Book Review: "5 Minute Theologian: Maximum Truth In Minimum Time" by Rick Cornish

"5 Minute Theologian: Maximum Truth In Minimum Time"

Rick Cornish

Buy Here: www.amazon.com

By the end of this week, I will be at Panfork for my summer job as a media staffer. To commemorate this upcoming event, I decided to finish a book that I had begun reading while I was down there last year. "5 Minute Theologian: Maximum Truth in Minimum Time" by Rick Cornish soon became part of my daily devotional routines during the summer, and while I was on my recent El Paso mission trip, I decided to finish it.

The format and content of this book lives up to the title. Rather than follow most theology books and treat each subject under a chapter or two, Rick breaks down what would otherwise be a systematic theology textbook into 100 essays that you can easily read in 5 minutes or less. The structure of the essays begins with introducing theology to the Bible, God, man, sin, Christ, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and closes with the last days. Each essay pertaining to those sections focuses on one topic or issue that falls under that domain, so you will get an adequate survey of the topics in bite sized portions.

My highest praise for this book comes with how it is written; Rick is a great writer and knows how to get to the point in a short period of time. He writes on page 21 that "I have tried to make these brief minutes count by communicating maximum truth in minimum time". I would say that he accomplishes this goal very well. While you won't become an expert of these topics with this book, people who are unfamiliar with them will walk away far more knowledgeable about their faith than they did before. To quote Craig Blomberg's endorsement of the book, "I have found these readings to be clear, accurate, well-chosen, and personally stimulating, covering the topics appropriately." I could not agree more

I should give a disclaimer that, while the book tries to treat each topic with a neutral stance (and does a good job at it), there is a slight slant to the Reformed perspective. Being a 5 point Calvinist, I have no problem with that, and I don't think the slant is strong enough to turn people off to it; nevertheless, in a handful of places, it is there.

This book is an invaluable tool to give to Christians who are wanting to get deeper in their faith, for youth ministers who are looking for material to teach theology in a way that is accessible, and for people with busy schedules who want to be able to read a little each day. I cannot recommend this book enough for those who are wanting an accessible yet helpful introduction to theology. Rick also has a church history version and an apologetics version of this book, so I will hopefully get around to those at some point in time.

8.5 out of 10

Book Review: Reasonable Faith - Christian Truth and Apologetics

Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics by William Lane Craig

4 out of 5 Stars

Buy it: www.amazon.com


It's no secret that I am a fan of William Lane Craig. He is one of my heroes as an apologist, and one of the main apologists that inspired me to take up the field. While I don't see eye to eye with him on everything, it is his dedication to the subject of defending the faith in a Christlike manner that has inspired me to study philosophy, theology, science and history.

Yesterday, I finished reading his signature work, "Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics". It took me about 6 months to read this work, and while there were some parts that were over my head, the things that I learned from it made this book a very worthy read

First and foremost, this is not a suitable book to read for an apologetic newbie. To read this book, you will need to be at least casually acquainted with the fields of philosophy, science, and history. I consider myself to be a more-than-novice-yet-not-quite-intermediate apologist, and there were are few times when the subject material went right by over my head without a care in the world. This book, while it claims to be usable amongst laymen, is more for someone who is already involved in these fields. In other words, I would not give this book to someone who was just now getting their feet wet; I would give them something easier to digest. This is a pretty technical book, and it can be pretty difficult to read at times.

Reasonable Faith covers a wide range of issues. While notable absences include any discussion on the problem of evil and the creation/I.D./evolution debate, what it includes justifies the purchase of this book. Topics include how we can know Christianity is true, the absurdity of life without God (probably my favorite chapter in the book), the 4 classical theistic arguments and their objections, the resurrection of Christ, miracles, and more. It is all laid out in a systematic fashion that starts with basic theistic arguments (the various Cosmological arguments, the Teleological argument, the Moral argument, and the Ontological argument) and then moves to demonstrate Christian theism by focusing on miracles and then the radical self-understanding of Christ and the evidence for His resurrection. Each chapter opens up with a historical examination of past thinkers on this subject, which I personally found to be very enjoyable. He then moves on to discuss the subject and it's objections, and then ends each chapter with a practical application of how to put into practice what you just read.

