THROUGHOUT HISTORY, Christians have struggled with the problem of being in the world but not of the world. Some-times they have attempted to reform the world, at other times they have withdrawn from it. Today, however, more and more Christians are exercising a third option: acquiescence to the world. This accommodation, says Virginia Owens, has all too often been unfaithful to the message of Christ; "the results have been ridiculous, absurd, and sometimes heretical."

Owens has written this compelling analysis of Chris-tianity's involvement in modern culture as both a confession and a call. It is a confession that Christians are poor imitators of the cultural productions of our society, where the spirit needs to be nourished by dreams and visions, Christians have substituted the junk food of media hype. And it is a call to free God's people from the notion that they are involved in a giant advertising campaign for salvation.

Owens objects particularly to the growing involvement of Christians in the media, especially television. The Good News, she says, is fundamentally personal and communal, it cannot be communicated impersonally over long distances.

Throughout the book, Owens refers to the insights of media experts, including Malcolm Muggeridge, Susan Sontag and Marshall McLuhan.