Socrates in the City: Conversations on "Life, God, and Other Small Topics" [Hardcover]

Eric Metaxas (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 13, 2011

Following the extraordinary success of the New York Times bestseller Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas's latest book offers inspirational and intellectually rigorous thought about the great questions surrounding us all today.

The Greek philosopher Socrates famously said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." Taking this as a starting point, Eric Metaxas founded a speaking series that encouraged busy and successful professionals to attend forums and think actively about the bigger questions in life. Thus Socrates in the City: Conversations on "Life, God, and Other Small Topics" was born.

This book is for the seeker in all of us, the collector of wisdom, and the person who asks "What if?" Within this collection of original essays that were first given to standing-room-only crowds in New York City are serious thinkers taking on Life, God, Evil, Redemption, and other small topics. Luminaries such as Dr. Francis Collins, Sir John Polkinghorne, Charles Colson, N.T. Wright, Os Guinness, Peter Kreeft, and Jean Bethke Elshatin have written about extraordinary topics vital to both secular and Christian thinking, such as "Making Sense Out of Suffering," "How Good Confronts Evil," and "Belief in God in an Age of Science." No question is too big-in fact, the bigger, the harder, the more complex, the better. These essays are both thought-provoking and entertaining, because nowhere is it written that finding answers to life's biggest questions shouldn't be exciting and even, perhaps, fun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Eric Metaxas' ''Bonheoffer'':
''In Hitler's Germany, a Lutheran pastor chooses resistance and pays with his life . . . Eric Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer's story with passion and theological sophistication, often challenging revisionist accounts that make Bonhoeffer out to be a 'humanist' or ethicist for whom religious doctrine was easily disposable . . . Metaxas reminds us that there are forms of religion--respectable, domesticated, timid--that may end up doing the devil's work for him.'' --The Wall Street Journal on Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy --This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

About the Author

Eric Metaxas is a bestselling author whose biographies, children's books, and works of popular apologetics have been translated into multiple languages around the world. He has been frequently featured as a cultural commentator on CNN and the Fox News Channel and has been featured on many radio programs, including NPR's Morning Edition and Talk of the Nation, The Hugh Hewitt Show, and The Bob Grant Show.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (October 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525952551
• ISBN-13: 978-0525952558
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Metaxas is the New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery. His writing was first published in Atlantic Monthly, and has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Regeneration Quarterly, Christianity Today, National Review Online, Beliefnet and First Things. The American Booksellers Association chose Metaxas's The Birthday ABC as a 1995 Pick of the List and Amazon.com honored his Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving with their Number One Bestseller Award for Thanksgiving 1999. He has been featured numerous times on CNN, The Fox News Channel and other television networks, and has been a guest on NPR. He is the founder and host of Socrates in the City: Conversations on the Examined Life, a monthly event of entertaining and thought provoking discussions that feature such speakers as Sir John Polkinghorne, Dr. Armand Nicholi, Os Guinness, Lauren F. Winner and Peter Kreeft. Metaxas serves on the vestry of Calvary/St. George's Episcopal Church, and lives in Manhattan, New York, with his wife and daughter.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#68 in Books > History

#73 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs

#74 in Kindle eBooks > History

#68 in Books > History

#73 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs

#74 in Kindle eBooks > History

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beautiful Thing October 28, 2011

By Eric Wilson TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

I discovered Eric Metaxas's writing through his biography, "Bonhoeffer," one of my favorite non-fiction titles in 2010. He was thorough in his details and research, but managed to keep the narrative interesting and fast-moving--at least for anyone with the slightest interest in how a one-time pacifist and theologian responded to the events of World War II.

Without knowing much about this latest work, I picked up a copy and discovered other sides to Metaxas and his writing. "Socrates in the City" captures on page the deep thinking and humor of events that took place on a regular basis in Manhattan, and in a few other places as well, gatherings of those who wanted to explore life's tough questions, particularly when it comes to God's place in it all. The book draws from a cross-section of the gatherings' speakers, men such as N.T. Wright, Charles Colson, and Peter Kreeft, who address issues such as human suffering, science and religion, and the source of evil. Each section comes with a conversational, punchy, and erudite introduction from Metaxas, followed by the speaker's words, and then a Q&A section from the time of the event.

