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هل يستطيع الإنسان أن يحيا من دون الله
How you answer the question of God's existence, Zacharias says, will impact your relationship with others, your commitment to integrity, your attitude toward morality, your perception of truth, and your sense of meaning in life
348 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
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About the author
Ravi Zacharias
255 books1,657 followersFrederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias was an Indian-born Canadian-American Christian evangelical minister and Christian apologist who founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). He was involved in Christian apologetics for a period spanning more than forty years, authoring more than thirty books. He also hosted the radio programs Let My People Think and Just Thinking. Zacharias belonged to the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), the Keswickian Christian denomination in which he was ordained as a minister. After his death, allegations of sexual harassment against him emerged, were investigated, and found to be true.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
November 3, 2013
Imagine G.K. Chesterton, but coherent.
August 5, 2016
I had hoped to get from this book some even-handed thoughts and comparisons between the belief in God and the concept of atheism. Other reviews indicated that this book gave strong philosophic explanations for the existence of God. However, right away, the author equates atheism with Hitler and Stalin yet reject the arguments and examples of horrors perpetrated in the name of (Christian) religion. It just didn't feel very even-handed at that point, and the author is hiding behind his deep philosophical word speak to cover his complete bias on the subject. This is not the book I expected or wanted to read.
August 10, 2013
Can Man Live Without God is a profound book on the most important subject of all, can man live without God, and if not, what then? Ravi Zacharias tears apart the illogical and morally bankrupt philosophy of the modern era. He argues fiercely that the modern mindset has led to such an absence of moral responsibility that we have become spiritually depraved people searching for the next thing that can satisfy our desire without any work. As G.K. Chesterton said, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."
This book discusses the most important subject on this earth (in fact, so many subjects I can't include even half of them in this review), and does so flawlessly, I cannot recommend it more highly.
This book discusses the most important subject on this earth (in fact, so many subjects I can't include even half of them in this review), and does so flawlessly, I cannot recommend it more highly.
January 28, 2009
Great critique of unbelieving philosophy and apologetics that make the heart sing!
August 28, 2009
definitely 6 stars! great apologetic in postmodern times! Ravi is probably one of the best christian cultural analysts since Francis Schaeffer.
Fascinatia mirarii - fiecare poveste contine cateva elemente comune:
- principiul care se desprinde din poveste ca invatatura morala
- o conditie specifica si de nemodificat pe care trebuie sa o respecte eroul
- conditia nu e niciodata supusa intrebarii "De ce?"
Cand mirarea dispare:
- viata intreaga va fi supusa unui reductionism
- se va pierde componenta recunostintei din viata
- devine implacabila alunecarea spre un gol interior
Deoarece esenta fiintei umane este reflectarea Chipului lui Dumnezeu si ca trupul uman este Templul Lui, cultura (sau artele) [a se intelege inclusiv "divertismentul":] loveste omul prin violenta (care este impotriva Chipului lui Dumnezeu) si imoralitate sexuala (care este impotriva trupului).
Componentele esentiale ale sensului vietii umane:
- mirarea, cunoasterea adevarului, iubirea, siguranta
Testarea unei afirmatii cu pretentie de adevar:
- consecventa logica
- adecvarea empirica
- relevanta experientiala
- imposibilitatea de negare
- imposibilitatea de afirmare
Adevarul este prin definitie exclusiv! Invatatura lui Cristos afirma ca El este adevarul si ca raspunde problemei "unitate in diversitate".
Problema suferintei isi gaseste intelegere in Crucea lui Isus prin:
- expresia propriei inimi razvratite fata de Dumnezeu
- miracolul iertarii pentru refacerea vietii
- Dumnezeu nu este departe de durere si suferinta
Strategii ale criticii antiteiste:
- crearea unei caricaturii a gandirii biblice care este desfiintata mai apoi
- daca nu exista un "design" sau daca acesta este eronat atunci de unde putem stii ca creierul face o deductie corecta? poate este si el limitat printr-un prost design! Daca are o origine pur materiala, cu atat mai putin putem sa ne "incredem" in deductiile lui.
