Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done any book reviewing, but I must say that this is one book that is certainly worth telling folks about.
As I’ve noted in other reviews, I’m not a ‘book reviewer’. I read and sometimes, if what I read strikes me as significant or of some importance I will share, to the best of my ability, what that significance and importance is.
I’ve never been much into ‘apologetics’, but I can see it’s place in the church.
It doesn’t hurt to have a grasp on why things are the way they are coupled with some well thought out ‘advice’ as to how to navigate through it all in conversation.
(Lord knows that I need all the advice I can get.)
Faith and reason may be two different things, but that doesn’t mean that they cannot compliment one another, amen?
In Searching for a Better God, Wade Bradshaw addresses a very common mindset which says “I’m wiser than God.”
“Common sense theology” is what it’s often referred to and is a part of what Mr. Bradshaw refers to as the New Story.
Here’s a quote taken from one of his writings on line that briefly descrbes what this New Story is all about:
The new story people increasingly tell themselves is that the God that you worship and is absolutely the ground of being, the source of purpose and meaning, what gives value to anything is his estimation of it. People think that this God is beneath them morally. That’s where the church is today. It is a very difficult place to be.
Those who tout this perspective (and yes, I have found myself entertaing this mindset myself before) suggest that they are morally more superior than the God of the Judeo-Christian faith.
Mr. Bradshaw writes in a very down to earth, common sense fashion, skillfully and graciously handling some of the more popular (and in my opinion egotistical) arguments that run amuck in todays society.
Honestly, this book was a rather refreshing read as it brough a sharper focus in my minds eye of the God who is Good as opposed to the God who is simply relative.
Let me give you a little gem from this bag of jewels:
“We shouldn’t be surprised when a homosexual couple can be good neighbors or that a Buddhist pays his debts. Relationships with people we disagree with allow us to meet wisdom in places we may not have expected it.In other words, the New Story is a quest for wisdom, an attempt to find the good God–but it can also be a tragic tale of folly if the goodness of God is mistaken for evil and left behind as the search move on.”
Priceless.
Pick it up. You deserve the wisdom and the challenge.
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