Andrew Wilson has written an excellent book looking at some of the biggest questions that all of us ask at some point in our lives. Questions of origins, questions of truth and questions of meaning. Andrew's anecdotal style makes it a very easy book to enjoy reading, while at the same time engaging with big issues like 'Why do we believe what we believe?', 'What counts as evidence?', 'How did we get here?' and 'What is wrong with the world?' .
This would be an excellent book to buy whether you are a Christian who likes to engage with the intellectual side of faith, or for any readers of this blog who don't consider themselves Christians. This book is not intended as a 'hard sell' but simply looks to explore the reasons for belief in Christianity. Sometimes books are very one-sided in their approach to faith, but I felt this book was very even-handed, genuinely looking at the kinds of objections I hear regularly from friends and family in their strongest form, rather than simply putting forward a straw man to knock down.
Length: 160 pages
Book Reviews
Posted on March 31, 2012
by Rich Spear
Categories: Book Reviews
In a previous job I had a conversation with my boss about Christianity. Within a few minutes of discussion, he challenged me ' Haven't you seen the internet film 'The Zeitgeist? In this film there are a number of claims that Christianity has essentially copied other greek and egyptian gods with stories of resurrections, virgin births and the like. Maybe you have watched this film and been persuaded that this is all Christianity is. In this book, former atheist Lee Strobel speaks to a number of New Testament academics such as Darrell Bock, Craig. A Evans & Daniel Wallace who show that this idea is clearly not based on facts at all!
It is a similar story with Dan Brown's gripping book, The Da Vinci code. Despite its undoubted credentials as a work of fiction, I have spoken to many people who have embraced the idea that the early church tampered with the truth about the person of Jesus, and changed his biography from being simply a good man who taught some excellent morals, into someone to be worshipped as God.
Posted on November 26, 2011
by Rich Spear
Categories: Book Reviews
If you consider yourself a sceptic about Christianity or a Christian who is looking for honest answers to some of the toughest questions, then this book was quite simply written for you. Tim Keller is a pastor in New York, who has put into writing the kinds of questions that he is asked on a regular basis about Christianity such as ' How can a good God allow suffering?', 'Hasn't science disproved Christianity?' and 'How can a loving God send people to hell?'
Posted on November 26, 2011
by Rich Spear
Categories: Book Reviews
If you consider yourself a sceptic about Christianity or a Christian who is looking for honest answers to some of the toughest questions, then this book was quite simply written for you. Tim Keller is a pastor in New York, who has put into writing the kinds of questions that he is asked on a regular basis about Christianity such as ' How can a good God allow suffering?', 'Hasn't science disproved Christianity?' and 'How can a loving God send people to hell?'
Posted on November 05, 2011
by Rich Spear
Categories: Bible, Book Reviews
The most important question I believe that anyone can ask in their life is ‘Who is Jesus Christ?’. Straight away we are confronted with lots of questions. ‘How do I find out about Jesus?’, ‘Can an ancient bible really give historically reliable evidence?’
Roberts has put together an excellent, very readable, and accessible book without losing any of the quality of scholarship in the process.
Posted on October 22, 2011
by Rich Spear
Categories: Religion, Book Reviews
In the last ten years, Britain has continued to advance into more and more of a multi-faceted, multi-cultured society. In this time, there has been a growing fear with the rise of extremist Islam in the west, which has left many people (including Christians) unsure of how to relate to the many local Muslims, and to effectively share their faith.
Nick covers interesting cultural issues such as ‘Should Christians eat Halal meat?’, as well as other theological hot potatoes such as ‘Should Christians call God Allah?’.'
It is into this context that Nick Chatrath (Emmanuel Church, Oxford) has written an extremely helpful and well-researched book, where he paints a refreshingly positive picture of Muslims and their rich cultural heritage. Despite the extensive bibliography, this book is very accessible and covers a whole range of issues in short bitesize chapters. Nick covers interesting cultural issues such as ‘Should Christians eat Halal meat?’, as well as other theological hot potatoes such as ‘Should Christians call God Allah?’.