I
was disappointed in this book. First of all, the title is a misnomer.
There is only one myth about God. The rest are about the Bible and
Christianity.
Let
me first cover parts of the book I appreciated before describing more
of my disappointments. He has a very good exploration of truth and
evil, the kinds of evil there are and how they originated. He
emphasizes that many misunderstandings of God and Christianity arise
because Christians are not living as the Bible instructs. Our being
hypocrites really does cause stumbling blocks for others. McFarland
repeatedly encourages seekers to look to the Bible, not how
Christians (mis)behave.
He
has good observations on skeptics and atheists, based on his
experience and interaction with them from his fifteen years of talk
radio. “Intellectual skepticism is preceded by emotional pain.
Intellectual doubt comes second – in most cases.” This is good
for Christians to know when interacting with skeptics. It helps us
get to the origin of the disbelief.
He
has included a good annotated list of books for further research.
Unfortunately, most of the books are older, some printed decades ago.
But the annotations would help readers search for further resources.
But
I was disappointed in the lack of intellectual rigor with which
McFarland addressed the ten myths. He makes broad generalizations.
For example, after he explores Intelligent Design, he writes, “A
wide variety of thoughts and opinions exist regarding how God
created and designed the universe, but both science and Scripture
agree on a starting point – an outside, Intelligent Designer who
made all things.” I've read many books on science and origins and
McFarland's statement is just not true. There are a few scientists
who argue for Intelligent Design but most scientists, and science in
general, reject that idea.
I
was disappointed in his lack of providing adequate footnotes to back
up his statements. For example, about the historical facts supporting
the life of Jesus, he writes, “...those who claim Jesus never
existed defy both early copies of the New Testament documents as well
as the numerous historical writings that mention Jesus and early
Christianity outside of the Bible (such as the early Jewish historian
Josephus).” There is no footnote nor reference to those “numerous”
writings. And, “The book of Acts cites at least eighty-four
historical facts verified by later research and archaeology.”
Again, no footnote nor further information. How are those statements useful without facts to back them up?
I
was disappointed that McFarland sometimes brushes off serious issues.
For example, while acknowledging that the age of the universe is an
important topic, he writes, “But questions about the age of the
universe should not in any way prevent people from reaching positive
conclusions about Jesus Christ, who gave his life for the forgiveness
of sins!” And, “...entering into a relationship with God really
has nothing to do with what one believes about how old the universe
is.” Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way. The veracity of
Genesis is extremely important when it comes to believing what the
rest of the Bible says. One cannot just blow off a very important
issue over which many believers and nonbelievers struggle.
So,
to whom would I recommend this book? That is a difficult question.
McFarland writes sometimes in a manner that assumes the reader
accepts the Bible as accurate and truthful. So the potential reader
must at least be open to the truthfulness of the Bible. The lack of
intellectual rigor and the frequent use of decades old material
preclude my recommending it to scholarly or readers under 60 years
old.
My
rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5.
Alex
McFarland is a speaker, writer, and advocate of apologetics. He has
preached in over 1,500 different churches throughout the world. He
has been featured in many conferences and has been interviewed on
many television programs. He served as Focus on the Family's first
Director of Teen Apologetics, then went on to serve as president of
Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. He
developed and hosted three nationally syndicated radio programs. You
can find out more about them at www.standstrongtour.com
and www.viraltruth.com. He
has written over 150 published articles and many books. He has a
Master's degree in Christian Thought/Apologetics from Liberty
University. He and his wife life in North Carolina. You can find out
more at http://alexmcfarland.com/.
Bethany
House Publishers, 208 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for
the purpose of an independent and honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment