Os Guinness

Os Guinness
Guinness in 2011
Born (1941-09-30) September 30, 1941 (age 85)
Republic of China
Education
OccupationsAuthor and social critic
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
Websiteosguinness.com

Ian Oswald "Os" Guinness (born September 30, 1941) is an English author now based in Fairfax County, Virginia; he has lived in the United States since 1984.

Early life and education

Ian Oswald Guinness was born in China on 30 September 1941, during World War II, as his parents served there as medical missionaries. Guinness is the great-great-great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, a Dublin brewer, and so is of Irish descent. His parents named him after Scottish Baptist evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers.

Guinness returned to England in 1951 for secondary school and eventual college. He completed an undergraduate degree at the University of London (Bachelor of Divinity with honours, 1966[citation needed]) and a social sciences/theology D.Phil. from Oriel College at Oxford University in 1982, where he studied under Peter L. Berger.[citation needed]

Career

Os Guinness, (left) with apologist Bill Edgar, at Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union event, St. Andrew the Great, Cambridge, England.

In the late 1960s, Guinness was a leader at the L'Abri community in Switzerland, and, after Oxford, a freelance reporter for the BBC.[when?] He wrote his first book, The Dust of Death, in 1973; John Frame called it "a wonderfully erudite and persuasive critique of the western culture of the late 1960s from a thoughtful, balanced Christian perspective."

From 1986 to 1989, Guinness served as executive director of the Williamsburg Charter Foundation, and was the leading drafter of the Williamsburg Charter, a bicentennial clarification and reaffirmation of the religious liberty clauses of the first amendment. He was also a co-author of the public school curriculum, "Living With Our Deepest Differences", and continued through at least 2009 on its Drafting Committee.

Guinness, along with Alonzo McDonald, co-founded The Trinity Forum (in 1991). As of May 2025, he was listed by the organisation as an emeritus Fellow.

Guinness at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, London, 2025

Guinness was a primary drafter of The Global Charter of Conscience, published at the European Union Parliament in Brussels in June 2012. He has also been associated with the EastWest Institute in New York (as a Senior Fellow[when?]), with the Woodrow Wilson Center (as a guest scholar[when?]), with the Brookings Institution (as a guest scholar and visiting fellow[when?]), and as of 2025 was listed as speaker associated with the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics.

Published works

As of September 2018, Guinness had written or edited more than 30 books;[needs update]

Following is a subset of those books, appearing between 1973 and 2024, in chronological order.

Authored books

  • —— (1973), The Dust of Death: A Critique of the Establishment and the Counter Culture and the Proposal for a Third Way, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (1976), In Two Minds: The Dilemma of Doubt & How to Resolve It, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (1983), The Gravedigger File, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press
  • —— (1987), Doubt, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press
  • —— (1992), The American Hour: A Time of Reckoning and the Once and Future Role of Faith, New York: Macmillan/Free Press.
  • —— (1993), Dining With the Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts With Modernity, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • —— (1994), The Dust of Death: The Sixties Counterculture and How It Changed America Forever, Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
  • —— (1994), Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think and What to Do About It, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • —— (1996), God in the Dark: The Assurance of Faith Beyond a Shadow of Doubt, Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
  • —— (1998), The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, Nashville, TN: HarperCollins/Thomas Nelson.
  • —— (1999), Character Counts: Leadership Qualities in Washington, Wilberforce, Lincoln, and Solzhenitsyn, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • —— (2000), Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Lies, Hype and Spin, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • —— (2000), Steering Through Chaos: Vice and Virtue in an Age of Moral Confusion, Carol Stream, IL: Navpress.
  • —— (2001), The Great Experiment: Faith and Freedom in America, Carol Stream, IL: Navpress.
  • —— (2003), Long Journey Home: A Guide to Your Search for the Meaning of Life, Colorado Springs, CO: PRH/WaterBrook & Multnomah.
  • —— (2003), Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • —— (2005), Unspeakable: Facing Up to the Challenge of Evil, San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins/HarperOne, retrieved 21 December 2016.
  • —— (2008), The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It, San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins/HarperOne.
  • —— (2010), The Last Christian on Earth: Uncover the Enemy's Plot to Undermine the Church, Ada, MI: Baker/Regal.
  • —— (2012), A Free People's Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, archived from the original on 22 December 2016, retrieved 18 December 2013.
  • —— (2013), The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Diversity, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, archived from the original on 10 February 2017, retrieved 18 December 2013.
  • —— (2014), Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, archived from the original on 22 December 2016, retrieved 14 August 2014.
  • —— (2015), Fool's Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (2016), Impossible People, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (2018), Last Call for Liberty: How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (2019), Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (2021), The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai's Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • —— (2022), Zero Hour America, American Audio.
  • —— (2024), Our Civilizational Moment: The Waning of the West and the War of the Worlds, Kildare.

