David Limbaugh in his forward writes, "[This book] is the best single book I've seen to prepare believers to give the reasons for their faith, and for skeptics who are open to the truth. This book will serve as an indispensable evangelism tool, especially when dealing with nonbelievers with 'intellectual' obstacles to the faith. As we know, the intellectual obstacles are just an excuse for nonbelievers, but when you remove the substance of their excuse they are left naked to confront their real obstacles, their real demons." I agree with Limbaugh but with the exception that it is NOT "the best single book." There will be new 'intellectual' obstacles ahead of us (although principally "there is nothing new under the sun"), so, we have to always need new, fresh, and better books to tackle future issues with the same effectiveness as this one. Always preparing the way for the Lord and His Word to touch people's lives with the never-changing Gospel. Having said that, for me, this book is one of the best apologetic tools so far (probably next after Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict).
Between the two authors, I'm more familiar with Frank Turek because I subscribed to his podcast and YouTube channel with the same name as this book and frequently listened to his talks and interviews. Norman Geisler, now deceased, is the giant of apologetic who wrote and co-wrote many amazing books. Together they present the essential information needed for readers either to stand firm in their faith in the God of Christianity or to make a decision to come to the God of Christianity with a reasonable faith. For believers, your faith will be strengthened; for honest seekers, your beliefs will be challenged. Some people will read this book and yet remain an atheist or skeptical but they will have no excuse that they never knew. "One beauty of God's creation is this: if you're not willing to accept Christianity, then you're free to reject it," explain Frank and Norman. "God has provided enough evidence in this life to convince anyone willing to believe, yet he has also left some ambiguity so as not to compel the unwilling." I like that. It is consistent with the character of God that I read in the Bible. No one - especially mine - can claim absolute certainty about anything. Everything requires some amount of faith. Questions such as "Is truth knowable?", "Does God exists?" and, "Is the Bible the Word of God?" even with a fair amount of evidence, in the end, require faith. Vise versa, to reject them also requires faith. But as the book argues, it takes a lot more faith to be a non-Christian than it does to be a Christian.
Let me share five (5) reasons why I recommend this book (I could share more but, to misquote the Book of Hebrews, "time will not allow me"):
#1 The Logical Flow - At the outset, they outline 12 points starting from a general but crucial one "No.1 Truth about reality is knowable." What is truth? Can truth be known? Can truths about God be known? So what? Who cares about truth? Then, they progressively move to the last one "No.12 It is true that the Bible is the Word of God." Is the Bible historically reliable? Who is Jesus? If Jesus is who He said He is, what He taught about the Bible? They begin with general revelation to special revelation.
#2 Not Using the Scripture to Proof the Existence of God - In the first 5 out of 12 points, they argue about the existence of a theistic God not by using the Scripture but by science and reason. They use the Cosmological Argument (Beginning of the universe), the Teleological/ Anthropic Argument (Design of the universe, design of life), and the Moral Argument (Moral law). These arguments alone are enough for me to say that "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist"!
#3 Uses History, Philosophy, Logic, and Biblical Theology to Establish Their Arguments - For example, when they try to prove that the New Testament is reliable, they do not simply say that "The Bible tells me so" but give evidence from external and internal sources, historical and philosophical supports, logical and theological based. "We came to believe through evidence," they said, "...the fact THAT we are Christians is not the issue: WHY we are Christians is the important point."
#4 Anticipating Counter-Arguments and Answer Them Clearly - In the past, I almost lost my faith in Christianity. I figured, if Christianity is false then all religions* must be false too. I don't want to be an agnostic because I think the issue is simple: whether God exists or not. So my next best choice was to be an atheist. When I'm trying to explore the possibility of the non-existence of God, I have lots of questions. Every time I heard or read Christian's positive arguments, I always have counter-arguments or objections. Authors of this book anticipate objections as they presented their arguments. For example, take the case of the reliability of the New Testament again. They know those common objections such as "history cannot be known", "The New Testament documents contain miracles", "The New Testament writers were biased", and "Converted people are not objective" would be in the back of the reader's mind like I was. With vast experience, knowledge, and humility, they answer these common (not all) objections clearly.
#5 Provide More Than Enough Facts - To me, three reasonable facts are enough to change my opinions; five strong facts are enough to convince me to reconsider my beliefs; seven undisputed facts are enough to change my mind and make me a convert. Throughout the book every time the authors make a case they always give more than two reasons or facts. For example, in the question of "How do we know the moral law exists?" they give eight compelling reasons. In Chapter 11, they give "The Top Ten Reasons We Know the New Testament Writers Told the Truth" which is also the title of the chapter.
The authors acknowledged that "evidence alone cannot convince someone to become a Christian. Some atheists and non-Christians may reject Christianity not because the evidence is inadequate but because they don't want to accept it." It seems oversimplified but in the final analysis, it's true. They continue, "Some people choose to suppress the truth rather than live by it. In fact, we humans have a fatal tendency to try to adjust the truth to fit our desires rather than adjusting our desires to fit the truth." Don't do that. This is about your eternal destiny. This book cannot answer ALL your questions. In fact, we will never have ALL the answers anyway. But this book - by God's grace - has more than enough answers to show beyond a reasonable doubt that Christianity is true. The Scripture says: "[If] you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Lord, give the reader enough faith to believe and confess! Amen.
#ServeToLead #LeadersAreReaders #IDontHaveEnoughFaithToBeAnAtheist #FrankTurek #NormanGeisler #Apologetics #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain
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