Customer Reviews

More Than a Carpenter

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I was raised a Roman Catholic as far back as I can remember. Tragedies in my life immeasurably challenged my belief in God. It was challenged to the point where I began to despise talk of religion, specifically the faith I was raised with -- Christianity. I began to consistently ask myself, "Is God real??" My "blind belief" wavered to the point where I found myself with a strong tendency to challenge religious believers, almost to the point of unconsciously trying to convince them out of their faith whenever I can. I became a man of logic and reasoning, and simply could not entertain "blind belief" in any way.

Then I read this book. It was logical and compelling, and I found myself with no sound way to refute what Josh McDowell was saying. I could criticize his thoroughness, but diving into excruciating detail onto the sciences he employed would've been criticized as redundant. It did not have the "hype" and "hoopla" of "Praise the Lord!" mentality. It was just plain scientific reasoning, logic, and common sense.

I saw the criticisms other people had of this book, and I find it hard to understand how they could castigate this book as they did. I was very steadfast in my resentment towards Christianity, but I was influenced otherwise -- I just had to be because the logic that the author used, for me, made sense. For example, I lost a great deal of faith in Christianity when I learned how the Bible was written many years after Jesus' death, and that it was largely a result of "word of mouth". But the author points out that if the miracles of Jesus were farce, how can it withstand its persistence through all those years? If any of us decided to make some sensational claim like being able to fly without wings, and if we were to start disseminating such information, how long do you think that will last? Will it last decades so as to eventually land on a book of "facts"? The point here is that the human way of doing things has a way of weeding out untruths and inaccuracies of "news", and that the words and deeds of Jesus would not have lasted as long as it did if there were no corroborations so strong as to withstand such forces; this is true for anything, religious incidents or otherwise. For me, this was a reasonable and persuasive argument that Jesus did do what he did, or it would have been shot down way sooner, much less making it into a book.

I only have 1000 words for this review, so let me end it by saying this. I now am totally convinced that God and Jesus are REAL. It is hard to accept that at this day and age, and I've been through that phase of constant skepticism.

My biggest arsenal against Christianity was my own intellect. But this book used the very foundation I had for disbelieving to show me otherwise. How can I not respect that?

Throughout my life, I have been proud of being intelligent AND a Christian. But never until high school did I start hearing from non-believing peers that I MUST be blind; how can a Christian be in any way intelligent? I decided not to listen to them -- until one day during college, EVERY doubt I ever had of my faith emerged. The day the earth came down -- I ran to my Christian friends in desperate help, and the first book I came upon through recommendation was this book. Evidently, this was a Christian classic. And so I began to read, and from this experience, I learned a couple things and other points in hindsight, for viewers to know. 1) Josh McDowell has a powerful testimony. Just that made me feel a little better. However, my intellect told me I can't base my beliefs completely on other people's experiences. 2) I found out I was an extreme skeptic, and I had no idea how powerful my doubts were. I even wondered if I had EVER been a Christian. 3) This is a great introductory book into apologetics. It outlines the basics of most arguments an apologist can give. It's almost a mini-handbook, insightful and a comfort. 4) However, the very fact that I was not completely assured or fully convinced afterward says something. The book only made me want to run right to Jerusalem and start doing my own personal research; why? The book's arguments were 80% of the time decent and challenging enough to keep you encouraged you may be on the right track, but the other 20% was vague and lacking in thought of other possibilities. Yet, in hindsight, I would still recommend this to skeptics as an introductory book and helpful in your search for truth (good enough to get 3 stars from me!!), but this should not be your sole source to the evidence of Christianity. Overall, I left this book a little disappointed but also encouraged enough to go on and read more. Yes, I persevered. McDowell's book became my steam engine due to its good qualities, and so I kept on. I researched for several months over other books by McDowell ("A Ready Defense" is incredible, and "The Resurrection Factor" is thought provoking), Lee Strobel, Philip Yancey, Ravi Zacharias and even the Bible. And you know what? I'm still intelligent and a stronger Christian than I ever have been. I may have even become a TRUE Christian due to my reading and determination. Check out my wish list -- you will find out I'm not being phony here at all. I encourage you, overall, to read this as this is a great overview, then KEEP on reading. Don't give up. This book is only a good, decent foundation to today's apologetics.

If you are trying to find a simple, easy to read case for the claims of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Josh McDowell's "More Than A Carpenter" is what you've been looking for. It is not a powerful apologetic or a theological masterpiece but it is a great introduction into the study of who Jesus Christ really is. The foundation of the book is based on the three primary possibilities for who Christ is; Lord, liar or lunatic. This is backed up with a defense of the reliability of the Scriptures, an argument from changed lives over history and an argument for Christ's resurrection. I highly recommend the book to those wanting an introduction to who Jesus really is. The book will probably not convinced the hardened skeptic, but for many, it will be an opportunity for God to open their hearts and minds to the truth, that when received by faith, can transform their lives. If you are looking for apologetics, I recommend Ravi Zacharias, J.P Moreland or Norman Geisler. For a deeper examination of the claims of Christ from another skeptic turned Christian, you may want to check "The Case for Christ," by Lee Stroble.

If you are a Chrisitan and need to defend your faith, read it. If you aren't a Christian and doubt Christianity, read it. If you really don't think Jesus is the Son of God, then I challenge you to argue against this book. You can't ignore what's presented here -- either believe it or logically refute it.

If you want someone to really understand why they can actually believe in the Bible and the message that it contains (the Gospel of Jesus), my experience has been that getting them to read this book is one of the best ways.

