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Believable: Discover the God That Saves All
Religion has problems.
Reasonable people are troubled by the obvious contradictions of modern theology:
• If a loving and all-powerful God exists, why hasn't he put an end to our suffering and misery?
• How could a God that loves us unconditionally abandon anyone in endless torment?
• Why do Christians believe God sent Jesus to defeat sin and death, but that both will continue to exist forever?
With problems like these, it's easy to see why people might choose to reject faith in a creator.
The truth is that the Christian faith has radically departed from its earliest teachings. Today's church predicts a dystopian nightmare for most of mankind.
But can God deliver something better?
Believable explores a wealth of evidence for the existence of a creator that designed our world, walked among us, loves all people without fail, and will never give up until he wins every last heart. Find refreshing perspectives and compelling answers to age-old questions surrounding creation, the nature of good and evil, heaven and hell, salvation, death, and the ultimate fate of humanity. With its engaging style and thought-provoking approach, Believable promises to redefine readers' understanding of God and the true meaning of hope.
About the author
J.D. Atkinson is an author and researcher with a background in Computer Science and a love for logic. Raised a Southern Baptist, reason led him to question the dualism that permeates modern Christianity — and discover the answers that have been hidden for centuries.
Join him on a fascinating exploration of God's master plan for all of humanity, and find new hope rooted in God's promise to leave no one behind in the extraordinary story unfolding before us about love, forgiveness, and the ultimate triumph of light over darkness.
Acclaim for Believable:
• "J.D. Atkinson's theo-logic and faithfulness to Scripture are so incredibly accessible that it's impossible to miss his point... or Christ's good news message!" ― Bradley Jersak, Dean of Theology & Culture, St. Stephen's University (New Brunswick), Author of Her Gates Will Never Be Shut
• "A must-read ... So pick up this book, carve out some time, and dive in. You will not be disappointed―and you may be surprised at the plans of God that are presently underway." ― Bob Evely, Former United Methodist Church Pastor, Author of At The End of the Ages
• "Believable is a fantastic achievement ... a year-long seminary Apologetics course in an easy-to-follow book of just over 200 pages! J.D. Atkinson has made a very significant contribution to showing that the reconciliation of all to God is the core of the Gospel." ― Dr. Lance W. Haverkamp, Executive Minister, Christian Universalist Association
• "It is easy to read, yet substantial. As an introductory work centered upon the cause of Christ, it affords the careful reader considerable insight into the things of God." ― James Coram, President, Concordant Publishing Concern
(See full reviews for more.)
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Published April 23, 2024
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About the author
J.D. Atkinson
1 bookJ.D. Atkinson is an author and researcher with a background in Computer Science and a love for logic. Raised a Southern Baptist, reason led him to question the dualism that permeates modern Christianity — and discover the answers that have been hidden for centuries.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 4, 2024
I have mixed feelings about this book so I am going to divide my review between the Good and the Bad.
The Good - The last half of the book provides a strong argument in favor of Christian universalism and covers pretty much all the texts and philosophical arguments as well as answering all the common questions. The argument ought to be especially convincing for Christians on the fundamentalists or evangelical end of the spectrum. The author provides a whole lot of Bible verses, easily showing that the belief that all will be saved, and hell will not last forever, is not just not a heresy but rather is the understanding of God and salvation that makes the most sense.
The Bad - Unfortunately, it takes half a book to get to that argument. The first half of the book is an apologetic that includes unfounded assumption about what the Bible is, a lack of understanding of other religions and a rejection of basic science.
First, the author engages in some basic apologetics. Apologetics is the practice of defending something, in this case defending the Christian faith. Usually this includes providing positive arguments (arguments in favor of God’s existence) and answering questions (such as why evil does not prove God does not exist). The problem I have witnessed in Christian apologetics, and this author falls into this here, is the apologist presenting her adversaries in the most negative light while casting the best view of Christianity.
Notice I used “her” there, for another major problem with this book is the author’s exclusive use of masculine pronouns. God is always “he” and humanity is always “man” or “mankind”. Are we not past this outdated terminology yet?
Back to the apologetic issues. The author argues if there is no God, there is no objective morality. As a theist, I do not necessarily disagree. And I am sympathetic to the point attempting to be made. But there is no effort to engage with any arguments naturalists and atheists make for their moral views. Rather than engaging with the strongest argument for morality from a naturalist perspective, he jumps right to the cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer as if all atheists are just a bad day away from eating us.