- citeaza impotriva unor fapte stiintifice demonstrate
Fascinatia mirarii - fiecare poveste contine cateva elemente comune:
- principiul care se desprinde din poveste ca invatatura morala
- o conditie specifica si de nemodificat pe care trebuie sa o respecte eroul
- conditia nu e niciodata supusa intrebarii "De ce?"
Cand mirarea dispare:
- viata intreaga va fi supusa unui reductionism
- se va pierde componenta recunostintei din viata
- devine implacabila alunecarea spre un gol interior
Deoarece esenta fiintei umane este reflectarea Chipului lui Dumnezeu si ca trupul uman este Templul Lui, cultura (sau artele) [a se intelege inclusiv "divertismentul":] loveste omul prin violenta (care este impotriva Chipului lui Dumnezeu) si imoralitate sexuala (care este impotriva trupului).
Componentele esentiale ale sensului vietii umane:
- mirarea, cunoasterea adevarului, iubirea, siguranta
Testarea unei afirmatii cu pretentie de adevar:
- consecventa logica
- adecvarea empirica
- relevanta experientiala
- imposibilitatea de negare
- imposibilitatea de afirmare
Adevarul este prin definitie exclusiv! Invatatura lui Cristos afirma ca El este adevarul si ca raspunde problemei "unitate in diversitate".
Problema suferintei isi gaseste intelegere in Crucea lui Isus prin:
- expresia propriei inimi razvratite fata de Dumnezeu
- miracolul iertarii pentru refacerea vietii
- Dumnezeu nu este departe de durere si suferinta
Strategii ale criticii antiteiste:
- crearea unei caricaturii a gandirii biblice care este desfiintata mai apoi
- daca nu exista un "design" sau daca acesta este eronat atunci de unde putem stii ca creierul face o deductie corecta? poate este si el limitat printr-un prost design! Daca are o origine pur materiala, cu atat mai putin putem sa ne "incredem" in deductiile lui.
- citeaza impotriva unor fapte stiintifice demonstrate
June 9, 2007
Rated one star for insulting rhetoric, fearmongering, paranoia, and poor logic.
December 12, 2008
I'm inclined to give it 5 stars because I read this shortly after my conversion to Christianity and it had such an impact.
December 16, 2012
Ravi Z. is one smart dude.
July 31, 2011
While I cannot deny that the author has, in this book, provided some interesting insights (a few of which I somewhat agree with), I must still nonetheless conclude that this book is, in my opinion, unsatisfactory. It seems to me that most of the book mainly consists of unsubstantiated, if not sweeping, assertions.
One example of such an unsubstantiated assertion would be the author's claim that all the ills, crimes and evils of modern society can find their source in a non-theistic (or as the author puts it, anti-theistic) worldview.
Another example would be the claim that a non-theistic worldview is devoid of meaning, morality, wonder, truth and love.
Also, while it was a good debating trick for the author to flip the questions asked of Christianity by critics against them, this in itself, however, does not provide satisfactory answers to the questions.
Finally, it is interesting how while the author devotes a section to talking about there being tests which ideas and claims, including Jesus' claims, should be tested against, he strangely does not elaborate on applying these tests to Jesus' claims.
One example of such an unsubstantiated assertion would be the author's claim that all the ills, crimes and evils of modern society can find their source in a non-theistic (or as the author puts it, anti-theistic) worldview.
Another example would be the claim that a non-theistic worldview is devoid of meaning, morality, wonder, truth and love.
Also, while it was a good debating trick for the author to flip the questions asked of Christianity by critics against them, this in itself, however, does not provide satisfactory answers to the questions.
Finally, it is interesting how while the author devotes a section to talking about there being tests which ideas and claims, including Jesus' claims, should be tested against, he strangely does not elaborate on applying these tests to Jesus' claims.
January 24, 2013
Note: I rank books differently than Goodreads: 3 stars is "it's okay".
A pen pal sent me this, so of course I had to read it :-).
