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And is it true?Useful, but...AND IS IT TRUE? This new book aims to provide an intellectual defence of Christianity which will both challenge the unbeliever to come to faith and bolster and equip the Christian to defend the faith. Does it meet its target? In terms of scope it works well. Its format is 12 short chapters which tackle some of the common objections Christians face. The topics covered include the search for meaning, the existence of God, the challenge of science, the reliability of the Bible, the identity of Jesus, evidence for the resurrection and the problem of suffering. I think the main absence is a chapter on pluralism and other religions, but some of that is covered in the other chapters. Given the number of topics and the length of the book, a mere 166 pages, obviously each topic is covered somewhat briefly. In terms of style it also scores highly. It's an easy read and so people from a wide variety of backgrounds find it accessible. While the topics being dwelt on are weighty, the two authors manage to keep the tone light and friendly. When it comes to content and persuasiveness, it's a little more mixed. Largely the material is solid and reasonably presented. Occasionally, however, I found the logic not as clear as it needed to be and the sometimes a conclusion was presented to you as obvious when I think an unbeliever would be far from convinced. The biggest disappointment was their treatment of the death of Jesus. It is excellent that an apologetic book seeks to teach the cross as that is often missing, but I found their presentation rather confused and unclear. They present the cross working in a variety of ways - from taking our sin to showing us the evil and injustice of our world and so delivering us from our sinfulness and more beside. I'm sure one could argue for each understanding biblically, but it isn't made clear which one is central and so I fear the unbeliever will be left confused. Overall a useful book but one I would make sure I read myself before deciding whether it was right for my unbelieving friend. Nigel Beynon,
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