While in the US Air Force, I was stationed on Guam, where a friend of mine had a copy of this book, which he had borrowed from a friend. He explained a little about it and told me he really enjoyed reading it. He said that his own faith was greatly increased. I thought that sounded pretty good, so I asked him to let me borrow it. I did, it was awesome, my own faith grew tremendously,and I couldn't help but to tell another friend of mine all about it. So, this next friend borrowed it, he thought it was great, it made a great impression on him (he was a newborn Christian, at the time, and 12 years later he still has a very close walk with the Lord), and then a friend of his borrowed it! So, finally we had to get the book passed back up the food chain, from friend to friend to friend to friend to friend, just to get it back into the hands of the original owner (I can only assume that he hadn't borrowed it, too). That was around 1989 or 1990.

12 years later, I was thinking about how great of an impact that little paperback book had on me and was telling my wife how grateful I was to have ever come across it. She decided to buy 18 copies of it for me, for Christmas. So I gave copies to some family members and friends from work.

A recent incident was a few months ago. One night as I was leaving work, I decided to give a copy to a guy who is a supervisor (not mine), but because the lights were being turned out and everyone was expected to leave for the night, I didn't have time to write a note to him explaining where the book came from and why (like I wanted to), so I just left it on his desk. The next day he was sent to a different floor of the building, so I didn't see him again until 3 weeks later, when I was also moved to the same floor. When we first saw each other, I had forgotten all about giving him the book. I noticed that he was far more chipper than in the past and he had a plastic Jesus on top of his computer monitor. Here was a guy who, not too long before, I'd seen wearing a Metallica t-shirt and sometimes could get edgy over seemingly trivial things. A couple of minutes later, I remembered leaving that book and went and told him that I was the one who left it and explained how I didn't have time to leave a note. At first his eyes got big, which made me think for a second that he was angry with me; but then his face really lit up with happiness and surpise (that it was me). He said, "That was the best little book I have ever read in my life!" He couldn't stop thanking me and said that his whole life has changed and that book had a lot to do with it. Since the last time I had seen him, he had been baptized and even married! He said that he now attends church services 3 times a week, too. He thought for sure that either his wife or one of her friends had left it for him to find. But, of course, she insisted that she did NOT! So, finally the mystery was solved for him. Now, I can't wait to buy some more to give away, as I believe the Lord leads me to do so. I already have a few more people in mind that I think would really like it and benefit from it.

The book is easy to read and understand, not too long, and just gets right to the point. The point being that Jesus claimed to be More than a carpenter. He dogmatically claimed to be God. Either he was lying, was delusional, or else he was telling the truth. Only one of those 3 options allows for one to say that he was a great teacher. So, if someone wants to say that they don't believe that Jesus is God, then they should not also say that he was great teacher (as a lot of people do).

It's explained that the odds of one person fulfilling all of the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah to come, as Jesus did, is so mathematically improbable, that it is obvious that Jesus IS who he said that he is (It would require a whole lot MORE faith, and of the BLIND variety, to believe other-wise, after learning this). McDowell has a mathematician to give an example of what the odds are of one person fulfulling them all. The example given is something like, if you filled the entire state of Texas with coins 8 feet deep and only 1 had a special mark, Jesus would have had to have picked that 1, on the 1st try.

I think this book is kind of like NIKE shoes. JUST READ IT! :-)

I've read this book several times and I think it is a nice introduction to Christian Apologetics. I see many reviewers bashing this book's simplicity. Well, it was written to be that way. The information is presented with much more detail in Mcdowell's "evidence" books, this book is like an overview. The liar, lunatic, or Lord arguement is a valid one, if presented properly. Once you show the validity of the Scriptures, there are no other options. Legend has no place, as the new testament contains oral traditions that can be accurately dated to within 2 years of Jesus' crucification, and the whole new testament written by first hand witnesses or a close associate of a first hand witness. Some one claimed that a possibility was that a man named Jesus might have never existed. Just know, you are in the SEVERE minority here. Most skeptics even agree that he indeed existed. Anyways, there are better apologist out there, but this is an excellent introduction for a spiritual seeker( it can be read in a couple of hours). There is much more info out there if one truly wants to seek. Not everyone does, as it's rather uncomfortable to have their unbelief threatened, so they hide behind so called intellectual hurdles, putting all their effort into asking questions, instead of finding answers.
God bless

The author takes a logical approach to the question of who Jesus was - and wasn't. He uses a low-key scientific approach for the Christian sceptic. I buy these by the six-pack and give them out to friends and relatives who show an interest in salvation through Christ, and let them come to their own conclusion. It is a very easy read and even if the reader dosn't come to Christ after this, the seed will be planted which may bear fruit later on. YIC

A reminder for me that my faith is foundationally sound and this is something that is so necessary in order to reach those whose intellect extends beyond their hearts. This helps make sure that no "doubting Thomas's" are lost. As Jesus made sure that he bridged the gap for Thomas with His scars, God has given us the evidence to bridge the gap in His word which Josh Mc Dowell has so eloquently encapsolated and expanded it's authenticity. It makes evangelism that much more empowered and exciting!

Thank you, Josh! May God continue to bless you!

It has changed life after life because of its clarity and truth spelled out simply. What a wonderful book.

This is a book that addresses the subject of who Jesus was. Period. It's not a discipleship book or doctrinal review. The author has written other more indepth books on this subject, and in More Than A Carpenter he attempts to present this in a brief, easy to read book. His primary audience seems to be students, both Christian students, persons contemplating Christianity and even skeptics.

In my opinion, the book accomplishes what it set out to do. Josh McDowell has been involved in ministry to students for decades and has learned to communicate on their level in a manner that they can easily understand. This book deserves its place as a Christian classic.

But I do not wish to limit my recommendation of this book to young people only. Christian adults will certainly gain a lot from reading this book.