Edited works

  • ——, ed. (1990), Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace, Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
  • ——, ed. (1992), No God but God, Chicago: Moody Press.
  • ——; Cowan, Louise, eds. (1998), Invitation to the Classics, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • ——, ed. (1999), Unriddling our Times, Ada, MI: Baker.
  • ——, ed. (2000), When No One Sees: Character in an Age of Image, Carol Stream, IL: NavPress
  • ——, ed. (2001), Doing Well and Doing Good, Carol Stream, IL: NavPress.
  • ——, ed. (2001), Entrepreneurs of Life, Carol Stream, IL: NavPress.
  • ——, ed. (2001), The Journey, Carol Stream, IL: NavPress.

Personal life

As of 2018, it had been reported that Guinness moved his residence to the Washington, D.C. (in 1984). He and his wife Jenny have one son, and as of this date,[when?] they live in McLean, Virginia.[citation needed]

An Anglican, he attended the Episcopal Church, but left, finding it too theologically liberal, in 2006. He currently attends The Falls Church, in the Anglican Church in North America. He was one of the speakers at the Anglican Church in North America Assembly in June 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 "Time for Truth". Seattle Pacific University. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  2. ↑ Christianity.com website, Os Guiness, Christian Thinker
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Honorary Degrees". King University. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  4. ↑ Tong, Steve (12 August 2018). "Being Salty in a Secular World: An Interview with Os Guinness". Australian Church Record. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Connolly, Connie (25 September 2018). "Os Guinness to speak at Christ Church Oct. 3". The Star Democrat. Easton, MD: Adams Publishing Group. Retrieved 26 May 2025. Guinness is the great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, and was born during World War II in China where his parents were medical missionaries. / He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his doctor of philosophy in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Guiness has written or edited more than 30 books, including "The Call," "Time for Truth," "Unspeakable," "A Free People's Suicide" and "The Global Public Square." His latest book was published in 2018. / Since moving to the Washington, D.C., area in 1984, Guiness has been a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a guest scholar and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. For affiliation of The Star Democrat with APG, see this link.
  6. ↑ Note, as to date, the Search Oxford Libraries Online (SOLO) database entry for the dissertation states "1981 [i.e. 1982]" and then Dissertation: Thesis (D.Phil.) - University of Oxford, 1982", and so the 1982 date is stated here.
  7. ↑ Guiness, I. O. (Ian Oswald) (1982). Towards a Reappraisal of Christian Apologetics: Peter L. Berger's Sociology of Knowledge as the Sociological Prolegomenon to Christian Apologetics. Bodleian Library, University of Oxford (D.Phil. thesis). Oxford, England: University of Oxford, Faculty of Theology. Retrieved 26 May 2025 – via SOLO.Bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
  8. ↑ Note, there is no statement at the dissertation citation regarding Guiness' committee or dissertation advisor.
  9. ↑ Edgar, William (2006), "Francis Schaeffer and the Public Square", in Budziszewski, J (ed.), Evangelicals in the Public Square, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, p. 166.
  10. ↑ Frame, John (1984). "Review of Herbert Schlossberg's Idols for Destruction". Westminster Theological Journal. 46 (2): 438–444. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Os Guinness". Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  12. ↑ McFall, Shaun; Haynes, Charles C. (January 2015) [July 2009]. "Living With Our Deepest Differences: Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society (Teacher's Resource - Lesson Plans)" (PDF). Washington, DC: Newseum, First Amendment Center. pp. title, 186, 178. Archived from the original (curriculum document) on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2025. [title:] OriginaL edition by: Michael D. Cassity / Os Guinness / Charles C. Haynes / John Seel / Timothy L. Smith / Oliver S. Thomas... [p. 186] Members of the Drafting Committee / Mr. William Bentley Ball, Attorney, Ball, Skelly, Murren & Connell / Dr. Os Guinness, Executive Director, The Williamsburg Charter Foundation...
  13. ↑ Loconte, Joe (14 September 2000). "The Case for Converting Kings". Christianity Today. Retrieved 21 December 2016. [Quote, teaser:] Os Guinness on how to prevent the American experiment from flopping.
  14. ↑ Oppenheimer, Mark (16 July 2010). "From One Benefactor, Diverse Seeds in Theology". New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  15. ↑ TTF Staff (26 May 2025). "Os Guinness". The Trinity Forum (TTF.org). Senior Fellows - Emeritus. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  16. ↑ OCCA Staff (26 May 2025). "Wider Speakers - Os Guiness". TheOCCA.org. Oxford, England: Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA). Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Os Guinness". Eden Books. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "Doubt". Awesome Books. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Os Guinness". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Call". Awesome Books. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  21. 1 2 "Os Guinness". Awesome Books. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  22. ↑ Yates, The Rev. John; Guinness, Os (8 January 2007). "Why We Left the Episcopal Church". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  23. ↑ ACNA Staff (10 May 2015). "Assembly 2014: Thy Kingdom Come - Speakers". Anglican Church in North America (anglicanchurch.net). Ambridge, PA: Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2025.

Further reading