The God Conversation: Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith [Paperback]

J. P. Moreland (Author), Tim Muehlhoff (Author), Lee Strobel (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2007

Think of It This Way . . . Our beliefs are challenged from many directions. Every day it seems more difficult to explain to our friends, families and neighbors what we believe and why. When our ideas and arguments fail to persuade them, what then? Is there another approach we can take? In The God Conversation veteran apologists and communicators J. P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff say that often the best way to win over others is with a good story. Stories have the ability to get behind our preconceptions and defenses. They can connect both emotionally and intellectually, appealing to the whole person rather than just to the mind. How do we defend belief in a good God in the face of terrorist attacks or natural disasters? What can we say to show we are not arrogant to believe that Jesus is the only way with so many sincere people following other world religions? What if they think we are naive to say Jesus actually rose from the dead? And when they seem confident in their right to choose their own ethical stances, how can we help them appreciate the value of a universal standard of right and wrong found in the Bible? The authors offer a wealth of penetrating illustrations, examples and quotes that respond to these issues and more. In these pages they enhance the logic and evidence found in other books defending the faith, with things that your friends, relatives or coworkers will ponder long after a conversation is over. Here is sound, empathetic coaching for those of us who long to communicate our faith more effectively.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Most conversations, let alone ones about God, are either dull, single-sided or competing monologues full of smoke. It simply shouldn't be. Carrying on a vital, passionate, engaging conversation with another human being is an art that has been sufficiently lost that we need wisdom and perspective on how to engage well. The God Conversation is a gift to the church to invigorate our conversations with believers, seekers and unbelievers. J. P. and Tim walk with us through the use of story and authenticity with such masterful delight that one ends by sensing the authors have given us the very gift we are to give to others." (Dan B. Allender, Ph.D., President and Professor of Counseling, Mars Hill Graduate School, and author of The Wounded Heart and To Be Told )

"If you are a headhunting evangelist or an intellectual who must have the last word, put this book down and go home. If you love your pre-Christian friends and want stimulating resources to engage them in meaningful spiritual dialogue on hard questions, J. P. and Tim are the mentors you seek." (Dr. Fred H. Wevodau, Director, U.S. Metro Mission, The Navigators )

"Today's culture is increasingly a story-based culture. As Tim and J. P. help to show, a story-based culture does not have to be a culture without truth. This book is an excellent tool to learn how to better communicate the great truths about God, the world, our faith and human nature through stories, modern-day parables, and by listening and teaching like Jesus. It is a must-read for all who want to help others find faith in Jesus Christ." (Alan Andrews, U.S. President, The Navigators )

"I love stories and illustrations because of the impact they have had on me. If they have had a similar effect on you, this book is for you. It will reinforce your faith, hone your ability to share your relationship to Jesus Christ and delight your imagination. I cannot give it a higher recommendation." (Clyde Cook, former president, Biola University )

"Moreland and Muehlhoff have written a unique and engaging book. The style is casual, yet the topics are treated with sufficient detail and nuance to be helpful. I commend The God Conversation to anyone seeking to discuss these matters in meaningful ways with family, friends and colleagues." (Stan W. Wallace, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Faculty Ministry & Emerging Scholars Network, National Director )

About the Author

J.P. Moreland (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, in La Mirada, California. He also serves as director of Eidos Christian Center. He is the author, coauthor or editor of numerous books and articles, including Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult, Body & Soul, To Everyone an Answer and The Creation Hypothesis. Tim Muehlhoff (Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) has served on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ since 1986. He is currently an associate professor of communication at Biola University in La Mirada, California, where he teaches classes in interpersonal communication, rhetoric and gender. Tim has written about God, communication and faith in diverse publications such as the Journal of Religion and Communication, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Mars Hill Review and Discipleship Journal. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (October 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830834893
• ISBN-13: 978-0830834891
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With degrees in philosophy, theology, and chemistry, I have taught theology and philosophy at several schools throughout the U.S. I have authored or co-authored several dozen books including Kingdom Triangle, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview; Christianity and the Nature of Science; Scaling the Secular City; Does God Exist?; Immortality: The Other Side of Death; and The Life and Death Debate: Moral Issues of Our Times. I am a co-editor of Christian Perspectives on Being Human and Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus. My academic work appears in journals and periodicals such as Christianity Today, Philosophia Christi, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, and The American Philosophical Quarterly. I served with Campus Crusade for 10 years, planted two churches, and I have spoken on over 200 college campuses. Presently, my wife and I attend the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Entry Level Apologetics Resource, November 13, 2007

By 

D. Westfall "westfallwatergardens" (Lubbock, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The God Conversation: Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith (Paperback)

This book is a well crafted intro into many of the most famous arguments for the existence of God, and other pressing problems that confound Christians in all ages. It's divided into Seven Section over 11 chapters and an afterthougt. What seperates this book from many other apologetics works is it's heavy reliance upon illustration. In dealing with ehtics it has a sidebar on the movie Munich and how it might be used as an illustration on dealing with that we intuitively know that somethings are morally wrong, etc... The use of a vertical line next to the illustrations makes them easy to find. The book covers The Problem of Evil, Pluralism, The Ressurection, Ethics and Moral Relativism, and the Design Argument, as well as an exceptional 2 pg afterword about listening before you speak with all your new found knowledge.

