"I'm not the religious sort." "Jesus was just a good man." "You can't change human nature." These are just some of the excuses people give in an effort to avoid God. But such excuses, says Michael Green, are shallow, betraying an absence of thought, and evasive, demonstrating an unwillingness to face evidence that God not only does exist but is active in this world. In Avoiding Jesus, Green examines some of the most common excuses for avoiding Christianity. Through extensive travel, research, and discussions with skeptics and cynics alike, Green has gained the insight to variously refute and validate each excuse. Sharing his insight in these easy-to-read chapters, he now calls Christians, unbelievers, and those on the fence to stand out from the crowd, think for themselves.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Candid and Forthright; An Unapologetic Apologetic,
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This review is from: Avoiding Jesus: Answers for Skeptics, Cynics, and the Curious (Southern Icons) (Paperback)
British evangelist and Anglican educator Michael Green needs little introduction. His half dozen or more books and lecture tours have been well received in South Africa, Australia, Canada, the USA and England. This volume, a substantial update of his 1976 work, You Must Be Joking, presents no danger of diminishing Green's reputation. It is a fine reworking of an already beloved volume and it is a refreshing application of Gospel truth.
Content-wise, Avoiding Jesus is taken up with banishing religious poppycock. It's a plea for moving beyond the shallow and escapist objections that one is likely to encounter when a work colleague, fellow student, or family member learns that you are a Christian who actually believes in Christianity. While there is nothing new or profoundly original here, yet Green has gathered together a dozen of the most commonly heard objections to biblical faith. From the ubiquitous "All religions lead to God," to the perennial "I'm not the religious kind," all the way through to the contemporary "Didn't Jesus have a baby with Mary Magdalene?" Green has provided us with a compendium of useful responses to the most common barbs of the cynics and skeptics we all know. Beyond the general content, the strengths of the book are several. First, although the opening and closing chapters do lend to the volume a sense of it being a cumulative case argument, yet the individual chapters are mostly freestanding and therefore can be read in any order. This makes Green's Avoiding Jesus a good way to `bone up' so as to be ready and prepared to give an answer back. Second, although Green adopts an essentially evidentialist methodology, yet his arranging of the facts is never naïve. He is aware of the noetic effects of sin and he is even more aware of the kinds of motivations that distort and lead to downplaying belief in God. In this regard Green is a model to apologists of all stripes; he not only answers the particular objection but does so with an awareness of where it comes from and how it functions for the questioner. Third, Green writes with a tone that one does not always hear these days. He writes for those who do not want to be pandered or played to. He writes for those who like to be addressed respectfully but minus the `kid gloves.' Again, Green is a model in how tirelessly he moves from addressing the objection to proclaiming the Gospel. In terms of weaknesses, they are few indeed. From a personal standpoint, I thought his treatment of science and faith to be rather weak. Not only does he conclude by positing a theory of theistic evolution in which God may "have bestowed autonomy upon creation and allowed the world to make itself from the bottom up" (p.44), but he leaves us with a faith that is in one sense captive to science. (The scientific procedure is still the bar by which we make our measurements concerning faith). The second weakness that bears mentioning is the bibliography that concludes this work. Not only does the age of many of the titles listed as further reading reflect that this volume had a previous life, but it fails to direct us to many excellent works that could ably supplement and strengthen the topics spoken to here. While I do not expect an author to always list what I may consider important books, yet I do believe the limited bibliography that we are supplied with negatively impacts upon the usefulness and the longevity of this volume. When all is said and done, however, Avoiding Jesus is a good book that is written in a candid and forthright style. It is an unapologetic apologetic. In this work Christian men and women from all walks of life will find encouragement for themselves and biblically rooted truthful responses to those they are engaged in speaking with.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
OK for teachers, but be careful,
By Todd Newly (Indiana) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Avoiding Jesus: Answers for Skeptics, Cynics, and the Curious (Southern Icons) (Paperback)
If you are a Bible class teacher and know the Scriptures well, then you may find this book helpful for educating yourself on many current objections to Jesus and religion. However, be careful. The author states some things as facts that are directly opposite to what the Bible teaches. I would definitely not give or recommend this book to someone who does not have a good biblical background.
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