GOD FOR SCEPTICS:
Cogent Christianity
By John Benton
Grace Publications Trust. 112 pages. £5
ISBN 978 1 912 154 876
God for Sceptics does what it says on the tin – it presents our Christian God to sceptics. In this Benton does pretty well. As a convinced Christian I was convinced!
A real strength of Benton’s approach were chapters 3 to 5 which were rooted in the Trinity. Seeing the Trinity not as a mystery to keep hushed up, but instead seeing it as who God is and therefore essential to presenting the gospel is a helpful and exciting way of engaging.
In reading God for Sceptics I sought to put on two hats. Firstly, that of the sceptic and secondly that of a Christian wanting a book to give to a sceptic. With the sceptical hat on I found the book adequate but unsatisfying. There was very little attempt to describe the sceptical position in detail. There were numerous quotes from notable Christians and interesting anecdotes to fit the Christian way of thinking, but little engagement with public sceptics. Unfortunately, this leads to the book feeling like the argument is won before the case has even been made, which I certainly find off-putting when reading atheistic literature.
Exchanging my sceptic hat for that of a Christian-seeking-a-book-to-give-to-a-friend hat I found it hard to imagine who I would give the book to. Lewis’ Mere Christianity has the weight of a few years behind it while Keller’s The Reason for God is both a fuller book in content and also looks and feels a more compelling book to be given. for I trust that the author wrote God Sceptics with some real people in mind and my hope is that by God’s grace he might be able to give them a copy and that they meet our wonderful God.