The author argues there is one objective reality and morality and this author seems to assume by virtue of being a Christian with a Bible, he has a full grasp of this objectivity. Again, I don’t necessarily disagree that such objectivity exists. Perhaps it is decades of religious trauma talking, but my issue is with the assumption any human has a clear grasp on what only God could know.
There is a lack of epidemic humility here. Humility does not have to jettison the idea of one objective reality. It simply recognizes there is more mystery and unknown in this reality. We may affirm God has the full understanding, but we are not God and till have a lot to learn.
But like so many apologists I read in my younger days, this author presents a simple contrast of Christianity against all other religions. Other religions are not wisdom traditions with things to learn from, but rather targets for our evangelism. The lack of understanding other religions is apparent when the author speaks of other religions, saying “it is widely held among world religions that the vat majority of mankind will be subjected to endless torment.” Is it? Or does he mean Christian traditions?
He also argues that all religions deny all the others. This is not really true. Such exclusivism is much more a Western thing, with Eastern religions, and much religion throughout history, recognizing at least some validity in other paths.
He goes on to cast doubt on the findings of mainstream science. Sigh, are we still doing this creation vs. evolution game? What’s more, after briefly discounting evolution the author later says, “as we’ve already seen, that idea fails miserably.” No, you asserted it fails miserably. We did not see it proven in any way.
Above I wrote how he casts atheists in the worst possible light in terms of morality, rather than engaging any sort of strong argument. He does the same when it comes to the scriptures of other faiths. He writes on Mormonism, saying that the Mormon church once endorsed polygamy in writings they claim were divinely inspired. So where then is the chapter on the endorsement of slavery throughout the Bible? The Bible, which Christians believe is inspired, has all sorts of issues!
It is problematic at best and dishonest at worst to cast others in the worst light while casting Christianity in the best light.
Summing Up - The evidence throughout - use of masculine pronouns for God and humanity,
rejection of modern science, endorsement of Mosaic authorship of the first five book of the OT - indicate the author is writing from a Christian fundamentalist perspective. If he can convince his fundamentalists friends that unending hell is not real, then great! But he could have done that by just writing the second half of the book. I’d probably give it five stars, even if I don’t share the same assumptions about the Bible.
The Bible is not univocal, as this author seems to assume. He writes, as evangelicals do (and I once did) that “the Bible says,” as if the Bible says one thing. Whether he is willfully ignoring the multiplicity of voices, or has never seriously reckoned with them, his view of the Bible is, in the end, unhelpful and cannot stand up to criticism.
Once upon a time I might have loved this entire book. But the first half is plagued with problems. If you’re a Christian fundamentalist who believes in unending hell, give it a read. I assume such a reader will agree with the parts of the first half I found problematic. Anyone else
can find better books on universalism without the problematic parts.
The Good - The last half of the book provides a strong argument in favor of Christian universalism and covers pretty much all the texts and philosophical arguments as well as answering all the common questions. The argument ought to be especially convincing for Christians on the fundamentalists or evangelical end of the spectrum. The author provides a whole lot of Bible verses, easily showing that the belief that all will be saved, and hell will not last forever, is not just not a heresy but rather is the understanding of God and salvation that makes the most sense.
The Bad - Unfortunately, it takes half a book to get to that argument. The first half of the book is an apologetic that includes unfounded assumption about what the Bible is, a lack of understanding of other religions and a rejection of basic science.
First, the author engages in some basic apologetics. Apologetics is the practice of defending something, in this case defending the Christian faith. Usually this includes providing positive arguments (arguments in favor of God’s existence) and answering questions (such as why evil does not prove God does not exist). The problem I have witnessed in Christian apologetics, and this author falls into this here, is the apologist presenting her adversaries in the most negative light while casting the best view of Christianity.
Notice I used “her” there, for another major problem with this book is the author’s exclusive use of masculine pronouns. God is always “he” and humanity is always “man” or “mankind”. Are we not past this outdated terminology yet?
Back to the apologetic issues. The author argues if there is no God, there is no objective morality. As a theist, I do not necessarily disagree. And I am sympathetic to the point attempting to be made. But there is no effort to engage with any arguments naturalists and atheists make for their moral views. Rather than engaging with the strongest argument for morality from a naturalist perspective, he jumps right to the cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer as if all atheists are just a bad day away from eating us.
