Maybe you’ve seen a sign something like this in your neighborhood:

In this house we believe that:

Black Lives Matter

Love Is Love

Gay Rights Are Civil Rights

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights

Transgender Women Are Women

If the “we believe” format and propositions sound familiar, that’s because they are. It’s a creed, albeit a secular one, without reference to transcendent moral authority, whether divine or historical.

Rebecca McLaughlin’s provocative new book, The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims (The Gospel Coalition) helps us disentangle the beliefs Christians gladly affirm from those they cannot embrace. And she invites us to talk with our neighbors about the things that matter most—what we’re willing to fight for, our vision of the good life for ourselves and others.

Many non-Christians believe these statements will make unity and peace possible. But in this interview, McLaughlin shows why Christianity is the original source and firmest foundation for true diversity, equality, and life-transforming love. You’ll get this book and several others for free when you sign up for TGC’s national conference next month, whether you attend in Indianapolis or watch from home.

I’ve worked for years with Rebecca, and I’m honored to serve as publisher for this book. I always learn from her, not only in what I should think and say, but in how I should do it. She models what she teaches.

“We’re never going to persuade somebody else if we don’t actually understand why they believe what they believe, or why they’re thinking how they’re thinking,” she told me.

If you hang on to the end of our interview, you’ll hear about another book that brings her to tears.