More Than a Carpenter
by Josh McDowell
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Book Reviews of More Than a Carpenter
Book Review: Good little book
Summary: 4 Stars
I think that More Than a Carpender is a great little apologetic. It isn't some thick, comprehensive volume on Christian apologetics but it is a nice little handbook to get started on. The reviewer below me obviously didn't understand the book at all. When Josh wrote this book he wasn't attempting to conclusively prove without a doubt that Jesus Was the son of God and that absolutely nobody could refute any argument he made. He simply composed a small handbook that contained some (not even close to all, in fact just a very small portion) of the evidence about Jesus that needs to be explained away by skeptics. Skeptics always put christians on the defense (that's why there are christian apologetics) by citing evidence that Christianity is false, so Josh made a book that is suppose to put the skeptic on the defensive. He poses this evidence for the historocity of the resurrection and asks the doubter to account for it. Of course, all you get are people attacking his credentials and claiming his book is wrong, but you don't see them actually attacking the content of the book. One reviewer attacked the 3L (liar, lunatic, lord)theory and added legend to it. Unfortunately we have massive amounts of evidence in history to prove the Jesus was not a legend. We have multiple non-christian, even anti-christian sources from Jesus' time that claim that he was a real man even though they didn't believe him. I suggest you read a book like Craig Blombergs "The Historical Realiablity of the New Testament" or "The Historical Jesus" by Gary Habermas. There are a ton of books you could read on the historocity of Jesus. Very, very few educated people deny that Jesus did, and the ones that do get slammed in debates because their theories are so ridiculous. It's kind of sad to see how mad skeptics get whenever they review a christian apologetics book. It's like they just hate any type of evidence Christians have and therefore attack the author and the book any make ridiculous remarks and statements that only insult the author or christians and have no evidence to back up their claims. Most people call that being closed-minded. If you are going to read a book with a subject that defends something you disagree with then read it with an open-mind. What is the point of reading something if you only read it so that you can attack it?Book Review: Good introduction
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not the most complete apologetic for the Christian faith by far. It is, however, a competent introduction for both the believer and the nonbeliever as to why we believe. Let me re-explain the LLL idea. Premises: 1. Any man who claims to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world, believes it, and is genuinely mistaken, is out of his mind. 2. Any man who claims to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world, does not believe it, and tells others to trust him with their eternity is a vile, despicable creature. 3. Any man who claims to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and is, should be worshipped. 4. Either Jesus did not believe Himself to be what He said He was, in which case He was lying, He did, but was wrong, in which case He was crazy, and He did, and was right. There are no alternatives. I'll diagram it:
Believed it Did not believe it
Was wrong lunatic liar
Was right Lord
Conclusions: a. Jesus did not portray any tendencies towards megalomania, indeed, He acted just the opposite. b. Jesus acted in a way so exemplary that no human, liar or otherwise, would be able to imitate. c. If it is not the first two possibilities, it must be the third: Jesus is Lord.
Jesus had to have said what He said because His earliest followers were JEWS -- they would not make up some garbage about God on earth unless the guy said so.
Admittedly, my arguments are simplified, but they contain the basic ideas.
Unfortunately, many feel that the Jesus Seminar has "proven" Christianity wrong. Their theories are unconvincing and poorly supported. The same goes for other touchy-feely liberal "Christians." A rather large number of responses have been directed at the Jesus Seminar. This reviewer heartily recommends that interested readers take a look at some of the books recommended near the bottom.
Finally, no one apologetics book is the end-all, be-all. Many different ones must be read for the array of arguments to be grasped.
Peace,
Christinaphylus
Good books:
WHEN SKEPTICS ASK by Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks
IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME by Paul L. Maier
A HANDBOOK OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS by Ronald Tacelli and Peter Kreeft
Book Review: I have yet to hear a good argument against it!
