The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Joshua E. during the 2007-2008 League.
SSI BOOK REPORT #1: WHY I AM A CHRISTIAN (Norman L. Geisler & Paul K. Hoffman)
The book Why I Am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe, written by 16 different authors and edited by Norman L. Geisler & Paul K. Hoffman, is a Christian apologetic that covers topics ranging from ultimate truth to creationist science to Jesus Christ. Professionals from many different fields testify to what they have observed concerning the validity of Christianity.
The first section discusses the actuality of ultimate truth. It refutes the contradictory notion of moral relativism and discusses why it does not work as a philosophical system. It also discusses some very interesting arguments involving agnosticism, which is rendered self-defeating. I have read that you can not trust a philosophy unless you are comfortable with it when it is taken to its extremes, and these are no exceptions. The book emphasizes keeping our heads clear in our tolerance-obsessed society and giving reasoned explanations for our beliefs.
The second section covers belief in God. It exposes a few shallow atheistic arguments and notes that if we conclude that God cannot be known, we must know Him thoroughly enough to make the claim. God makes sense of the origin of our universe and the existence of moral truth. There is only one God, since He is infinite and there cannot be two infinite beings. Historically, there have been two views of God: the God of revelation, and the God of reason. They are shown to be one and the same by what the Bible says about God.
The third section discusses whether miracles are plausible. It describes the different types of skepticism in depth, concluding that many skeptics are unwilling to be convinced. If adequate evidence is available, it is not plausible to deny the possibility of miracles, and they are therefore possible. The miracles of Jesus and His resurrection were recorded by eye-witnesses. It is unlikely that all of the disciples simply imagined His return or were martyred for a lie. Even his enemies would not deny His supernatural acts (including the resurrection). Divine creation is also explored in depth.
The fourth section covers the reliability of the Bible. Good arguments can be made for its historicity, including the relative proximity of writings to the actual events, a plethora of original manuscripts, eye-witness authors, and content (this last section focusing on Paul and oral creeds). The book also discusses the first 11 chapters of Genesis, including an interesting walk through Genesis 1 which I found to be rather dynamic. On the other hand, some of the arguments seemed a bit too conclusive, and there are plausible contrary interpretations of the same text. This section also discussed the topic of divine inspiration, showing that the Bible outstrips the competing scriptures and shows itself to meet a number of important criteria for acceptance.
The fifth section concerns whether Jesus truly is the Son of God. The authors argue convincingly for his deity. He fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophesies, converted skeptics, inspired men to the point of martyrdom, and sparked the largest movement in history. He is generally acknowledged as the greatest moral teacher of all time, but was also God, a topic which is explored further in the book.
The sixth section discusses the personal facet of Christianity in depth. It explains why pain is more of an emotional objection to God than an intellectual objection. It also touches on the nature of man, free will, and our sense of fairness that clouds our vision from what is actually going on: that none of us deserve anything, and yet we can all receive God's free gift of salvation through Jesus. It shows us that Christ is life-changing, as explained by J. P. Moreland in his moving account of his own suffering. Ravi Zacharias writes of how we can discover Jesus throughout our lives, progressing from wonder, to truth, to fulfillment, and finally to security.
Though I enjoyed the book, it came across as somewhat monotonous (particularly Chapter 5 regarding why Jehovah is the One True God, and Chapter 6 concerning whether miracles are possible). This is not due to the subject matter, since apologetics can be exciting and thought-provoking. I have read other books that I think are more appealing, such as How Now Shall We Live? (Charles Colson, 2004) and, to a lesser extent, The Case for a Creator (Lee Strobel, 2005). Overall, this book is a bit of a chew, but it is thorough and well-written. I will probably use it as a reference when I go to college.
