Everything you always
wanted to know about God (but were afraid to ask) by Eric Metaxas
With a couple of small exceptions, I found this to be a very
readable & helpful book on basic Christian apologetics – in other words, a
book that answers questions about what Christians believe & why. The
author, Eric Metaxas, uses a dialogue format that is shot through with humorous
asides & cultural references both new & old (he manages to quote Pink
Floyd, reference Aretha Franklin, and even bag on Barney… and then quote major
chunks of William Blake, the English poet.) An example:
Q: What happens when you die?
A: Well, it depends, but typically the lawn goes unmowed for
a while, and the newspapers really pile up
This is not your typical apologetics book… which is a good
thing.
I esp. like how he dealt with the questions about the
difference between religion & Christianity. As well, I like that he doesn’t
claim to have perfect answers for difficult questions like “Why does God allow
suffering?” or “How does prayer work?” Instead of trying to cobble together
something pithy & quotable that panders to the churchified crowd, he
honestly presents ways those questions have been answered, admitting that the
answers may not be satisfying to some.
I did mention at the beginning that I found a place or two
where I didn’t agree with his arguments. I think his facts about the number of
deaths from the Inquisition & Crusades are wrong – but he hasn’t sourced
them where I can check them out. Still, I don’t think an error of 10x magnitude
here undermines his basic argument, so it’s not that big a deal.
This book is not going to convince a militant nonbeliever
that they’re wrong – actually, I don’t think any book can do that by itself.
But I do think it could be very helpful for folks who are asking questions
about faith… and for those who believe who’ve never worked through these kinds
of issues
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