Before opening it, my conclusion has always been that yes, man needs faith, but not necessarily in the Christian God. After completing it, I'm at the same place. Since I'm a Deist, the existence of a God wasn't an argument he had to win with me. Unfortunately for whatever his point in writing was, it was the only argument that I actually bought.
He starts out completely misrepresenting what it means to be atheist. I've decided that he gives a purely philosophical view, but that view doesn't translate to the everyday life of an atheist and therefore invalidates his arguments. Besides, he uses atheism and anti-theism synonymously and according to /r/atheism, that isn't accurate.
His entire argument for the existence of Jesus as a deity is dependent on Jesus and the Bible being TRUTH, and he fails to prove this claim. If Jesus word were TRUTH, then it would be possible to show why they aren't false. His only defense seems to be that "if they were false, his "enemies" wouldn't also say that they're true"--so what evidence is there that these "enemies" weren't lying about that status? There was a complete lack of analysis here.
For all the bold claims he made in the introduction, he unfortunately fell short. As always, I went into this book blind and tried to be unbiased, hoping that he'd convince me, but it wasn't there.
On an interesting note, while replying to the pen pal in question, she had said that people can never have enough guns. What I found intriguing by this statement is that on pg. 36, in describing how "Reasoning Failed the Test on Reasoning", Zacharias laments the fact that skeptics forget the second qualifier of Kant's claim that morality can be found purely through reason, that "an individuals moral choices were not to be determined by the happiness test, meaning that one ought not to choose a certain path for life just because it makes one happy." He goes on to bash Marxism which apparently based a lot of itself on Kant (I haven't done this research, so I take his word for it) and (perhaps laughingly) finishes by saying our "new world of democratic utopia inscribed the pursuit of individual happiness as a fundamental right for all individuals at the cost of the collective good. In both arenas, Kantian ethics were deviously mangled."
I'm not a philosopher and will quickly admit that strictly philosophical reasoning often goes over my head, but I interpret this passage as, to some extent, agreeing with Kant (though I doubt Zacharias would admit to this) in that it's important to put the collective good above the happiness of the individual. So since I enjoy complicating arguments, wouldn't we agree that it's in the interest of the collective good to put reasonable restrictions on gun ownership (such as waiting periods, more thorough background checks, etc) even if it means inconveniencing legal gun owners? Granted, my argument is dependent on my reading Zacharias correctly and since he's vague more often than not, I cannot say that I did with certainty.
A pen pal sent me this, so of course I had to read it :-).
Before opening it, my conclusion has always been that yes, man needs faith, but not necessarily in the Christian God. After completing it, I'm at the same place. Since I'm a Deist, the existence of a God wasn't an argument he had to win with me. Unfortunately for whatever his point in writing was, it was the only argument that I actually bought.
He starts out completely misrepresenting what it means to be atheist. I've decided that he gives a purely philosophical view, but that view doesn't translate to the everyday life of an atheist and therefore invalidates his arguments. Besides, he uses atheism and anti-theism synonymously and according to /r/atheism, that isn't accurate.
His entire argument for the existence of Jesus as a deity is dependent on Jesus and the Bible being TRUTH, and he fails to prove this claim. If Jesus word were TRUTH, then it would be possible to show why they aren't false. His only defense seems to be that "if they were false, his "enemies" wouldn't also say that they're true"--so what evidence is there that these "enemies" weren't lying about that status? There was a complete lack of analysis here.
For all the bold claims he made in the introduction, he unfortunately fell short. As always, I went into this book blind and tried to be unbiased, hoping that he'd convince me, but it wasn't there.
On an interesting note, while replying to the pen pal in question, she had said that people can never have enough guns. What I found intriguing by this statement is that on pg. 36, in describing how "Reasoning Failed the Test on Reasoning", Zacharias laments the fact that skeptics forget the second qualifier of Kant's claim that morality can be found purely through reason, that "an individuals moral choices were not to be determined by the happiness test, meaning that one ought not to choose a certain path for life just because it makes one happy." He goes on to bash Marxism which apparently based a lot of itself on Kant (I haven't done this research, so I take his word for it) and (perhaps laughingly) finishes by saying our "new world of democratic utopia inscribed the pursuit of individual happiness as a fundamental right for all individuals at the cost of the collective good. In both arenas, Kantian ethics were deviously mangled."
