This book is a Socratic dialogue between a Christian proselytizer and a skeptic. The skeptic gets the proselytizer to spell out all the reasons he rejects non-Christian religions, and the discussion then turns to examining Christianity by the same light.
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This book is a Socratic dialogue between a Christian proselytizer and a skeptic. The skeptic gets the proselytizer to spell out all the reasons he rejects non-Christian religions, and the discussion then turns to examining Christianity by the same light.
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Very Good+ 8" x 11" Softcover; 284pp; Clean, tight copy, VG+ condition. Inscribed & Signed by Author. Dialogue between a Christian proselytizer and a skeptic who does not argue with the proselytizer, and instead seeks to clarify why the Christian believes he knows what "God's Word" is.
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Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer is an unusual book. Todd Allen Gates is an unusual author. It is rare that an atheist interacts with a follower of Christ in a mature manner as is presented in this book. Far too often the believer is subjected to rude, condescending and offensive verbal attacks. Too often one is expected to apologize for (of even defend) the unbiblical behavior of specific persons, however remotely related in some way to the church, throughout history. Granted, too often believers are so ill prepared to interact on such a demanding level, that they get exasperated & resort to name-calling and ad hominem attacks As early as Bertrand Russell?s, Why I am Not A Christian, believers and non-believers have lined up on their respective battlefields to lobe stones at one another. This book is a breath of fresh air! Mr. Gates admirably allows the Christian to present his or her case and deals with it in a rational and serious manner, not as some archaic, stereotypical, straw man fundamentalist caricature as is often the case. Likewise, believers need to see atheists as lost persons who not only desperately need to be shown the light, but are more often resistant to that Light because of what it would entail- acknowledging that 1) the individual is not the measure of life, 2) that he/she would have to bow the knee in acknowledgement of this fact, and 3) that salvation is not something that the individual can work toward or conjure up, but has been accomplished by Another and that the person can only accept that salvation on His terms as well as any negative personal experiences he or she may have had with Christians. Of course one is going to be very resistant toward yielding his or her life to another. Romans 1:18-2:29 among many other passages bear this out. It is one thing to acknowledge (privately of course) supremacy is one think, but actually yielding to that is another. As a former atheist myself (before becoming a Christian), I often kept my previous beliefs to myself as I?ve seen many juvenile & illogical tactics used by atheists which were embarrassing & would?ve made me ashamed to admit being an atheist. Rarely does an atheist take the arguments & presuppositions of believers seriously. Todd is to be commended for the detail & depth of study he gives to the Biblical passages used (he deals with whole contexts rather than isolated- & even snippets of- verses. He interacts with the likes of the Rig Vedas, Egyptian book of the Dead, The Babylonian creation account, Faust, as well as Ghengas Khan. Through personal correspondence, I have gained a deep respect & admiration (though I may disagree) for the author. If I were to point out one criticism it would be that when ?Scott? (the atheist) decides on the supremacy of Christianity from among other world religions, rather than focusing then solely upon that religion and scrutinizing its coherence (internal & external), correspondence to reality & consistency, he, at various points, goes back and compares it to the other religions he had supposedly already decided it to have bested. This indicates that he really hasn?t come to that decision after all, but is apparently voicing that ?for the sake of argument.? This book brings back memories of some of the intellectual issues that I dealt with years ago- though I generally ignored the issue of Inerrancy while I was an atheist, I saw the biblical accounts simply as extremely reliable historical documents which had unfortunately been altered through years of hand transmission (though that didn?t affect the general thrust of the message to any major degree). It is understandable that the author isn?t familiar with the discipline of textual criticism as it is a very technical (& sometimes boring) field that deals specifically with the authenticity of particular passages via dating, author writing styles, textual families from which specific manuscripts come thus providing possible indications of origination of variant readings. The meeting of Chris Proselman (the Christian ?proselytizer?) and Scott Crates (variation of Socrates) opens as Chris is handing out gospel tracts of the street and strikes up a conversation with Scott who is doing research for a book. Here is an opportunity to converse first hand with an authentic follower of Christ. A dialogue throughout the next 290 unfolds that opens up to Scott a new understanding of and respect toward Christians. I wish more atheists were this balanced and intellectually honest.
