More Than a Carpenter
by Josh McDowell
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.99 You Save: $3.00 (60%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of More Than a Carpenter
Book Review: Why Josh McDowell Is Offensive and Unconvincing
Summary: 2 Stars
In the first chapter J. McDowell asks a disingenuous question: "Why does Jesus Christ offend people?" Christ does not offend us; Christians do. They want to send us to hell because we cannot believe Christian mythology. They then try to prove, with brash, biased books such as this one, that their beliefs are logically and even empirically superior to ours. When I first read this book many years ago, I tried to do so with an open mind. I had turned atheist at the age of eleven because I found the Bible repellent. However, I had recently gone through an intense religious experience. (If anyone is interested, I describe this in my book, "Captain California Battles the Beelzebubian Beasts of the Bible"). I was disinclined to equate my experience of God with the biblical God, but I read various Christian authors to see if they could change my mind. They did not.
As I am inclined to pantheism, I have no problem with Christians' conviction that Christ is God - it is the "one-and-only" that I disbelieve. At best, it would be wildly unfair if God only communicated with a single segment of mankind and ignored the spiritual hunger of everyone else. Since so-called avatars contradict each other, their perception of God is evidently shaped by their culture. Christ was not infallible ("Not even Jesus Christ was Jesus Christ"). Christ promised that he would not change one iota of Moses' laws, but later stopped the stoning of a prostitute, and cancelled Jewish dietary restrictions. (Peter apparently did not believe Christ since he later required the "table cloth vision" to convince him that he could eat with gentiles). Christ unequivocally told his followers that he would return before they died. He did not.
No genuine scientist would ever insist upon scientific proof for the historical existence of Christ. On the other hand, we are not obliged to believe that Christ defied gravity, broke the law of conservation of mass, and reversed entropy by raising the dead because it is written in the Bible. Nor does this mean that the biblical writers were liars. Historians of that time invariably incorporated mythological elements in their writing; and the biblical writers weren't intending to write history. For that matter, I have spoken to a man who has assured me that Satya Sai Baba, an Indian avatar, raised his father from the dead and fed hundreds of people with just a little food. He seemed far too honest to be a liar; but Josh would insist that I not believe in Hindu miracles.
A loving, righteous God would not insist, "Death is the wages of sin." Yes, a woman caught speeding should pay a fine; she does NOT deserve eternity in hell. Jesus died to meet the holy and just (!?) requirements of Himself? No matter how hard people try, they cannot help but sin. So God creates people who cannot help but sin; then he dies on the cross so he can forgive them for being incapable of following His rules? How stupid can you get?
Book Review: A masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
I was raised a Roman Catholic as far back as I can remember. Tragedies in my life immeasurably challenged my belief in God. It was challenged to the point where I began to despise talk of religion, specifically the faith I was raised with -- Christianity. I began to consistently ask myself, "Is God real??" My "blind belief" wavered to the point where I found myself with a strong tendency to challenge religious believers, almost to the point of unconsciously trying to convince them out of their faith whenever I can. I became a man of logic and reasoning, and simply could not entertain "blind belief" in any way.Then I read this book. It was logical and compelling, and I found myself with no sound way to refute what Josh McDowell was saying. I could criticize his thoroughness, but diving into excruciating detail onto the sciences he employed would've been criticized as redundant. It did not have the "hype" and "hoopla" of "Praise the Lord!" mentality. It was just plain scientific reasoning, logic, and common sense.
I saw the criticisms other people had of this book, and I find it hard to understand how they could castigate this book as they did. I was very steadfast in my resentment towards Christianity, but I was influenced otherwise -- I just had to be because the logic that the author used, for me, made sense. For example, I lost a great deal of faith in Christianity when I learned how the Bible was written many years after Jesus' death, and that it was largely a result of "word of mouth". But the author points out that if the miracles of Jesus were farce, how can it withstand its persistence through all those years? If any of us decided to make some sensational claim like being able to fly without wings, and if we were to start disseminating such information, how long do you think that will last? Will it last decades so as to eventually land on a book of "facts"? The point here is that the human way of doing things has a way of weeding out untruths and inaccuracies of "news", and that the words and deeds of Jesus would not have lasted as long as it did if there were no corroborations so strong as to withstand such forces; this is true for anything, religious incidents or otherwise. For me, this was a reasonable and persuasive argument that Jesus did do what he did, or it would have been shot down way sooner, much less making it into a book.
I only have 1000 words for this review, so let me end it by saying this. I now am totally convinced that God and Jesus are REAL. It is hard to accept that at this day and age, and I've been through that phase of constant skepticism.
My biggest arsenal against Christianity was my own intellect. But this book used the very foundation I had for disbelieving to show me otherwise. How can I not respect that?
