Christless Christianity - by Michael Horton (Paperback)

About the Book

This inspired challenge to contemporary American Christianity calls the church to return to its biblical foundation.

Book Synopsis

Is it possible that we have left Christ out of Christianity? Is the faith and practice of American Christians today more American than Christian? These are the provocative questions Michael Horton addresses in this well-received, insightful book. He argues that while we invoke the name of Christ, too often Christ and the Christ-centered gospel are pushed aside. The result is a message and a faith that are, in Horton's words, "trivial, sentimental, affirming, and irrelevant." This alternative "gospel" is a message of moralism, personal comfort, self-help, self-improvement, and individualistic religion. It trivializes God, making him a means to our selfish ends. Horton skillfully diagnoses the problem and points to the solution: a return to the unadulterated gospel of salvation. Now available in trade paper.

From the Back Cover

The church in America has been willingly taken captive. The captors are American culture and ideals: consumerism, pragmatism, self-sufficiency, individualism, positive thinking, personal prosperity, and nationalism. These are antithetical to the gospel, but we have nevertheless made them part and parcel with it. We are well on our way to a Christless Christianity.

The result? A faith that is, in Michael Horton's prophetic words, "trivial, sentimental, affirming, and irrelevant." This alternative "gospel" is a message of moralism, personal comfort, self-help, self-improvement, and individualistic religion. It trivializes God, making him a means to our selfish ends.

In this critically acclaimed book, Horton skillfully diagnoses the problem and points to the solution: a return to the unadulterated gospel of salvation. Here is a must-read for anyone concerned about the state and future of Christianity and the church in America.


"A more important and timely volume could not have been written."--Thabiti M. Anyabwile, senior pastor, First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

"Horton's brush is broad--expect loud lamentation from the evangelical camp--but the picture he paints is largely accurate."--Parker T. Williamson, editor emeritus and senior correspondent, The Presbyterian Layman

"Christless Christianity establishes Michael Horton as the outstanding protagonist for classical Protestant orthodoxy."--Episcopal Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison


Michael Horton (PhD, University of Coventry and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford) is J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. He hosts the White Horse Inn radio broadcast and is editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine. He is the author/editor of more than fifteen books, including Putting Amazing Back into Grace, The Gospel-Driven Life, The Gospel Commission, and Introducing Covenant Theology.

About the Author

Michael Horton (PhD, University of Coventry and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford) is J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. He hosts The White Horse Inn radio broadcast and is editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine. He is the author/editor of more than twenty books, including Christless Christianity, The Gospel-Driven Life, and The Gospel Commission.