The God Conversation: Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description

In The God Conversation veteran apologists and communicators J. P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff say that often the best way to win over others is with a good story. Stories have the ability to get behind our preconceptions and defenses. They can connect both emotionally and intellectually, appealing to the whole person rather than just to the mind.

The authors offer a wealth of penetrating illustrations, examples and quotes that respond to these issues and more. In these pages they enhance the logic and evidence found in other books defending the faith, with things your friends, relatives or coworkers will ponder long after a conversation is over.

Market/Audience

Those interested in apologetics
General readers
Pastors
Students

Features and Benefits

Provides a wealth of stories and illustrations from everyday life, history and pop culture to help Christians explain their faith to others
Offers sound, helpful suggestions for how to incorporate these stories and illustrations in real conversations
Cowritten by two authors known for clear thinking and effective rhetoric
Includes a foreword by Lee Strobel

Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

A Solid Entry Level Apologetics Resource November 13, 2007
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

This book is a well crafted intro into many of the most famous arguments for the existence of God, and other pressing problems that confound Christians in all ages. It's divided into Seven Section over 11 chapters and an afterthougt. What seperates this book from many other apologetics works is it's heavy reliance upon illustration. In dealing with ehtics it has a sidebar on the movie Munich and how it might be used as an illustration on dealing with that we intuitively know that somethings are morally wrong, etc... The use of a vertical line next to the illustrations makes them easy to find. The book covers The Problem of Evil, Pluralism, The Ressurection, Ethics and Moral Relativism, and the Design Argument, as well as an exceptional 2 pg afterword about listening before you speak with all your new found knowledge.

How useful this book is to you will largely depend upon the type of person you are. If you are an apologetics buff you are not likely to hear too much new in here. Dr. Moreland(I'm assuming) does a good job distilling some of his work against the Jesus Seminar's assertion that Jesus is only a figure of legend, into a more conversational style. The two chapters on the problem were some of the best I've ever seen on the subject in such a short amount of space.

A great book for your average Christian who needs help learning how to defend their faith or why they're rational do believe the way they do. A good quick referesher for those of us who need a brush up on some of the arguments for these subjects. Maybe not useful for those reading Swinburne, Plantinga, and the like.

As a sidenote in case either of the authors read this review. I'm an avid fan of Dr. Moreland, and as such read most all of his books. These last few that he's co-authored with BIOLA faculty members have really impressed me with BIOLA as an institution.

5 out of 5 stars

Great resource in apologetics February 18, 2008
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

There are many hundreds of excellent books on Christian apologetics, and J.P. Moreland has authored a number of those. He is certainly one of our top Christian philosophers and apologists.

In his newest volume he teams up with communication lecturer Tim Muehlhoff to offer a somewhat different approach to Christian evidences. Here the authors make the case for sharing Christian truth via stories and illustrations. A number of important apologetics and philosophy of religion themes are discussed, with an eye to reaching others through memorable illustrations and compelling stories.

Topics include God and the problem of evil and suffering; Christianity and other world religions; the case for the resurrection; and the existence of God and the evidence from design. These core topics are helpfully introduced and discussed, but with a view to being user-friendly, both for the apologist and the seeker.

For example, when dealing with the resurrection, one must deal with the reliability of the Gospel accounts. The authors offer a number of reasons why these accounts differ from mere legends. One reason is that the Gospels are not afraid to include embarrassing details, something which legends try to avoid.

Such details include: Jesus referring to Peter at one point as Satan; the cowardly nature of the disciples during the crucifixion; and the disciples initial refusal to believe that Jesus had risen. The authors remind us of the story of the Alamo. This actual event has been excessively glorified and turned into legendary status over the years. True, 185 Texans courageously took on 5,000 Mexicans. But the story has been seriously embellished over time, and contemporary historians have had to peel away the legend from the actual facts.

But the authors remind us that there simply was not enough time for legend to creep into the Easter story. Legends require some amount of time to become established, but the New Testament documents were written so close to the actual events of the life of Christ, that such legendary features could not have taken hold.

Consider another issue related to all this. We know that the Synoptic Gospels were written before the Book of Acts, and we know that Acts was written somewhere between A.D. 60 and 62. This is because two crucial episodes are not recorded there: the fall of Jerusalem and the death of Paul.

As an illustration, consider an account of the World Trade Centre in New York. If one found an undated book about this structure, one could partly determine the dating by what it includes or did not include. If it spoke about how it was built, how massive it is, and how many people work there, but said nothing about its tragic fall at the hands of terrorist, one could reasonably conclude it was written before September 2001.

Many other illustrations, analogies, examples and stories are weaved into the big topics covered in this book. It thus is a very accessible and easy to follow primer on basic apologetics. Of course whenever one is dealing with complex philosophical and theological concepts, some proper intellectual content must be utilised as well. And that is also featured in this volume.

Thus this book is a mix of helpful stories as well as solid reasoning and argumentation. It makes for a nice combination, and should encourage budding apologists to take some first steps in applying these principles and tactics.

Those who find this volume helpful may well want to go back to some of Moreland's more advanced works. For starters, consider his 1987 volume, Scaling the Secular City. For those who want something even more in depth, see his important 2003 work, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (co-authored by William Lane Craig).

For the beginning apologist, this might be the first volume to consider. It is both practical as well as intellectually solid, making it a very good introduction to the defence of Christian beliefs.

5 out of 5 stars

A great conversation starter December 14, 2007
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

Many of us have wondered how to start difficult conversations with family and friends regarding sensitive topics such as religion and faith. This book helps the reader gain insight on how to do just that. After reading this book, I feel more equipped to speak openly and honestly about my faith to all of those I care for. An excellent and easy read and definite for anyone wanting to learn how to share their faith.

5 out of 5 stars

The God Conversation May 5, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Great Book! Taking part in a Bible Study and this book has been a tremendous help. Lots of great ideas on how to speak with someone concerning God without making them feel that you are "shoving religion" down their throats.

5 out of 5 stars

A picture is worth a thousand words June 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The God Conversation is an important book in apologetics and evangelism because it makes ideas-that are powerful in and of themselves, but not always immediately accessible to many people-come alive. J.P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff take clear thinking and compelling arguments and then attach them to memorable images and stories. This book will help you be ready to give a defense for the hope within you at the office or a family gathering that is memorable and compelling. A picture is worth a thousand words indeed.

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