I'm not a philosopher and will quickly admit that strictly philosophical reasoning often goes over my head, but I interpret this passage as, to some extent, agreeing with Kant (though I doubt Zacharias would admit to this) in that it's important to put the collective good above the happiness of the individual. So since I enjoy complicating arguments, wouldn't we agree that it's in the interest of the collective good to put reasonable restrictions on gun ownership (such as waiting periods, more thorough background checks, etc) even if it means inconveniencing legal gun owners? Granted, my argument is dependent on my reading Zacharias correctly and since he's vague more often than not, I cannot say that I did with certainty.
July 24, 2013
God has blessed Ravi Zacharias with a brilliant mind. He is a philosophically rigorous apologist and yet he has the remarkable ability to touch at the human heart at an extremely profound level. A brilliant storyteller, sometimes I found myself laughing at the genius of his words, and others I found myself in tears, being cut to the heart by the sincerity and love with which he writes. I have been blessed by all the works of Zacharias, and consider him a man who has had impacted me more than most other scholars. His love for people, passion for the Lord, powerful intellect, and eloquent communication skills make for a beautiful and whole-hearted treatise.
Zacharias traces the concepts of meaning, purpose, and hope, and analyzes both the atheistic and Christian worldviews. He forcefully argues that apart from God, the human being, with all of his unfathomable complexities--his feelings of love, hate, joy, despair, hope, his longing for meaning and purpose, his yearning for intimacy and relationship, and most universally, the pain and suffering that comes from existence--cannot live. Without the existence of a loving and good God, man is a cosmic orphan, wondering if there is someone, anyone, who loves him. The thesis of the book is that 1) the atheistic and Christian worldview paint radically different pictures of reality, and 2) the Christian worldview, and more to the point, the Person of Jesus Christ, is the only answer to man's human predicament.
I must admit, this book is very existential, addressing some of the deepest human questions that the mind of man has ever touched; and yet it is very, very intellectually rigorous. A man like Zacharias brings both romanticism and intellect to the scene. He explains thoroughly the works of such existentialists as Sean Paul Sarte, Albert Camus, Bertrand Russell, Friedrich Nietzsche, and many others. Reading the words of the atheists themselves makes the idea that "without God, man's life means nothing," even more apparent. In the eyes of Camus, for example, life is not only meaningless, but it is also cruel. Indeed, if God does not exist, man is left with the bear, valueless fact of his pointless existence; all that exists is "matter in motion."
I recommend this book to everyone (both believers and non-believers). It is not an easy read; Zacharias writes with extremely sophisticated language (I recommend you have a dictionary close by!). I loved the book though. It has impacted me tremendously. Enjoy the read!
Zacharias traces the concepts of meaning, purpose, and hope, and analyzes both the atheistic and Christian worldviews. He forcefully argues that apart from God, the human being, with all of his unfathomable complexities--his feelings of love, hate, joy, despair, hope, his longing for meaning and purpose, his yearning for intimacy and relationship, and most universally, the pain and suffering that comes from existence--cannot live. Without the existence of a loving and good God, man is a cosmic orphan, wondering if there is someone, anyone, who loves him. The thesis of the book is that 1) the atheistic and Christian worldview paint radically different pictures of reality, and 2) the Christian worldview, and more to the point, the Person of Jesus Christ, is the only answer to man's human predicament.
I must admit, this book is very existential, addressing some of the deepest human questions that the mind of man has ever touched; and yet it is very, very intellectually rigorous. A man like Zacharias brings both romanticism and intellect to the scene. He explains thoroughly the works of such existentialists as Sean Paul Sarte, Albert Camus, Bertrand Russell, Friedrich Nietzsche, and many others. Reading the words of the atheists themselves makes the idea that "without God, man's life means nothing," even more apparent. In the eyes of Camus, for example, life is not only meaningless, but it is also cruel. Indeed, if God does not exist, man is left with the bear, valueless fact of his pointless existence; all that exists is "matter in motion."