Is this a complete defense of religion, God, the fall of man, or any other subject addressed? No. But it is a great way of stirring the heart and mind, of raising questions without always giving easy answers, of urging the modern reader to get curious and even get angry--if that's what it takes to push into a deeper understanding of what it means to be a human created in the image of the Creator.

Metaxas shows a lot of wit and humor, something I didn't expect, and his guest speakers come across as intellectuals who are not too far removed from real life. There are answers here. There are questions. There are conundrums that may never be solved on this side of eternity, and some of the ideas put forth I don't necessarily agree with. The beautiful thing is that the book allows us to believe that such mystery is, well, a beautiful thing.

For those who missed the events and wished they could go back in time and be a part of them, "Socrates in the City" is the next best thing to being there. Someday, we may conquer the obstacle of worm-holes and time-travel and make such a return visit possible. Until then, happy reading!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Captures the "magic" of Socrates in the City Events. November 7, 2011

By Reviewer

Format:Hardcover

Socrates in the City sponsors lectures by authors about 'meaningful' topics. This is collection of some of the best lectures, including a personal favorite the Rev.John Polkinghorne - a physicists who became and Anglican minister. As you can probably imagine, he has some interesting thoughts on the relationship between God and Science.

The book preserves the 'form' of the lectures - in fact it is something of a transcript of them - the host introduces the speaker, the speaker speaks, and then people in the audience ask questions. I have attended some lectures and have found them stimulating and fascinating, but I didn't think it would transfer well to a book - after all, movie scripts are usually pretty tedious to read compared to watching a movie. But I was pleasantly surprised to find the form transfers very well to book format. I was especially happy that the questions and answers were included as they helped expand on the topic.

There are few 'hard answers' here, but plenty of stimulating, mind broadening questions.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection of Speakers December 1, 2011

By Sheep23

Format:Hardcover

I just picked this book up from the library and was excited to see Eric Metaxas on the front cover. His book on Bonhoeffer was really well done and I had not heard of Socrates in the City. Basically, the book is a display of the actual forum that is held in NYC for writers, speakers, and philosophers on the bigger questions of 'life, God, and other small topics.' Included in the book are philsopher Peter Kreeft, Christian apologist Os Guinness, theologian and scientist Alister McGrath and the well-known NT scholar N.T. Wright. Each section starts with a pithy, often comical introduction by Eric Metaxas on the importance of the topic discussed and a brief intro about the person speaking. Following the talk is a brief section of Q and A that addresses some of the more contested issues in the conversation. By framing the book in this way, the author and editors have really done a service to the reader. For one, they have given the readers the best of the material that has come out of Socrates in the City. Secondly, they have provided follow up questions that spark some of the more contentious debate points in the prior conversation.

Some of the highlights for me in the book were the section on the Good Life by Charles Colson. At one point, Colson says, "The object of life is the maturing of the soul, and you reflect that maturing of the soul when you care more for other people than yourself" (173). After seeing the futility of laying back and counting up the golf games you play when you retire, Colson points out the banality of a life of ease and self-fulfillment. His point is well taken in an age obsessed with self-satisfaction at every turn. Next, I thought the talk by Fr. Richard Nehaus was particularly interesting in considering the question can an atheist be a good citizen (111-130). He finally comes down on the side an atheist can be a citizen but not a good citizen. I will leave out his full answer here but only relate that he provides his answer within the parameters of understanding regimes from a moral point of view.

Overall, I thought this book was very well done. By just reading a few of the books that were written around the time these speakers presented their material, one could come away with the main gist of their ideas. Metaxas does a great job at both lightening the mood for the audience but also giving a credible report of the speaker. I think more books like this would be of great value to those not able to read all the new books coming up but wanting to get a few main ideas from the world's most popular thinkers.