I've already mentioned that the material in this book, while certainly worth reading, can be technical and difficult at times. This isn't a bad thing, but when it is tacked on to what I believe is the biggest problem with the book, it makes the book a more difficult read. The biggest flaw that I find with Reasonable Faith is the length of the chapters. These are easily some of the longest chapters that I have ever read from any book- especially the first chapter on the existence of God. You should expect that it will take you a few sittings to get through a single chapter. While I can understand wanting to keep all the information under one heading, I wish he had broken down the chapters into various sections or something, because these chapters are so big that it is not feasible to read them in one sitting. That being said, that is really the only flaw that I can find with the book. Everything else about the book is presented in an excellent manner, and the material contained in each of these massive chapters is enlightening, stimulating, thought-provoking, and high-quality food for you intellect.

Craig's book is definitely a testimony to his passion for the Christian intellect, and his desire to equip the church in apologetics is certainly contagious - just look at me. Still, if you are looking for a easy introduction into apologetics, this is not the place to start looking. That being said, if you are an apologist and you haven't read this book, you will definitely want to add this to your reading list. This is a great work written by a great Christian thinker, and the impact that this book has had on the Church has been nothing short of incredible.

4 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: "Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions" by Gregory Koukl

Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Gregory Koukl

Buy It: Amazon.com

Textbooks. You either love them or hate them. Some are practical, easy to understand, and immediately applicable; others are confusing, inaccurate, and require extra work before usage.

This book is 100% the former.

To get the meat out of the way, if you are looking to share your faith with others, you are doing a disservice to yourself by not reading this short book. "Tactics" is a book that trains you in how to be a solid ambassador for Christ. Gregory Koukl, founder of the incredibly effective "Stand to Reason" ministry, instructs you on how to be a solid representative of Christ by walking you through conversational strategies that, when properly practiced and implemented, will give you the upper hand in respectfully presenting reasons for the faith. Rather than teach you how to hit a home run every time, "Tactics" teaches you to just get up to bat. Rather than trying to win a soul with every conversation, Koukl encourages to "leave a stone in the shoe", something for the person to ponder and think about. The goal of this book is 100% evangelistic in nature. As an apologist, this is THE must read book; in fact, it has become my default book for evangelism, both apologetics driven and not. Even if sharing your faith is just going through the ABCs or the Four Spiritual Laws, reading this book will provide incalculable benefits.

With catchy names like "Columbo" and "Sibling Rivalry", Koukl effectively communicates a set of conversational strategies that are easy to understand and immediately applicable. Even better, the strategies Koukl presents are not just untested theories but refined and well-worn strategies Koukl has been using for years. Complete with several examples of his strategies in action, Koukl isn't writing some theoretical nonsense but is writing down what he has used for many years in words for us to learn from. His writing attitude in the book is like that of a teacher, guiding step by step through the specifics of each tactic. In all seriousness, if you like books that are concise and to-the-point yet immediately useful, this book gets the gold medal. I loved how easy of a read this was yet how incredibly useful it was. In fact, I have already been putting to use several of the strategies of this book to use in Twitter conversations and it is amazing how effective they are. If I had known half of this stuff back during the Pray for an Atheist event, I would have been so much more confident and bold in my faith. And if you are shy by nature, or freeze up at challenges to your faith, reading and applying this book will turn you into a lion.

What ties all of the various conversational strategies together is the fact that Koukl isn't teaching these tactics just by themselves, but with an ultimate goal in mind: to make you an ambassador of Christ. According to Koukl, as written in several parts throughout the book, a good ambassador has three things: knowledge (being aware of facts), wisdom (how to engage in smart dialogue) , and character (an attractive and winsome attitude and personality). Before diving into the tactics themselves, Koukl spends his time defining what an ambassador is and why being an ambassador for Christ is so important. Indeed, if you try to read "Tactics" without understanding what Koukl is saying about being an ambassador, you will miss out greatly. This section of the book is especially important for evangelists and missionaries just as much as it is for apologists. It is in this section of the book that Koukl really shines, as makes defending the faith and being an ambassador of Christ not only something that is attractive but something that is desired as well.

You really have nothing to lose by reading this book. It is very short (you could read it in a weekend), it is written in everyday language and written toward an audience with little to no knowledge about apologetics and philosophy. However, the wealth of knowledge and information this book deals out makes "Tactics" one of the best buys around.

4.5 stars out of 5