Speaking of trends (I'm sure someone somewhere was), I'm aware of the current one in this blog. I've still been speaking about Christians and faith in general, but more posts of late have been personal. This wasn't intentional, but currently it seems the best place to go. Not that it's all about me, but if I'm talking about conviction and all I might as well be consistent.
That brings me to a book I read lately. I usually read novels of a secular sort, and I enjoy (and yes, even learn something) from them. But good ol' conviction has hit me lately, that if this is all I read, it tends to feed my cynicism. It's kind of like Jack Black at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Not a pretty picture. Which brings me to the book review.
I didn't realize it when I chose it, but Letters From a Skeptic is a story. It's a series of letters between a father and a son (the father being the skeptic) in which major objections to the Christian faith are addressed. It doesn't negate faith, but it also addresses questions honestly (no turning off of the brain required). In the end, and this is not a spoiler as the introduction and blurb state it clearly, the father believes in Christ. The story itself isn't about how slick and convincing the arguments are, but of a son's love for his father. I like the fact that the letters remain mostly unchanged, so tidbits of family news and expressions of family love are left intact. Because in the end, it's not about theology, but a real relationship with Christ. The love in this helps point towards His love for us.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. I had a hard time with my own brand of skepticism, and (in addition to prayer and Bible study of course) this has helped me through it a lot, especially with my balance between heart and mind, between "it's all just a mystery" and "I have all the answers right here." I'm still chewing on some of Dr. Gregory Boyd's theories, but I like how he kept them Biblically-based and Christ-centered. Dr. Boyd doesn't explain the Holy Spirit out of it, but he uses the brain God gave him as well. And he may be a seminary professor, but the conversational style and relationship between the writers literally keep it real. I'm down with that. Yo.
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2 comments:
I would recommend to read "love your God with all your mind" from JP Moreland. He as a lot of great things to say about the relationship between the mind and faith.
I heard some of his lecture and I liked a lot of what he had to say about anti-intellectualism and how it's influenced Christianity for the worse. I'm not sure if I like giving knowledge more value than accountability (ie small groups) like he seems to in the lecture since understanding and behavior use different parts of the brain. This is why we need to live in community to have, and eventually become, the examples we need in Christ. We were not made to accomplish the Christian life alone.
All that to say,Moreland's book sounds interesting, but Letters From a Skeptic is more my style.
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