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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent but inadequate..., May 19, 2007
This review is from: Why Mike's Not a Christian: Honest Questions About Evolution, Relativism, Hypocrisy, and More (Paperback)
I attended Ben Young's church for several years when I lived in Houston and had a positive experience there, so I admit that I was somewhat predisposed to appreciate this book. And I will say that "Why Mike's Not a Christian" has a few feathers in its cap. However, I'm not sure it's sufficiently substantial to accomplish what the author intends. The book has several primary strengths. First, it is relatively short and readable. It is written with a very conversational tone, and I finished it in two sittings. For the typical busy American, this is more digestible than a thicker tome. This book will be particularly useful for Christians who want to become more confident and comfortable engaging their non-Christian friends in meaningful conversation. To that end, the concluding chapter, written specifically to Christians, and especially the section called "Gentle and Respectful Advice" (pp. 114-116) were the highglight of the entire book. If all Christians would learn the art of listening, learn the art of asking good questions, learn the art of passing on a good book, learn the art of being normal, and learn the art of being respectful, God would be thrilled!! Several of the strengths of the book also lead to weaknesses. It is too short to accomplish what Young seems to want, which is to provide intellectually meaningful arguments for the Christian faith. He tries to tackle questions too big and cover too much ground. He seems to hope that non-Christians will read this book and have their problems with Christianity solved, but there is no way to tackle such huge issues without greater focus and depth. I was disappointed that he seemed to regularly state his contention that Christianity can be intelligently defended without really providing much of a defense. Similarly, his writing style is simply too conversational to provide the intellectual rigor that he strives to achieve. I appreciate Young's humility in pointing people to many other sources, through the text of his book and in a "More Resources" list in the back. "Why Mike's Not a Christian" is a useful tool to provide Christians with some advice on how to appropriately relate to non-Christian friends. But I would not suggest that passing this along to non-Christians will be very helpful in answering the key dilemmas that separate them from acknowledging God.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great study..., October 20, 2008
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Why Mike's Not a Christian: Honest Questions About Evolution, Relativism, Hypocrisy, and More (Paperback)
Honest questions about evolution, relativism, hypocrisy, and more Ben Young, with Sarah Fuselier Harvest House Publishers, 2008 ISBN: 0736918655 Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com, 10/08 5 Stars A great study... Why Mike's Not a Christian begins with a debate between two men. Mike is challenging Josh's beliefs. Josh knows he believes in God but cannot answer Mike's arguments. Some of the statements made by Mike are: it is true for you, but not for me, all paths lead to God, Christians are hypocrites, the Bible is inaccurate and Why would a good God allow pain and suffering. Could you answer these questions? I know what I believe, and, yet, after searching myself, I realized I could not answer these questions. Ben Young offers the answers to these questions. His style is concise and easy-to-understand. He offers scriptures and logic to back up his teachings. Each chapter has a couple of questions at the end. I wish he had included more questions. Why Mike's Not a Christian would make a great Sunday school or small group study.
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5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honest answers to serious questions, October 26, 2006
This review is from: Why Mike's Not a Christian: Honest Questions About Evolution, Relativism, Hypocrisy, and More (Paperback)
A lot of people are anxious to explain why Christianity doesn't work for them; Jesus was a good man, the Bible is full of myths, all paths lead to God, etc. It's not always easy to refute these claims and explain our faith. We know what we believe, it's just difficult to share it with non-believers in a way they'll understand. This book has the answers, written in plain, everyday language with quotes from the Bible to back up the arguments. Ben Young takes on these false claims with no-holds barred common sense. He even takes on evolution and the argument that a loving God wouldn't allow evil and suffering. Why Mike's Not a Christian is one of those books you'll refer back to time after time. We never know when we'll meet a skeptic, but Ben Young's honest answers about todays hot topics, will help the reader be better equipped to defend his or her beliefs. It has a permanent place on my bookshelf.
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