Book Review: The Day I Began to Doubt I Got This Book
Summary: 3 Stars
Throughout my life, I have been proud of being intelligent AND a Christian. But never until high school did I start hearing from non-believing peers that I MUST be blind; how can a Christian be in any way intelligent? I decided not to listen to them -- until one day during college, EVERY doubt I ever had of my faith emerged. The day the earth came down -- I ran to my Christian friends in desperate help, and the first book I came upon through recommendation was this book. Evidently, this was a Christian classic. And so I began to read, and from this experience, I learned a couple things and other points in hindsight, for viewers to know. 1) Josh McDowell has a powerful testimony. Just that made me feel a little better. However, my intellect told me I can't base my beliefs completely on other people's experiences. 2) I found out I was an extreme skeptic, and I had no idea how powerful my doubts were. I even wondered if I had EVER been a Christian. 3) This is a great introductory book into apologetics. It outlines the basics of most arguments an apologist can give. It's almost a mini-handbook, insightful and a comfort. 4) However, the very fact that I was not completely assured or fully convinced afterward says something. The book only made me want to run right to Jerusalem and start doing my own personal research; why? The book's arguments were 80% of the time decent and challenging enough to keep you encouraged you may be on the right track, but the other 20% was vague and lacking in thought of other possibilities. Yet, in hindsight, I would still recommend this to skeptics as an introductory book and helpful in your search for truth (good enough to get 3 stars from me!!), but this should not be your sole source to the evidence of Christianity. Overall, I left this book a little disappointed but also encouraged enough to go on and read more. Yes, I persevered. McDowell's book became my steam engine due to its good qualities, and so I kept on. I researched for several months over other books by McDowell ("A Ready Defense" is incredible, and "The Resurrection Factor" is thought provoking), Lee Strobel, Philip Yancey, Ravi Zacharias and even the Bible. And you know what? I'm still intelligent and a stronger Christian than I ever have been. I may have even become a TRUE Christian due to my reading and determination. Check out my wish list -- you will find out I'm not being phony here at all. I encourage you, overall, to read this as this is a great overview, then KEEP on reading. Don't give up. This book is only a good, decent foundation to today's apologetics.Book Review: The reviews of this book give further evidence...
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviews of this book give further evidence that the Bible contains the truth. More Than A Carpenter was very helpful to me when I was a skeptic. A book can't give you the saving faith that you need to believe in Jesus. But God used this book to force me to consider why I had rejected Christ. I was convinced that there were no reasons to believe in Jesus (I didn't even know what it really means to believe in Jesus). After I read this book, I realized that I had rejected Christ without even considering the evidence. This book didn't "prove" anything to me. It was an eye-opener that forced me to think long and hard.Like I said at the beginning of this review, the other reviews give further evidence that the Bible contains the truth. The world really is divided into two groups: those whom God has chosen, and those whom God has not chosen. Those who read this book and come away with a harder heart give evidence that the facts really don't matter. They have chosen to reject the truth. These are people that God has chosen, as is His right, to not save from His judgement. Those who read this book and gain something from this book give evidence that they are one of God's chosen.
Why do I make this simple distinction? Because this book, while it doesn't (and what book could?) prove that Jesus is the Son of God, it does contain the truth. There have only been two types of reactions to it: rejection and acceptance. As it says in John 1:9-13:
"The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. But although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan--this rebirth comes from God." (NLT)
I truly hope that those who have rejected the truth in More Than A Carpenter will reconsider. I can't open your mind and force you to look at the evidence honestly. I can't change your world-view (if you reject the spiritual because you have a Naturalistic world-view). No one can, except God. I urge you to ask Him to open your mind and then seek the evidence. If you do, I am confident that, like Josh McDowell (and myself), you will find that there really is no contest. The evidence for Jesus is overwhelming.
Book Review: Worth Reading
Summary: 4 Stars
My first experience with this book came at age eighteen, when I was still a militant atheist with a strong case of egotism and total hatred towards anything and everything. That year I noticed that my roommate had a shelf of apologetic works including "More than a Carpenter" along with Swinburne's "Is There a God" and other recent heavy-hitters. At the time I knew that all Christians were idiots. My roommate was much smarter than I was, but I managed to ignore that. (Cognitive dissonance is an amazing thing.) So I refused to even open this little book, and it vanished from my awareness.
Fast-forward a decade or so and here I am as a convert. Recently I saw this book on a library shelf and decided to have a look. What I found was delightful and encouraging: a quick trip through the evidence for Jesus Christ, with ample references and bibliography. Josh McDowell wrote "More than a Carpenter" over a generation ago, but since the skeptics keep coming back with the same set of arguments, it's highly relevant all the same.
When were the Gospels written? The skeptics will try to push the dates as late as possible, often into the second century. Unfortunately for them, we have found several authentic manuscripts from much earlier. McDowell's survey of real scholarship finds wide agreement that the first gospel was written before 70 A.D. Even liberal, revisionist scholars such as John A. T. Robinson are willing to admit that the entire New Testament was written before that date.
Did Jesus actually claim to be God? Sure he did, says McDowell. See John's Gospel. But why doesn't it say so in the earlier gospels? Is it possible that John made it up after the fact, to bolster credibility? McDowell shows us that the divinity of Jesus is clearly present even in the first gospel, Mark. For those who have studied ancient Jewish law and culture, the issue is clear, particularly at the trial of Jesus.
"More than a Carpenter" is quite short and makes no claim to be thorough. For a serious academic treatise you'll want something more, such as Craig Blomberg's The Historical Reliability of the Gospels. As an introduction, McDowell's book is quite sufficient. For that reason alone, it's a worthwhile book for every Christian home and church.