Summary: 4 Stars
Firstly, the reasons I didn't give it 5 stars is because of its over-dramatic tone. He overdoes it in praising some of his references instead of just stating who they are. Also, while not overtly denominational, it presupposes the brotherhood of James as biological, which Catholics (and many other Protestants) interpret as a kinship that is not biological. Finally, he presents "religion" as "man's effort to save himself through works" opposed to faith alone in Jesus, pitting the stereotypical Catholic and Protestant caricatures against each other, which is unnecessary. The book should stick to presenting the case for Christ to an unbeliever. Okay, that being said, this remains a fantastic little book for the simple reason that no one seems to give a substantial refutation of it. Just read all of the negative critiques here. They all do one of the following: (1) criticize the book without stating why, (2) criticize the trilemma but without offering an alternative choice, (3) criticize the trilemma and offer the alternative that the person of Jesus was made up (which is addressed by the rest of the book!), (4) lean on the excuse that lots of people died for false causes, ignoring McDowell's clincher: yes, but why would the apostles die for a lying, KNOWING it to be a lie? No critic adequately answers this one. (5) Criticize McDowell's logic by stating that the mere presence of miracles makes the Gospels unbelievable, which McDowell already addresses as an anti-supernatural bias, a perfectly valid point. Finally, (6) criticize the book and put links to other pages. I've followed the links, and I've even done searches for arguments against this book, and found the same problem - criticism without substance.
Bottom line: as over-dramatic as the tone may get at times, the book presents solid evidence that detractors may criticize, but they can't seem to refute! Someone email me with a serious refutation of this book ...Until then, I'm recommending it!
Josh, you're a bit sappy, and I detect a bit of bias against a certain Church, but you did a solid job defending my Lord and Savior, and I thank you for your contribution.
Book Review: Maybe Just a Carpenter......
Summary: 1 Stars
I read this book, along with other books by the same author, several years ago and at the time I was quite convinced that McDowell's arguments were valid. (This short book is essentially an overview of some of the simpler arguments found in McDowells other volumes.) It is only fair to say, however, that if one has time for a little research in conjunction with reading this book, it will be apparent to them that the arguments are far from having any solid evidential foundation, as I later found out.
Most easily refuted is the infamous "proof" for the divinity of Jesus. It goes that Jesus was "Lord, Liar or Lunatic." (We must apparently choose one of these possibilities according to McDowell in order to get to our verdict.) It is apparent immediately that this "proof" does not encompass the full realm of possibilities if one puts forth any thought toward the subject. What if the stories of Jesus where embellished by future generations of writers? This embellishment happens so frequently in the evolution of mythologies that it is a wonder how McDowell neglected to include it as a possibility. It is also possible, however unlikely it may be, that the man Jesus never existed. Therefore, we have the choice between at least five possibilities, not just the three that McDowell puts forth.
Any person on a quest for truth needs to start with a set of facts from an epistemologically responsible source and compare them to the biased "research" in question in order to dismiss false premises. A little thinking with a small amount of unbiased research will most likely leave the reader with the opposite conclusion of what the book implies. For instance, Tom Clancy books correspond nicely to structures around today, such as the pentagon and White House etc. Although the novels describe buildings that exist in reality, is no reason to believe the storyline is true. Archeological evidence for the Bible is therefore not valid for proving its truth; it only means that the writers knew of the existence of buildings and cities of their time.
Book Review: An Evangelist 's Tool.....
Summary: 4 Stars
"...do the work of an evangelist..$Q,words from the Apostle Paul to his son in the Gospel. "More than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell is an evangelist's tool in his arsenal to reach out souls for Christ. The author's central theme is,"What makes Jesus so differant?". From that theme,McDowell use two school of thoughts to reach his audience for Jesus. The two thoughts are: 1)Theological and 2)Logical. From the theological side....Josh Mcdowell begins his defense by mentioning that Jesus Christ is a name and a title. Two offices,King and Priest of Old Testament prophecies. Continuing on....McDowell highlights the characteristics which scriptures attributes to Jesus that can only be true only of God. Concerning the logical side of the defense...he makes an appeal to the reader to consider the prophecies that Jesus literally fulfilled as the Messiah that the Old testament promised. He eloquentlly challenge the reader in chapter 2,"Lord,Liar or Lunatic?" Why is this chapter to me personally awesome? Because it makes the reader to think carefully that if Jesus is a liar why such a change in nations and peoples lives? and if a lunatic,why are His skills and depth of His teachings support the case only for His total mental soundness?. Adding to his defense,Mcdowell includes the reliability of Biblical records and the impcat of the man known as Saul of Tarsus who later was known as the greatest Apostle and testimony of a life transformed by Jesus Christ. Last ,but not least,Josh McDowell shares his personal testimony of being touched by Jesus...a man who eventually saw that his arguements wouldn't stand up. I must say that,although many people may not consider this book to be "the Evangelistic tool",yet as the old saying goes.."Great thing comes in small packages". Get it and give it out to the people in your work area and schools....Anywhere.