I recommend this book to everyone (both believers and non-believers). It is not an easy read; Zacharias writes with extremely sophisticated language (I recommend you have a dictionary close by!). I loved the book though. It has impacted me tremendously. Enjoy the read!
November 1, 2014
Pentru mine personal, si fara indoiala pentru cei mai multi dintre contemporanii mei, filosofia lipsei totale de sens a fost in esenta un mijloc de eliberare. Eliberarea pe care ne-o doream era in acelasi timp eliberare de un sistem politic si economic, dar si de un sistem moral. Ne-am impotrivit moralitatii fiindca se amesteca in libertatea noastra sexuala; ne-am impotrivit sistemului politic si economic fiindca era nedrept. Sustinatorii acestor sisteme pretindeau ca detin intr-un fel sau altul intelesul (un inteles crestin, insistau ei) lumii. Am avut o metoda admirabil de simpla pentru a-i combate pe acesti oameni si in acelasi timp pentru a ne justifica revolta politica si economica: sa negam ca lumea ar avea vreun inteles, orice fel de inteles.
Am avut motive sa doresc ca lumea sa nu aiba un inteles; prin urmare am presupus ca ea nu are inteles si am reusit fara nicio dificultate sa gasesc dovezi satisfacatoare in sprijinul acestei supozitii. Aproape toate formele de ignoranta pot fi depasite. Nu cunoastem fiindca nu vrem sa cunoastem. Vointa noastra este cea care decide asupra caror subiecte ne vom concentra inteligenta. Oamenii care nu gasesc niciun inteles vietii au deseori o motivatie pentru aceasta. Adica, dintr-un motiv sau altul, le convine ca lumea sa nu aiba inteles.
~Aldous Huxley.
Am avut motive sa doresc ca lumea sa nu aiba un inteles; prin urmare am presupus ca ea nu are inteles si am reusit fara nicio dificultate sa gasesc dovezi satisfacatoare in sprijinul acestei supozitii. Aproape toate formele de ignoranta pot fi depasite. Nu cunoastem fiindca nu vrem sa cunoastem. Vointa noastra este cea care decide asupra caror subiecte ne vom concentra inteligenta. Oamenii care nu gasesc niciun inteles vietii au deseori o motivatie pentru aceasta. Adica, dintr-un motiv sau altul, le convine ca lumea sa nu aiba inteles.
~Aldous Huxley.
May 22, 2013
This book shows how devastating it is when you remove God from the picture and all the things we take for granted that are grounded and are present solely because God is there. This is Ravi at one of his best points, I love this book and would recommend it to others. The only down side to this book is the diction, I found myself looking at a dictionary more than I have for any other Ravi book. Definitely would pick this up if I were you.
June 23, 2016
Dr. Ravi Zacharias is an excellent Christian apologist. If I were smarter and could have followed all of his arguments, I would have rated this book 5 stars. He definitely has a unique perspective, with his Eastern background. He's probably the CS Lewis of our generation.
July 5, 2017
This was a fairly solid apologetics book, with lots of intellectual arguments. One quote that stuck out to me was, "I say to you with emphasis that the older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder, and only God is big enough to do that" (Page 89).
August 9, 2013
Listened to this book on CD. Outstanding, the atheist has no legs when they deny the God they know exists.
April 23, 2016
Ravi Zacharias makes some good statements and arguments for Christianity in this book. However, I found his language to be far too intellectual and philosophical, which somewhat hindered my enjoyment of and engagement with his book. Already on the first two pages of the introduction he uses words such as: nefarious, averred, progenitors, minutiae, iconoclastic, verbiage, vitriolistic, aspersions... Such elavated vocabulary is used throughout the book. The first part of the book discusses the thoughts of philosophers and thinkers such as Albert Camus, Immanuel Kant, Frederick Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre and several other philosophers and professors I had not heard of before - all to show that their thoughts and ideas do not provide the final answer. Zacharias concludes the first part by answering the question posed by the title, saying: "Can man live without God? Of course he can, in a physical sense. Can he live without God in a reasonable way? The answer to that is No! because such a person is compelled to deny a moral law, to abandon hope, to forfeit meaning, and to risk no recovery if he is wrong." The second part of the book aims to show what gives life meaning and the third part of the books aims to show how Jesus is the answer to all of life's questions and longings and needs. The engagement with philosophical thoughts and intellectualism continues throughout the book. The book concludes with two appendices. One appendix provides the answers Zacharias gave to skeptics in a Q&A session, and the other appendix gives a brief overview of different philosophers and arguments against their way of thinking.
