David J. Randall has produced a helpful little book for anyone who wants to scratch below the surface of the Christmas story
Category: Book Reviews
Book: Am I Just My Brain? by Sharon Dirckx
In this short book, Sharon Dirckx provides a very helpful introduction to some extremely big topics. As she points out in the introduction, how we answer the question ‘Am I just my brain?’ has implications for free will, robotics, ethics and religion, so the stakes are high.
Book Review: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
Whilst some readers might see the book as a condemnation of Christianity, and of the danger of a doctrine of revelation which requires submission to an ancient text. We note that in both these books Jesus isn’t mentioned and Bibles are locked up
Book Review: Why? Looking at God, evil and personal suffering by Sharon Dirckx
I particularly liked the focus on our personal role ('Am I responsible for anyone else's suffering?' is one chapter heading), and the constant pointers back to Jesus' work on the cross ('Can a broken story be fixed?')
Book: The Paradox of Happiness by René Breuel
The Bible, he notes, urges us to pursue goodness, not happiness - but it turns out that "goodness is deliciously happy!".
Book: A.S.K. (Real World Questions, Real Word Answers) by David Robertson
The questions that drive this book are clearly heartfelt ones, from young people wrestling with faith, doubt, ethics and some very difficult personal situations. The first thing to note and commend about A.S.K. is that these young people have been given the chance to ask these questions, and to engage with serious answers.
Book: God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God by John Lennox
As an expert in mathematics, including probability and chaos theory, Lennox analyses and explains the fine tuning of the physical forces and constants of the universe, and the information richness of the genetic code. These facts point to intelligent input
Book: More>Truth: Searching for Truth in an Uncertain World by Kristi Mair
Mair helps us understand so clearly the struggles and contradictions at the heart of our culture’s relationship with truth
Book Review: Can we Trust the Gospels?by Peter J. Williams
In conclusion, then, this is a great little book and should form part of an armoury of resources that will give Christians greater confidence in the reasonableness of their faith.
Book Review: The Overstory by Richard Powers
500 pages of unremitting present tense action and powerful description. I was taken with it and found it hard to put down, but ultimately it is frustrating.