Kaip suprasti gyvenimą?

by Michael Ots, Benjamin Lahayne (Translator)

Kiekvienam iš mūsų teko ar teks akis į akį susidurti su didžiaisiais gyvenimo klausimais. Ar tai būtų mirties realybė, kai stebime šalia besiveriančias tragedijas. Ar gyvenimo stebuklas, kai stebime vaiko gimimą, neįtikėtiną saulėlydį ir pan. Tokiais atvejais dažnai pagalvojame apie patį gyvenimą ir vertę, tapatybę ir prasmę, visuomenę ir aplinką, meilę ir santykius, teisingumą ir laisvę, nerimą ir viltį.

Autorius britas Michael Ots atvirai ir jautriai aptaria klausimus, kuriuos visi mes turime. Jis atveria mūsų troškimus, mūsų dilemas ir bando parodyti, kad krikščioniškas tikėjimas geriausiai paaiškina dalykus, kurie iš tiesų mums svarbūs.

Knyga gimė iš įvairių susitikimų, paskaitų ir pokalbių su studentais, bet pamėgta ir skaitoma ne tik jaunų žmonių. Ją galima skaityti ir nenuosekliai, kaip esame įpratę. Autorius drąsina pradėti nuo skyriaus, kuris atrodo įdomiausias ar klausimo, kuris labiausia intriguoja.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology

212 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Jonathan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant expansion on the key talks that Michael delivers at Events Weeks across Europe. His familiar style is easy to read and the chapters are entertaining. I love the essence of his approach: take things that matter to young people today and show how they only make sense in light of the gospel. It works well in talks and it's great to have the content written here to refer back to during conversations. Thanks Michael for this resource :)

[Sarah Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really great for anyone wanting to explore Christianity. Its chapters address ten big aspects of life and how Christianity makes sense of them: humanity, the environment, happiness, society, suffering, identity, loneliness, freedom, love and hope. The chapters are easy to read and there are lots of Bible verses as well as pertinent quotations from books Michael has read. The only thing I wasn't so keen on was the fact that some points were repeated in the book (for example, page 170 basically makes the same point as pages 36 and 37).

[Joel Heming · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written book explaining how the gospel makes sense of the world we live in. A very simple and easy to read book, explaining the world we live in from a basic Christian standpoint with clear and relevant examples. Would definitely recommend giving this to a non Christian, or anyone seeking to find answers to Christianity on a basic level.

[Peter Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: Michael is a friend of mine and I gave feedback on several of the chapters when they were in draft form. But in my opinion this is one of the best books to give away to seekers enquiring into Christianity. The chapters are brief by design but there's a good reading list for those wanting to take things further.

Michael takes a different line on suffering to the one I'd hold - and this is my reason for not awarding five stars - but nonetheless I'm looking forward to getting this book into the hands of seeking university students.

[Kenny Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great wee book on contemporary apologetic questions. Ideal for undergrads. Chapter on our polarised society was my favourite

[Bethan Edge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and somewhat concise book on topics that are essentially CU lunchtime talks. Would’ve liked a bit more content in each chapter but realise that the audience is more for someone looking at Christianity. Think it does a good job, but could be more engaging and challenging.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and readable book exploring how the message of the Bible "really does make best sense of the things that matter most" (8). In 10 chapters, Michael Ots covers a lot of "hot topic" issues, including the climate crisis, social justice, the treatment of LGBT+ people, and the polarised nature of contemporary debate, as well as classic apologetic questions surrounding suffering. A final chapter presents the reader with three choices - to reject this message, to reflect on it, or to receive it.

As well as being a good book for seekers - particularly in a university setting - this is a helpful book for anyone involved in preparing evangelistic talks. I do have disagreements on his approach to suffering, and his use of Romans 8:28, but this doesn't detract too much from the value of the book.

[Frank Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent Christian apologetics book (apologetics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologe...) that uses the framework of those things that we all find most important in life. Ultimately, a naturalistic or purely scientific outlook on life cannot help us with things like beauty, meaning, purpose and love. In contrast Christianity has persuasive answers for all of those things and more. The author engages the reader more on the emotive plane (not a bad thing) while carefully filling in the intellectual reasoning. This book is especially relevant in our rapidly changing culture that no longer seems interested in philosophical arguments for truth, but rather wants to know why we should care.

[Ally]

Interesting read. I have been interested in spirituality and different religion's approach to answering the big questions that all of us have in life. This book has a particularly christian and biblical approach. Overall, however, this book gave an 'introductory' feel. It would give brief, almost superficial, answers that could have perhaps gone into much more detail about - especially given the nature of the book. Would recommend for people who want to have a light, easy to read book about the topics discussed in this book, however, if the reader desires a more in-depth debate and discussion this book probably would not satisfy that.

[Elena Lialyte · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a no from me. I understand how Christianity can be a blessing for one and for me I find it inspirational, when people find their faith, calling. But this whole book is so biased, no critical arguments, basically ‘all answers to all problems lie in Christianity’…

[Matthew Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really helpful and easily readable book. Lots of engaging illustrations and examples are given throughout. I very much enjoyed and appreciated this book.

[David Trendell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book with some great take aways. Chapter 3 - Making Sense of Happiness is a game changer, I would encourage everyone to read that part.

[Emma Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read for baby Christian’s/non-believers looking to discover Jesus!

[Tatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly made me reflect but wasn’t written very strongly. The next Christian book I read has to be extremely famous.