February 8, 2016
"When one attempts to live without God, the answers to morality, hope, and meaning send one back into his or her own world to fashion an individualized answer."
Can Man Live Without God was equally an incredibly good book and an very complex book. The author sets out to discuss what man would be like, and in fact if he could possibly exist at all, without God. This ultimately boils down to whether or not God and Christ are real, if the story of a savior is true. Why I say the book is complex is due to its incredibly elevated writing style. This book is almost at the level of academia, and is not an "easy" read. This struck me as a bit odd since I have heard Ravi Zacharias speak on several occasions and he is remarkably intelligent while still remaining very simplistic in his speaking style. This book definitely required me to devote more of my attention to reading it that most other books do.
I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend it to someone that wasn't really willing to "dive in" to a book and really work to get the most out of it. I look forward to reading more of Ravi's works in the future.
Can Man Live Without God was equally an incredibly good book and an very complex book. The author sets out to discuss what man would be like, and in fact if he could possibly exist at all, without God. This ultimately boils down to whether or not God and Christ are real, if the story of a savior is true. Why I say the book is complex is due to its incredibly elevated writing style. This book is almost at the level of academia, and is not an "easy" read. This struck me as a bit odd since I have heard Ravi Zacharias speak on several occasions and he is remarkably intelligent while still remaining very simplistic in his speaking style. This book definitely required me to devote more of my attention to reading it that most other books do.
I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend it to someone that wasn't really willing to "dive in" to a book and really work to get the most out of it. I look forward to reading more of Ravi's works in the future.
June 14, 2015
Ravi Zacharias uses his sharp intellectual, wide range of knowledge, and intelligent logic to create a brilliant work which defends the Christian faith. Being a Christian, this book greatly encouraged me spiritually, and displayed the numerous shortfalls of atheism. This book contains a large variety of quotes and sources from Ravi's personal experiences and stories, literature, philosophy, theology, history, and science. Besides being a excellent apologetic book, I gained a increased understanding of Kant's and Nietzsche's philosophy: the shortfalls and problems of their philosophies, but also, how many atheists use parts of their philosophy and then conveniently discard other parts of their philosophies that contradict or disagree with atheism. Well written, passionately argued, and brilliantly thought out, and worth re-reading.
August 8, 2008
Whether you are dealing with an atheist or have honest questions about God, this is a great book to read. The author’s goal is to break through the intellectual smoke screens and get to the real question – Does my life have meaning? Or to put it another way – Can man live without God? The book is divided up into three sections: 1) Antitheism, 2) What gives life meaning, and 3) Who is Jesus? In the tradition of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer, Zacharias has the ability to weave together philosophy, theology, literature and culture making it interesting and meaningful. I was encouraged in my faith and was reminded that every human has a need to meaning in life and only God can satisfy that enormous need.
December 10, 2012
Ravi starts with the bankruptcy of atheism to provide any answers to life's biggest questions and longings (morality, meaning, purpose, destiny, origin). He moves from there into a argument that all of the above are found uniquely in Jesus, and all other religious systems fail to adequately and compellingly answer those questions. (See also his book, Jesus Among Other Gods.)
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."
This is not a typical Christian book as it addresses apologetic questions from a general standpoint through history and example and then leaves off where most Christian books start.
Ravi is a great speaker; I highly recommend his videos and podcasts as well.
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."
This is not a typical Christian book as it addresses apologetic questions from a general standpoint through history and example and then leaves off where most Christian books start.
Ravi is a great speaker; I highly recommend his videos and podcasts as well.
