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Dialogue with a Skeptic by Thomas Howard
Book about a dialogue with a person (skeptic) who does not believe God exists.
Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1976
7 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Howard
55 books76 followersThomas Howard (b. 1935) is a highly acclaimed writer and scholar.
He was raised in a prominent Evangelical home (his sister is well-known author and former missionary Elisabeth Elliot), became Episcopalian in his mid-twenties, then entered the Catholic Church in 1985, at the age of fifty. At the time, his conversion shocked many in evangelical circles, and was the subject of a feature article in the leading evangelical periodical Christianity Today.
Dave Armstrong writes of Howard: "He cites the influence of great Catholic writers such as Newman, Knox, Chesterton, Guardini, Ratzinger, Karl Adam, Louis Bouyer, and St. Augustine on his final decision. Howard's always stylistically-excellent prose is especially noteworthy for its emphasis on the sacramental, incarnational and ‘transcendent’ aspects of Christianity."
Like C.S. Lewis, who he greatly admires and has written about often, Howard is an English professor (recently retired, after nearly forty years of teaching), who taught at Gordon College and then at St. John's Seminary. He is a highly acclaimed writer and scholar, noted for his studies of Inklings C.S. Lewis Narnia Beyond: A Guide to the Fiction of C.S. Lewis (2006, 1987) and Charles Williams The Novels of Charles Williams (1991), as well as books including Christ the Tiger (1967), Chance or the Dance (1969), Hallowed be This House (1976), Evangelical is Not Enough (1984), If Your Mind Wanders at Mass (1995), On Being Catholic (1997), and The Secret of New York Revealed.
He was raised in a prominent Evangelical home (his sister is well-known author and former missionary Elisabeth Elliot), became Episcopalian in his mid-twenties, then entered the Catholic Church in 1985, at the age of fifty. At the time, his conversion shocked many in evangelical circles, and was the subject of a feature article in the leading evangelical periodical Christianity Today.
Dave Armstrong writes of Howard: "He cites the influence of great Catholic writers such as Newman, Knox, Chesterton, Guardini, Ratzinger, Karl Adam, Louis Bouyer, and St. Augustine on his final decision. Howard's always stylistically-excellent prose is especially noteworthy for its emphasis on the sacramental, incarnational and ‘transcendent’ aspects of Christianity."
Like C.S. Lewis, who he greatly admires and has written about often, Howard is an English professor (recently retired, after nearly forty years of teaching), who taught at Gordon College and then at St. John's Seminary. He is a highly acclaimed writer and scholar, noted for his studies of Inklings C.S. Lewis Narnia Beyond: A Guide to the Fiction of C.S. Lewis (2006, 1987) and Charles Williams The Novels of Charles Williams (1991), as well as books including Christ the Tiger (1967), Chance or the Dance (1969), Hallowed be This House (1976), Evangelical is Not Enough (1984), If Your Mind Wanders at Mass (1995), On Being Catholic (1997), and The Secret of New York Revealed.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 6, 2024
A FICTIONAL "DIALOGUE" BETWEEN A CHRISTIAN AND A SKEPTIC
This 1974 book (originally called, 'Once upon a Time, God...') was written by Thomas Howard, who also wrote, 'Christ the Tiger; a Postscript to Dogma.'
