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Thinking?: Answering Life's Five Biggest Questions
Our home is a small, wet, seemingly-insignificant rock spinning around a massive ball of fire, suspended in endless, cold, dark space.
Just think about that for a moment. It’s both terrifying and thought-provoking.
Why are we here?
It’s tempting to just coast through life as though all of this is normal, without ever taking the time to consider that we might just be part of a story that is so much bigger than our own. Andy provides an engaging, honest, and understandable approach to life’s five biggest questions that will challenge your view of the world and how you live in it.
Just think about that for a moment. It’s both terrifying and thought-provoking.
Why are we here?
It’s tempting to just coast through life as though all of this is normal, without ever taking the time to consider that we might just be part of a story that is so much bigger than our own. Andy provides an engaging, honest, and understandable approach to life’s five biggest questions that will challenge your view of the world and how you live in it.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
36 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews
September 1, 2018
Accessible without being condescending. A great introduction.
June 24, 2017
I was hoping for something from this book. It was given to me by one of the well meaning Christian ministers still in my life since I left the ministry myself and lost my belief. I was told that it was a new take on apologetics, eschewing arguments over the historicity of Genesis 1 and Noah's Ark for a reasonable discourse on Christian belief.
I came to this book just after midnight, after finishing John Caputo's Hoping Against Hope, one of three books in which I have experienced God since losing my faith, even without regaining my faith. Caputo is an old man and a philosopher. He respect his readers enough to lay out his argument clearly, and to assure it is sound, without assumptions.
I hoped after that book, after experiencing God in its pages, to be prepared for more reasonable exploration of spirituality.
This book, however, is not what it claims.
It cynically uses the method of so many other books of religion trying to convince the outsider. It begins with some small assumptions, and a few unsound but somewhat innocuous arguments. But the assumptions grow. And the arguments take larger and larger leaps.
It isn't until past halfway through the book that the writer tells the reader that if s/he doesn't accept his arguments s/he is going to burn in hell forever.
Um. That's the opposite of reasonable. You don't get to start a book as though you intend to have a reasonable line of thought, and then 100 pages in, say that anyone who disagrees with you deserves to be eternally tortured.
If that's going to be in your book, lead with it. If you don't start your reasonable arguments by having a reasonable defence for that doozy, then you are being deceptive. And manipulative. And really offensive and disrespectful to your reader.
There was good in this book. But the bad was so bad as to cancel it out and then some.
I did take notes as I read, to try to follow the reasoning in a book that claimed to be about reason. It fell apart quickly. But I suspended my disbelief (as I was sometimes explicitly asked to do by the author) up until the (surprisingly long and dramatic) hell bit.
You can find my notes, marked by page number, in my reading history under my review.
I came to this book just after midnight, after finishing John Caputo's Hoping Against Hope, one of three books in which I have experienced God since losing my faith, even without regaining my faith. Caputo is an old man and a philosopher. He respect his readers enough to lay out his argument clearly, and to assure it is sound, without assumptions.
I hoped after that book, after experiencing God in its pages, to be prepared for more reasonable exploration of spirituality.
This book, however, is not what it claims.
It cynically uses the method of so many other books of religion trying to convince the outsider. It begins with some small assumptions, and a few unsound but somewhat innocuous arguments. But the assumptions grow. And the arguments take larger and larger leaps.
It isn't until past halfway through the book that the writer tells the reader that if s/he doesn't accept his arguments s/he is going to burn in hell forever.
Um. That's the opposite of reasonable. You don't get to start a book as though you intend to have a reasonable line of thought, and then 100 pages in, say that anyone who disagrees with you deserves to be eternally tortured.
If that's going to be in your book, lead with it. If you don't start your reasonable arguments by having a reasonable defence for that doozy, then you are being deceptive. And manipulative. And really offensive and disrespectful to your reader.
There was good in this book. But the bad was so bad as to cancel it out and then some.
I did take notes as I read, to try to follow the reasoning in a book that claimed to be about reason. It fell apart quickly. But I suspended my disbelief (as I was sometimes explicitly asked to do by the author) up until the (surprisingly long and dramatic) hell bit.
You can find my notes, marked by page number, in my reading history under my review.
November 25, 2023
I read this for an Apologetics course - it certainly isn’t the best apologetics book I have encountered. It has more personal stories from the author then I would have preferred and I expected it to be a little more about the evidence. 3 ⭐️
January 5, 2017
This is a good and thoughtful consideration of some basic philosophical questions for a general audience. It would be an excellent text for a deep discussion series.
June 2, 2018
An excellent intro book to apologetics. Great for skeptics who want the Christian faith put simply.
August 21, 2019
This book can really provoke, inner self thinking- deep thinking, and can help realize who you are, and what on earth are all humans doing here, on this planet, we call home.
February 6, 2021
Really accessible, compelling personal testimony of Steiger's own wrestling and research into life big questions.
January 10, 2025
Excellent
This is a great primer for a new Christian. Read this and move on to another deeper study. I found this on wesleyhuff.com.
This is a great primer for a new Christian. Read this and move on to another deeper study. I found this on wesleyhuff.com.
January 24, 2016
I came across this book when our Church decided to use it (and the accompanying video series) as part of our Small Group discussion. I've really enjoyed the discussions, questions and thinking (no pun intended) encouraged through this book.
Many of the questions raised by Andy ultimately helped to strengthen my worldview and faith. When you confess to a certain belief - a certain truth - you shouldn't follow it blindly. Asking questions, raising skeptical doubt and discussing issues in a constructive manner help strengthen your core beliefs. Thinking? helps promote these avenues of thought and discussion.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who isn't shy to think about the difficult questions.
Many of the questions raised by Andy ultimately helped to strengthen my worldview and faith. When you confess to a certain belief - a certain truth - you shouldn't follow it blindly. Asking questions, raising skeptical doubt and discussing issues in a constructive manner help strengthen your core beliefs. Thinking? helps promote these avenues of thought and discussion.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who isn't shy to think about the difficult questions.
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April 15, 2018Good read, enjoyable stories and well written.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 reviews