About book A Shot Of Faith (to The Head): Be A Confident Believer In An Age Of Cranky Atheists (2012)
Let me start by saying this book is heavy. One of the reasons it is called a shot to the head might be because your brain might hurt after a while. I really appreciated the author including chapter synopses called “For Your Arsenal” to help break the meat into chewable portions. This book is divided into three sections debunking common atheistic statements entitled “Belief In God is Irrational,” “Science Has Shown There’s No God,” and “Evil and Suffering Show There’s No God.” There’s no doubt this book is well-researched, well-written, and a good apologetic.At the same time, I left the book disappointed. It is an apologetic. However, much of the apologetic is wrapped only in philosophical argumentation which got exhausting to read. Furthermore, there wasn’t much mention of Jesus Christ in the contents. So, while it was a good apologetic for theism, it lacked in any creative argumentation for Christianity. Finally, as stated at the beginning of this review, it is a tough read. This is not a book for everyone. This is not a book to be read cover to cover. You will need to take your time to not only understand the author’s counterarguments, but you will also have to understand the originating atheistic arguments, too.That being said, I did enjoy the chapter entitled “The Reluctant Supernaturalist” which argued mathematics pointed to an eternal God. I found that particular chapter quite creative and full of excellent points. I did think the three sections tackled some very popular arguments against God as well. In conclusion, while this book provides some great points and arguments, I wish more attention would have been given to drawing these arguments back to Christ. In all, I would give this book 3 of 5 stars.I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze program for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion. If you like philosophy and you are good with logical thinking – this is a book for you. As the headline says, [this book will help you to] Be a Confident Believer in an Age of Cranky Atheists.Mitch Stokes has done a good job explaining away the most common misconceptions about Christianity and the principles – as well as the questions that arise that at a first glance seem like a contradiction. However, my problem was comparing it to the Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Kreeft and Tacelli. While all these authors discuss similar ideas, Stokes’ book was a bit too philosophical and at times confusing.That said, when I shared one of the examples that Stokes used (the “future resembles the past because the future resembles the past” one) with a friend of mine, he looked excited and could easily understand what was going on in the reasoning. My guess – it all depends on the way one’s mind is built – either it’s philosophical or not.It is a useful book for those who find themselves wondering about the questions like “If God created everything, who created God?” and other logical fallacies like this one.
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If you haven't read it, do it. Clear, convincing, and intriguing.
—Mic
An excellent overview of what is known as Reformed epistemology.
—Vickyyy
