amusing amusements
31 August, 2011
August Book Review
Ravi Zacharias is multi-cultural. Raised in India, he has lectured throughout Europe and now resides in the US. The book is a derivative of lectures he gave at Harvard and Ohio State Universities.
It's divided into three main sections with 2 appendices (okay, appendices is a funny word, makes me laugh out loud every time). The first section address the anti-theistic world view, it's inherent contradictions, and how it is philosophically unlivable. The second section is a confirmation that all people long for meaning and the answers to that search. And the third section hangs on the question of " If Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, any castigation of His message is the ultimate expression of futility. On the other hand, if His claims were false, all of Christendom and much of history is built upon a lie." The two appendices are a Q&A from Harvard and a brief bio of "mentors to the skeptics"; ie Descartes, Kant, Nietzche.
For me this book was a real challenge and made me regret not taking any philosphy in college. I had trouble following all of the logic lines without giving myself a headache. But, when you boiled down a lot of the wordy questions, and Zacharias does a lot of this for us, it comes down to this:
" Does God exist? and if he exists, what is his character or nature? It is out of one's belief or disbelief in God that all other convictions are formed."
I want to type more, but I fear watering down the message of the author. I really appreciate the magnifying glass he puts to our human nature throughout time (particularly as in this present age we struggle with materialism, significant medical healing, social media, and radical individual success) and clarifies how the thoughts of a few turn the minds and heads of nations. This is a great book.
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