As I grow and learn and experience new things in my Christian walk, there are two things I've come to know about apologetics/evangelization. The first is it is easier to convert an atheist than an agnostic, because it is easier to counter someone's beliefs if they actually know what they are. Second, it is obvious that there is an Intelligent Creator/God and anyone who clings to the belief that there is not is acting completely irrationally. Because of that, it is simple to make a convincing argument for the existence of God. It is light years more difficult, though, to argue that this Intelligent Creator is Jesus.
I start this review off with that information because it is critical to my criticism of A Shot of Faith to the Head by Mitch Stokes. While I think the book is full of great information, some even I haven't seen put that way before, it falls short for me because it sticks to the easy path. Three-fourths of the way through the book I realized that if the name of Jesus was mentioned at all in the book, it had been so brief that I didn't remember seeing it. He focuses all of his time on proving there is a God, which according to my two statements above, means sticking to the easy, but unfortunately incomplete, route. You can't get to a coherent argument for Jesus using the data in this book. A Creator, yes. A Savior, no.
Now, that is not to say that this book should be dismissed. In fact, there were some chapters I devoured like an addicting, never before tasted, new cuisine. He takes the arguments in support of a God to places that I've never even seen other apologeticists go. His discussion of mathematics, physics and the natural world alone will keep this book on my book shelf. But never does he tackle the Jesus issue, and for me, that is critical for a book on apologetics.
So, I recommend this book in combination with other apologetics books, but I can't recommend this as a stand alone volume. If the argument doesn't conclude with belief in Jesus, there really is no point to the argument.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from booksneeze.com in return for my honest review
I start this review off with that information because it is critical to my criticism of A Shot of Faith to the Head by Mitch Stokes. While I think the book is full of great information, some even I haven't seen put that way before, it falls short for me because it sticks to the easy path. Three-fourths of the way through the book I realized that if the name of Jesus was mentioned at all in the book, it had been so brief that I didn't remember seeing it. He focuses all of his time on proving there is a God, which according to my two statements above, means sticking to the easy, but unfortunately incomplete, route. You can't get to a coherent argument for Jesus using the data in this book. A Creator, yes. A Savior, no.
Now, that is not to say that this book should be dismissed. In fact, there were some chapters I devoured like an addicting, never before tasted, new cuisine. He takes the arguments in support of a God to places that I've never even seen other apologeticists go. His discussion of mathematics, physics and the natural world alone will keep this book on my book shelf. But never does he tackle the Jesus issue, and for me, that is critical for a book on apologetics.
So, I recommend this book in combination with other apologetics books, but I can't recommend this as a stand alone volume. If the argument doesn't conclude with belief in Jesus, there really is no point to the argument.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from booksneeze.com in return for my honest review
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