He wrote in the Preface, "The following pages do not, really, present any argument. They represent one Christian's attempt to say what it is that Christians do believe about things. All of it, of course, is entirely derivative. There is not one new thought here. It is all very old. And that is part of the point: I have tried to stay in the path beaten by the historical Church, so that any affirmations made would be those held in common by Christians of whatever stripe." (Pg. 7)
He admits, "One of the things about this Good Lord is that he keeps his own counsel. He is exceedingly mysterious. All his counsels are wrapped in enormous mysteries. What comes THROUGH---or what you can see---is good, of course. His subjects will tell you that---that he is good and merciful and generous and loving and wise. But if you were to press him with questions about why he doesn't do so and so, you would get stony silence... I don't suppose anyone who has ever had any dealings with him would say that he was NOT austere---frightening, even. The people who know him best sometimes use the word 'terrible.'" (Pg. 27)
He observes, "Your own inclinations nudge you along one way---'Get it! Grab it! Do it! Have it!' and so on. His way says, 'Death to all that. Real life stands on the far side of this death. Don't grab the instant goodies. Don't hug a bogus safety to yourself. They are fraudulent. Open your hand; drop that fake pearl. The Pearl of Great Price is over this way. Seek IT. Go after IT. Sell all that you have and find it." (Pg. 39)
He argues, "If you insist on some sort of 'evidence' that will show up in a test tube or a lens or in a courtroom, we can throw the whole thing over straight off. There are no angels and no Incarnate God and certainly no mercy and justice. Christians know that. They know they're committed to something that will forever elude any attempts to get it pinned down and analyzed in any scientific way. There's no getting around the sheer fact that faith is what is asked of a man... Why? Good heavens? Why does the sea roar?... Who knows? Except maybe there IS something to be said. Maybe faith is the exact opposite of the thing we did wrong in Eden... The trouble there was that we chose the immediate and obvious and visible thing over the unseen thing---God's command and promise... So we lost everything. Faith does the opposite." (Pg. 68)
He states, "I said [the Church] is where men are BEGINNING to learn what it's all about. Nobody, I hope, will make any very brave claims as to how good a job Christians are doing of it. But in the Church there is proclaimed and celebrated the thing that human life is all about---life in the fulness and liberty of fellowship with God and each other. The Church isn't an ALTERNATIVE to human life, or an escape from it. It's human life as it is supposed to be, human life set free to be itself---free from the pinching, destructive, deathly sovereignty of cupidity." (Pg. 82-83)
Not the most "fact-based" or "evidential" approach to apologetics, the relatively non-confrontational style of this book nevertheless may appeal to some readers, rather than the more "traditional" antagonistic approach to apologetics.
This 1974 book (originally called, 'Once upon a Time, God...') was written by Thomas Howard, who also wrote, 'Christ the Tiger; a Postscript to Dogma.'
He wrote in the Preface, "The following pages do not, really, present any argument. They represent one Christian's attempt to say what it is that Christians do believe about things. All of it, of course, is entirely derivative. There is not one new thought here. It is all very old. And that is part of the point: I have tried to stay in the path beaten by the historical Church, so that any affirmations made would be those held in common by Christians of whatever stripe." (Pg. 7)
He admits, "One of the things about this Good Lord is that he keeps his own counsel. He is exceedingly mysterious. All his counsels are wrapped in enormous mysteries. What comes THROUGH---or what you can see---is good, of course. His subjects will tell you that---that he is good and merciful and generous and loving and wise. But if you were to press him with questions about why he doesn't do so and so, you would get stony silence... I don't suppose anyone who has ever had any dealings with him would say that he was NOT austere---frightening, even. The people who know him best sometimes use the word 'terrible.'" (Pg. 27)
He observes, "Your own inclinations nudge you along one way---'Get it! Grab it! Do it! Have it!' and so on. His way says, 'Death to all that. Real life stands on the far side of this death. Don't grab the instant goodies. Don't hug a bogus safety to yourself. They are fraudulent. Open your hand; drop that fake pearl. The Pearl of Great Price is over this way. Seek IT. Go after IT. Sell all that you have and find it." (Pg. 39)
He argues, "If you insist on some sort of 'evidence' that will show up in a test tube or a lens or in a courtroom, we can throw the whole thing over straight off. There are no angels and no Incarnate God and certainly no mercy and justice. Christians know that. They know they're committed to something that will forever elude any attempts to get it pinned down and analyzed in any scientific way. There's no getting around the sheer fact that faith is what is asked of a man... Why? Good heavens? Why does the sea roar?... Who knows? Except maybe there IS something to be said. Maybe faith is the exact opposite of the thing we did wrong in Eden... The trouble there was that we chose the immediate and obvious and visible thing over the unseen thing---God's command and promise... So we lost everything. Faith does the opposite." (Pg. 68)
He states, "I said [the Church] is where men are BEGINNING to learn what it's all about. Nobody, I hope, will make any very brave claims as to how good a job Christians are doing of it. But in the Church there is proclaimed and celebrated the thing that human life is all about---life in the fulness and liberty of fellowship with God and each other. The Church isn't an ALTERNATIVE to human life, or an escape from it. It's human life as it is supposed to be, human life set free to be itself---free from the pinching, destructive, deathly sovereignty of cupidity." (Pg. 82-83)
Not the most "fact-based" or "evidential" approach to apologetics, the relatively non-confrontational style of this book nevertheless may appeal to some readers, rather than the more "traditional" antagonistic approach to apologetics.
Displaying 1 of 1 review