How useful this book is to you will largely depend upon the type of person you are. If you are an apologetics buff you are not likely to hear too much new in here. Dr. Moreland(I'm assuming) does a good job distilling some of his work against the Jesus Seminar's assertion that Jesus is only a figure of legend, into a more conversational style. The two chapters on the problem were some of the best I've ever seen on the subject in such a short amount of space.

A great book for your average Christian who needs help learning how to defend their faith or why they're rational do believe the way they do. A good quick referesher for those of us who need a brush up on some of the arguments for these subjects. Maybe not useful for those reading Swinburne, Plantinga, and the like.

As a sidenote in case either of the authors read this review. I'm an avid fan of Dr. Moreland, and as such read most all of his books. These last few that he's co-authored with BIOLA faculty members have really impressed me with BIOLA as an institution.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource in apologetics, February 17, 2008

By 

William Muehlenberg (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The God Conversation: Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith (Paperback)

There are many hundreds of excellent books on Christian apologetics, and J.P. Moreland has authored a number of those. He is certainly one of our top Christian philosophers and apologists.

In his newest volume he teams up with communication lecturer Tim Muehlhoff to offer a somewhat different approach to Christian evidences. Here the authors make the case for sharing Christian truth via stories and illustrations. A number of important apologetics and philosophy of religion themes are discussed, with an eye to reaching others through memorable illustrations and compelling stories.

Topics include God and the problem of evil and suffering; Christianity and other world religions; the case for the resurrection; and the existence of God and the evidence from design. These core topics are helpfully introduced and discussed, but with a view to being user-friendly, both for the apologist and the seeker.

For example, when dealing with the resurrection, one must deal with the reliability of the Gospel accounts. The authors offer a number of reasons why these accounts differ from mere legends. One reason is that the Gospels are not afraid to include embarrassing details, something which legends try to avoid.

Such details include: Jesus referring to Peter at one point as Satan; the cowardly nature of the disciples during the crucifixion; and the disciples initial refusal to believe that Jesus had risen. The authors remind us of the story of the Alamo. This actual event has been excessively glorified and turned into legendary status over the years. True, 185 Texans courageously took on 5,000 Mexicans. But the story has been seriously embellished over time, and contemporary historians have had to peel away the legend from the actual facts.

But the authors remind us that there simply was not enough time for legend to creep into the Easter story. Legends require some amount of time to become established, but the New Testament documents were written so close to the actual events of the life of Christ, that such legendary features could not have taken hold.

Consider another issue related to all this. We know that the Synoptic Gospels were written before the Book of Acts, and we know that Acts was written somewhere between A.D. 60 and 62. This is because two crucial episodes are not recorded there: the fall of Jerusalem and the death of Paul.

As an illustration, consider an account of the World Trade Centre in New York. If one found an undated book about this structure, one could partly determine the dating by what it includes or did not include. If it spoke about how it was built, how massive it is, and how many people work there, but said nothing about its tragic fall at the hands of terrorist, one could reasonably conclude it was written before September 2001.

Many other illustrations, analogies, examples and stories are weaved into the big topics covered in this book. It thus is a very accessible and easy to follow primer on basic apologetics. Of course whenever one is dealing with complex philosophical and theological concepts, some proper intellectual content must be utilised as well. And that is also featured in this volume.

Thus this book is a mix of helpful stories as well as solid reasoning and argumentation. It makes for a nice combination, and should encourage budding apologists to take some first steps in applying these principles and tactics.

Those who find this volume helpful may well want to go back to some of Moreland's more advanced works. For starters, consider his 1987 volume, Scaling the Secular City. For those who want something even more in depth, see his important 2003 work, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (co-authored by William Lane Craig).

For the beginning apologist, this might be the first volume to consider. It is both practical as well as intellectually solid, making it a very good introduction to the defence of Christian beliefs.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great conversation starter, December 14, 2007

By 

Andrew - See all my reviews

This review is from: The God Conversation: Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith (Paperback)

Many of us have wondered how to start difficult conversations with family and friends regarding sensitive topics such as religion and faith. This book helps the reader gain insight on how to do just that. After reading this book, I feel more equipped to speak openly and honestly about my faith to all of those I care for. An excellent and easy read and definite for anyone wanting to learn how to share their faith.