February 9, 2016
Spending time with Zacharias confirms that I am not as smart as I wish I was. I scrambled for the dictionary on more than one occasion, and a few of his points didn't always digest easily. However, he never fails to amaze and delight. Here's a couple of truth nuggets that resonated with me:
"Morality will always be bent to suit the one whose will is being tested." And "greed ... will always find humilty and virtue repugnant, for they stand in the way of self-aggrandizement."
Of course, as a Christian, I agree with the premise that your belief or non-belief in a divine power defines your perception of truth and your sense of meaning. How could it not?
"Morality will always be bent to suit the one whose will is being tested." And "greed ... will always find humilty and virtue repugnant, for they stand in the way of self-aggrandizement."
Of course, as a Christian, I agree with the premise that your belief or non-belief in a divine power defines your perception of truth and your sense of meaning. How could it not?
December 28, 2015
This is one of the best books I've read. I read it once when it came out in the mid 1990's, and at the time I had heard Dr. Zacharias speak on several of the subjects covered. However, this time through, in 2013, I was even more impressed. I have been studying apologetics for years, but this summarizes both the strengths of the antitheist arguments and the logical result, that is, where those thoughts lead. Then Dr. Zacharias leads us to the line of reasoning no believer should be without. He shows both the fallacies of antitheism as well as the strengths of the case for the existence of God in general and of biblical Christianity in particular. Bravo!
November 7, 2014
Ravi uses a mixed approach when addressing the issues of man living without God. Most of the points he makes start with philosophical arguments, but will follow it up with a real life example of something that's happened in the past for the reader to better understand. I believe Ravi does a wonderful job at describing the implications and problems one will face when they decide God isn't needed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who plans on engaging with our ever-changing culture that cling to the latest and greatest philosophical fads. Ravi is a very talented author and I look forward to reading more by him.
March 27, 2008
This book convinced me that it is an essential part of normal human development for every person to face their mortality and build a view of the infinite for themselves. Ravi builds one of the most compelling and pragmatic arguments for the existence of God and man's need of Him. You do NOT have to possess a judeo-christian paradigm to enjoy this book. If you enjoy the art of good argument and can weigh an argument based on merit, not bias, you will be challenged by this book.
October 12, 2009
Here, Ravi dissects the atheistic world-view, effectively displaying its emptiness and inherent contradictions and offering why the Christian world-view is the only one that makes sense. I would highly recommend this book for atheists/agnostics or those who are seeking. Also, for Christian's who want to know more about why Christianity is a faith that makes sense experientially, empirically and existentially.
March 4, 2011
Mr. Zacharias takes us through several chapters that focus on different issues related to belief vs. non-belief in God. He offeres several well reasoned arguments in favor of belief in God. A good read for those interested in learning more about Christian beliefs or who seek to be able to defend their faith to others. Not an easy read as these are weighty matters so it is best digested in small portions and when your brain is alert.
January 27, 2012
I think this is a very important book. Many ideas here I have never seen before, well argued philosophically. The author was asked to write this form his lectures at Harvard and around the world. He argues for the Christian belief contrasting it to other major world faiths, and what is missing therein. Also rebuts major atheist philosophers. A hard read in two places for me, but very worthwhile and a good companion to my reading of Karen Armstrong.
October 7, 2012
While I disagree with some of his Arminian/Evangelical doctrinal views on Scriptural grounds, his systematic deconstruction of "anti-theism" and his defense of the Christian faith is nothing short of brilliant. I greatly appreciated how he weaved easy-to-understand illustrations in amidst the often technical philosophical discussion.
A must-read for anyone desiring an introduction to Christian apologetics.
A must-read for anyone desiring an introduction to Christian apologetics.
July 3, 2013
Ravi is a genius and while you read his books it feels like you're absorbing and understanding. But as soon as you walk away, it's hard to recall his exact arguments and logic. One of the big takeaways I still remember to this day, however, is that a worldview or religion must answer four basic questions pertaining to life: origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. Atheists can easily answer the first two. They cannot logically defend the last two. Read the book to find out more :)
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