions That Control You (Clovercroft Publishing) is available from selected bookstores, online retailers, and from http:// www.TheTransparentBook.com.
For a review copy or to interview Dave Richardson, contact Joni Sullivan Baker, Buoyancy PR, at 513/319-3231 or jbaker@buoyancypr.com