The author argues there is one objective reality and morality and this author seems to assume by virtue of being a Christian with a Bible, he has a full grasp of this objectivity. Again, I don’t necessarily disagree that such objectivity exists. Perhaps it is decades of religious trauma talking, but my issue is with the assumption any human has a clear grasp on what only God could know.
There is a lack of epidemic humility here. Humility does not have to jettison the idea of one objective reality. It simply recognizes there is more mystery and unknown in this reality. We may affirm God has the full understanding, but we are not God and till have a lot to learn.
But like so many apologists I read in my younger days, this author presents a simple contrast of Christianity against all other religions. Other religions are not wisdom traditions with things to learn from, but rather targets for our evangelism. The lack of understanding other religions is apparent when the author speaks of other religions, saying “it is widely held among world religions that the vat majority of mankind will be subjected to endless torment.” Is it? Or does he mean Christian traditions?
He also argues that all religions deny all the others. This is not really true. Such exclusivism is much more a Western thing, with Eastern religions, and much religion throughout history, recognizing at least some validity in other paths.
He goes on to cast doubt on the findings of mainstream science. Sigh, are we still doing this creation vs. evolution game? What’s more, after briefly discounting evolution the author later says, “as we’ve already seen, that idea fails miserably.” No, you asserted it fails miserably. We did not see it proven in any way.
Above I wrote how he casts atheists in the worst possible light in terms of morality, rather than engaging any sort of strong argument. He does the same when it comes to the scriptures of other faiths. He writes on Mormonism, saying that the Mormon church once endorsed polygamy in writings they claim were divinely inspired. So where then is the chapter on the endorsement of slavery throughout the Bible? The Bible, which Christians believe is inspired, has all sorts of issues!
It is problematic at best and dishonest at worst to cast others in the worst light while casting Christianity in the best light.
Summing Up - The evidence throughout - use of masculine pronouns for God and humanity,
rejection of modern science, endorsement of Mosaic authorship of the first five book of the OT - indicate the author is writing from a Christian fundamentalist perspective. If he can convince his fundamentalists friends that unending hell is not real, then great! But he could have done that by just writing the second half of the book. I’d probably give it five stars, even if I don’t share the same assumptions about the Bible.
The Bible is not univocal, as this author seems to assume. He writes, as evangelicals do (and I once did) that “the Bible says,” as if the Bible says one thing. Whether he is willfully ignoring the multiplicity of voices, or has never seriously reckoned with them, his view of the Bible is, in the end, unhelpful and cannot stand up to criticism.
Once upon a time I might have loved this entire book. But the first half is plagued with problems. If you’re a Christian fundamentalist who believes in unending hell, give it a read. I assume such a reader will agree with the parts of the first half I found problematic. Anyone else
can find better books on universalism without the problematic parts.
April 28, 2024
God Loves All
This is the best work on why the victory of Jesus death Will result in all, every human being saved. Read without an open mind and heart, and it may change your mind about the future. Hard to resist the thought of being wrong, yet I have chosen to follow the Bible and not men. A good and excellent read for those who have been told the torment hell teachings of much Christian dogma.
This is the best work on why the victory of Jesus death Will result in all, every human being saved. Read without an open mind and heart, and it may change your mind about the future. Hard to resist the thought of being wrong, yet I have chosen to follow the Bible and not men. A good and excellent read for those who have been told the torment hell teachings of much Christian dogma.
January 26, 2025
the real truth abou God.
a wonderfully written and easy to understand explanation of who God is, who Jesus is, and who we are. this author tells the truth and backs it up.
God loves all of us, and through
the work of His Son Jesus, we have all been restored, and we will all live with Him forever!!
a wonderfully written and easy to understand explanation of who God is, who Jesus is, and who we are. this author tells the truth and backs it up.
God loves all of us, and through
the work of His Son Jesus, we have all been restored, and we will all live with Him forever!!
May 6, 2024
Loved this book! What a great read, it's thought provoking and full of hope!
May 15, 2024
This is the best, happiest book I have ever read.
This author starts at the beginning and using the Word of God and the logic of a Computer Science guy - takes the reader all the way through God’s plan for the ages. It is a fascinating and fun read. It is truly an honest, and thorough testament of Hope for All!
This author starts at the beginning and using the Word of God and the logic of a Computer Science guy - takes the reader all the way through God’s plan for the ages. It is a fascinating and fun read. It is truly an honest, and thorough testament of Hope for All!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews