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Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion
Although many people suggest that Christianity is declining, research indicates that it continues to be the world's most popular worldview. But even so, the Christian faith includes many controversial beliefs that non-Christians find hard to accept. This book explores 12 issues that might cause someone to dismiss orthodox Christianity--issues such as the existence of suffering, the Bible's teaching on gender and sexuality, the reality of heaven and hell, the authority of the Bible, and more. Showing how the best research from sociology, science, and psychology doesn't disagree with but actually aligns with claims found in the Bible, these chapters help skeptics understand why these issues are signposts, rather than roadblocks, to faith in Christ.
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First published March 25, 2019
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About the author
Rebecca McLaughlin
43 books531 followersRebecca McLaughlin (PhD, Cambridge University) is the cofounder of Vocable Communications, a communications consulting and training firm. She is also a regular contributor to the Gospel Coalition and previously spent nine years working with top academics at the Veritas Forum, which hosts forums on college campuses with conversations that pursue answers to life's hardest questions.
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September 29, 2022
I found this book to be both edifying and encouraging. Each chapter focuses on an issue that can be a stumbling block to accepting Christianity with topics including from "Aren't We Better Off Without Religion," "Doesn't Religion Cause Violence," Doesn't Christianity Denigrate Women," "Isn't Christianity Homophobic," and "How Could a Loving God Allow So Much Suffering?" There are twelve chapters in all. Each includes analogies, personal examples, and lots of footnotes from the Bible and other sources. Overall, the tone was a bit dry for my tastes. I did find it to be very helpful in strengthening my own faith as well as helping me to see more clearly the other side of the argument.
This quote does a great job of summarizing the book and its purpose:
In Jesus's world, we find connective tissue between the truths of science and morality. We find a basis for saying that all human beings are created equal, and a deep call to love across diversity. We find a name for evil, and a means of forgiveness. We find a version of love that is so much deeper than our current heart can hold, and a true intimacy better than our weak bodies could ever experience. We find a diagnosis of human nature as shot through with sin and yet redeemable by grace. We find a call to care for the poor, oppressed, and lonely, a call springing from the heart of God himself and grounded in the hope that one day every tear will be wiped away, every stomach will be filled, and every outcast embraced. But we do not find glib answers or an easy road. Instead, we find a call to come and die.
If you want to know more, I encourage you to read this book. Also try her new title: "Jesus Through the Eyes of Women."
This quote does a great job of summarizing the book and its purpose:
In Jesus's world, we find connective tissue between the truths of science and morality. We find a basis for saying that all human beings are created equal, and a deep call to love across diversity. We find a name for evil, and a means of forgiveness. We find a version of love that is so much deeper than our current heart can hold, and a true intimacy better than our weak bodies could ever experience. We find a diagnosis of human nature as shot through with sin and yet redeemable by grace. We find a call to care for the poor, oppressed, and lonely, a call springing from the heart of God himself and grounded in the hope that one day every tear will be wiped away, every stomach will be filled, and every outcast embraced. But we do not find glib answers or an easy road. Instead, we find a call to come and die.
If you want to know more, I encourage you to read this book. Also try her new title: "Jesus Through the Eyes of Women."
June 25, 2020
Rebecca McLaughlin, a fairly new face in the apologetics crowd, responds to the most common objections to Christianity with charity and facts. As McLaughlin shows, the claims that Christianity denigrates women and promotes slavery are not only counter-factual but would have also surprised the apostles and other early Church leaders like Aquinas and Augustine. Each rebuttal to each objection is concise and McLaughlin treats the critics with nothing but respect.
May 2, 2019
I know it’s only May, but I’m declaring it now: This is the 2019 Christian book of the year.
May 27, 2019
What first attracted me to Rebecca McLaughlin’s
Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion
was the title. I actually assumed it was a non-Christian book. Second was the author: I read a piece of hers on TGC that I liked. Third, to be honest, was that Crossway was willing to give me a free copy in exchange for an honest review, no strings attached.
So here I go: McLaughlin is easy to read, has done some good homework, has a compelling personal story, and writes with a British accent so clearly she is smart okay you can’t deny it. Like Tim Keller in his The Reason for God , McLaughlin is delivering the fruit of her years involved in frontline Christian apologetics. In Keller’s case, that was with young, upwardly mobile New York urbanites. In McLaughlin’s, it was through her work with the Veritas Forum. She has an evangelical upbringing and a Cambridge education, a PhD in literature. Her twelve chapters—one per objection to the faith—are generally solid, evidentialisticky but sophisticated but lay-friendly treatments that have certainly been honed by actual use in the real world. As a presuppositionalist (who doesn’t like to ride the label, and who believes in the value of evidence because Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15), I observe that my own tribe’s arguments don’t always get that kind of honing… I don’t seem often to run into people who can really understand what I’m saying when I go presupp on them; it’s all too philosophically demanding. I’m in the process of wondering if the viewpoint is mainly a help for me (which isn’t a bad thing). So I appreciate McLaughlin’s approach.
That approach makes for a lot of individual points of insight, and of telling argument.
Here are a few.
I found this helpful and eloquent:
This, too:
She found a helpful and beautiful and simple way of saying something I’ve tried very hard to say many times myself in writing. I greatly admired this:
This is totally unfair, because what can a writer do, and I’m not doing my job as a reviewer if I can’t put my finger on something—but there is a je ne sais quoi that Keller has that McLaughlin lacks. His work felt new; hers felt not-as-new but with flashes of new (indeed, some illustrations are quite recent). McLaughlin wrote this book in four months while pregnant and doing other things, and though on the one hand she did a remarkable job given those circumstances (circumstances I hope never to face in my writing), and though she had a deep well to draw from in her Veritas work, I do think a little more literary polishing would have helped. Maybe, however, I’m reflecting the point in my own life at which I read each book. When I read Keller, his arguments were fresh. As I read McLaughlin, I’m a decade further down the path of my own apologetic thinking and experience.
Where McLaughlin shines in a way Keller may not—and, hey, they’re on the same team, and I want both to win in their evangelism—is in her sex and her sexual story. I resist identity politics, and yet it seems to me that the author’s being a woman is a genuinely valuable thing, if only because it may win her excellent work a hearing. And her sexual story, involving unconsummated lifelong same-sex attraction and a happy marriage to a man, checks off another box in the intersectional game many educated people are playing now. McLaughlin doesn’t play that game, but still, perhaps her story will be God’s means of getting her some non-Christian readers. I pray it will.
A few times she stated biblical truth about gender or creation/evolution in what I would call an ever-so-slightly-waffly way. There is truth here, for example, but I’ll offer a critique after the quote:
She does have a point, but I prefer Alastair Roberts’ approach (see the first question and answer here), one in which culture is not dross but a God-created good—one, surely, that has been touched by the fall like the rest of creation, but one that we can never fully dust off anyway, because it is part of creation.
But each time I felt a little wary of where she was going, she followed up with bracing, well-written avowals of culturally offensive Christian truths. Like this:
This is another argument I’ve tried to use multiple times: the sexual revolution is the biggest con the patriarchy has ever played. What was touted as liberation for all has ended up benefitting the people who held the most power in the first place.
My most significant critique of McLaughlin is a presuppositionalist one: I would have liked to see more Bible, even and especially in a book that she hopes non-Christians might read. But it isn’t missing; there’s a beautiful section on the resurrection of Lazarus, for example. In my experience, people who disagree just don’t listen. By quoting more Bible, I’m making it so they just don’t listen to God rather than just don’t listen to me.
McLaughlin handles the standard apologetic questions about the exclusivity of Christianity and its moral track record; the historicity of the Bible; the relationship of science and faith; feminism and homosexuality; slavery; and hell and the problem of evil and suffering. And perhaps my favorite chapter was that last one, the one about suffering. McLaughlin showed a theologically careful understanding of the story of Scripture, and she gave this great illustration (albeit by throwing her child under the literary bus; but it was worth it, and her little one will grow):
You do get to know Rebecca through her book, and I liked that. She isn’t a brain on a stick, reciting arguments seriatim. But she is surely smart, and I will look for more of her work in the future.
So here I go: McLaughlin is easy to read, has done some good homework, has a compelling personal story, and writes with a British accent so clearly she is smart okay you can’t deny it. Like Tim Keller in his The Reason for God , McLaughlin is delivering the fruit of her years involved in frontline Christian apologetics. In Keller’s case, that was with young, upwardly mobile New York urbanites. In McLaughlin’s, it was through her work with the Veritas Forum. She has an evangelical upbringing and a Cambridge education, a PhD in literature. Her twelve chapters—one per objection to the faith—are generally solid, evidentialisticky but sophisticated but lay-friendly treatments that have certainly been honed by actual use in the real world. As a presuppositionalist (who doesn’t like to ride the label, and who believes in the value of evidence because Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15), I observe that my own tribe’s arguments don’t always get that kind of honing… I don’t seem often to run into people who can really understand what I’m saying when I go presupp on them; it’s all too philosophically demanding. I’m in the process of wondering if the viewpoint is mainly a help for me (which isn’t a bad thing). So I appreciate McLaughlin’s approach.
That approach makes for a lot of individual points of insight, and of telling argument.
Here are a few.
I found this helpful and eloquent:
Calling Christianity “Western” is like calling literacy “Western.” Western culture has undoubtedly been shaped by literacy, and Westerners have sought to impose literacy on others—often to the detriment of traditional living. But there are at least three reasons why no one in his or her right mind would claim that literacy is innately Western: first, literacy did not originate in the West; second, most literate people today are not Westerners; and third, it is frankly offensive to the majority world to suggest that they are literate only by appropriation. The same reasons make the claim that Christianity is a Western religion indefensible. What’s more, the Bible itself rejects that claim.… Most of the world’s Christians are neither white nor Western, and Christianity is getting less white Western by the day.
This, too:
At the cross, the most powerful man who ever lived submitted to the most brutal death ever died, to save the powerless. Christianity does not glorify violence. It humiliates it.
She found a helpful and beautiful and simple way of saying something I’ve tried very hard to say many times myself in writing. I greatly admired this:
Much as I value science, I do not believe that scientific knowledge is the most important kind. The facts about ourselves and our world that are measurable by science may be the easiest to verify. What formula governs the speed at which an object falls to the ground? How high is the window ledge on which I’m standing? But were I to jump, no news report would confine itself to the exact distance from the ledge to the ground, or the precise effects of the impact on my body. The primary question people would ask would not be how but why.
This is totally unfair, because what can a writer do, and I’m not doing my job as a reviewer if I can’t put my finger on something—but there is a je ne sais quoi that Keller has that McLaughlin lacks. His work felt new; hers felt not-as-new but with flashes of new (indeed, some illustrations are quite recent). McLaughlin wrote this book in four months while pregnant and doing other things, and though on the one hand she did a remarkable job given those circumstances (circumstances I hope never to face in my writing), and though she had a deep well to draw from in her Veritas work, I do think a little more literary polishing would have helped. Maybe, however, I’m reflecting the point in my own life at which I read each book. When I read Keller, his arguments were fresh. As I read McLaughlin, I’m a decade further down the path of my own apologetic thinking and experience.
Where McLaughlin shines in a way Keller may not—and, hey, they’re on the same team, and I want both to win in their evangelism—is in her sex and her sexual story. I resist identity politics, and yet it seems to me that the author’s being a woman is a genuinely valuable thing, if only because it may win her excellent work a hearing. And her sexual story, involving unconsummated lifelong same-sex attraction and a happy marriage to a man, checks off another box in the intersectional game many educated people are playing now. McLaughlin doesn’t play that game, but still, perhaps her story will be God’s means of getting her some non-Christian readers. I pray it will.
A few times she stated biblical truth about gender or creation/evolution in what I would call an ever-so-slightly-waffly way. There is truth here, for example, but I’ll offer a critique after the quote:
Christians must resist defining manhood and womanhood according to unbiblical gender stereotypes. As we explored in the previous chapter, the Bible calls men and women to distinct roles in some contexts. But our gender stereotypes are not prescribed by Scripture. Like paleontologists sifting through the dirt, we must excavate what the Bible actually says, while dusting off the cultural dross.
She does have a point, but I prefer Alastair Roberts’ approach (see the first question and answer here), one in which culture is not dross but a God-created good—one, surely, that has been touched by the fall like the rest of creation, but one that we can never fully dust off anyway, because it is part of creation.
But each time I felt a little wary of where she was going, she followed up with bracing, well-written avowals of culturally offensive Christian truths. Like this:
Is it possible that what women have gained in freedom and professional opportunity many have lost in the sexual revolution that cloaked what many men wanted—commitment-free sex—under the mantle of liberating women? Two years ago, an agnostic friend who teaches at a world-class university told me that she routinely has female students ask her why they are having all the (sometimes barely consensual) sex expected of a modern woman but not experiencing the promised happiness.
This is another argument I’ve tried to use multiple times: the sexual revolution is the biggest con the patriarchy has ever played. What was touted as liberation for all has ended up benefitting the people who held the most power in the first place.
My most significant critique of McLaughlin is a presuppositionalist one: I would have liked to see more Bible, even and especially in a book that she hopes non-Christians might read. But it isn’t missing; there’s a beautiful section on the resurrection of Lazarus, for example. In my experience, people who disagree just don’t listen. By quoting more Bible, I’m making it so they just don’t listen to God rather than just don’t listen to me.
McLaughlin handles the standard apologetic questions about the exclusivity of Christianity and its moral track record; the historicity of the Bible; the relationship of science and faith; feminism and homosexuality; slavery; and hell and the problem of evil and suffering. And perhaps my favorite chapter was that last one, the one about suffering. McLaughlin showed a theologically careful understanding of the story of Scripture, and she gave this great illustration (albeit by throwing her child under the literary bus; but it was worth it, and her little one will grow):
My eight-year-old is an avid reader and an aspiring writer. Her vocabulary is broad, her imagination is wild, but her stories are dull. Why? Because she strives for happiness throughout. Without suffering, her characters cannot develop. Without fellowship in suffering, they cannot truly bond. The Bible begins and ends with happiness, but the meat of the story is raw. Christians are promised that one day, God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Rev. 21:4). But we are not promised that God will not allow us to cry in the first place. What end could possibly be worth all this pain? Jesus says he is.
You do get to know Rebecca through her book, and I liked that. She isn’t a brain on a stick, reciting arguments seriatim. But she is surely smart, and I will look for more of her work in the future.
December 25, 2020
Confronting Christianity is a book that promised to critically attack Christianity then prove that it does in fact hold up under criticism. Instead of all that we got a book that was clearly written by a Christian who cannot properly question their faith, for people of that same mindset. Let me explain.
First of all a few disclaimers: If you are looking for a book that truly gets to the heart of why so many people question Christianity this is not the book. If you are looking for a book that explores the problems with Christianity from an unbiased point of view this is not the book. If you are looking for a book that honestly and critically but from a completely unbiased standpoint, shows you just why Christianity is the way THIS IS NOT THE BOOK.
Rebecca McLaughlin never actually gets to the rout of the questions she presents. In every single chapter she bombards you with information that rarely pertains to the topic. In the entire book you never really get a straight forward answer and even then she flounders in her attempts to justify her convictions. Throughout the entire book it is painfully obvious that the author is a Christian and this is because of the blatant confirmation bias that can be felt throughout the book. This book had a lot of potential that sadly got completely wasted.
Confronting Christianity is an amazing book if all you’re looking to do is confirm the beliefs you already have. However if you need a book that truly tackles Christianity a book that presents a viable argument for Christianity this is not your book.
First of all a few disclaimers: If you are looking for a book that truly gets to the heart of why so many people question Christianity this is not the book. If you are looking for a book that explores the problems with Christianity from an unbiased point of view this is not the book. If you are looking for a book that honestly and critically but from a completely unbiased standpoint, shows you just why Christianity is the way THIS IS NOT THE BOOK.
Rebecca McLaughlin never actually gets to the rout of the questions she presents. In every single chapter she bombards you with information that rarely pertains to the topic. In the entire book you never really get a straight forward answer and even then she flounders in her attempts to justify her convictions. Throughout the entire book it is painfully obvious that the author is a Christian and this is because of the blatant confirmation bias that can be felt throughout the book. This book had a lot of potential that sadly got completely wasted.
Confronting Christianity is an amazing book if all you’re looking to do is confirm the beliefs you already have. However if you need a book that truly tackles Christianity a book that presents a viable argument for Christianity this is not your book.
June 29, 2020
Meh probably more like a 2.5 if I’m honest.
The problem I have with this book isn’t the content but that the content presented does not always answer the questions presented. For most of the chapters, I was left wondering how this actually confronts Christianity, when the “arguments” are surface level, and at times, not relevant to the question she is arguing.
She starts each chapter with a story/analogy (no problem there) and then summarized what she will “unpack” throughout the chapter. But, more often than not, she just opened the suitcase and stuffed more in there without unpacking at all. At times she even says that there is not space in this book to really unpack this. Which I wouldn’t have a problem with, if her book wasn’t called “Confronting Christianity”. If you’re going to confront something as heavy as this, maybe take the time to dig a little more below the surface.
The problem I have with this book isn’t the content but that the content presented does not always answer the questions presented. For most of the chapters, I was left wondering how this actually confronts Christianity, when the “arguments” are surface level, and at times, not relevant to the question she is arguing.
She starts each chapter with a story/analogy (no problem there) and then summarized what she will “unpack” throughout the chapter. But, more often than not, she just opened the suitcase and stuffed more in there without unpacking at all. At times she even says that there is not space in this book to really unpack this. Which I wouldn’t have a problem with, if her book wasn’t called “Confronting Christianity”. If you’re going to confront something as heavy as this, maybe take the time to dig a little more below the surface.
February 16, 2023
In typical Christian apologist fashion, she gives praise to her religious beliefs as being the ultimate meaning of our existence and no others belief system can match what Christianity offers, except she isn’t alone in her thinking that her faith has ultimate meaning. Other religions say that same thing, but why should she look into them when she has “the way, the truth and the life “? While I will say she was more generous with the failings of her faiths past, she shields her faith from the skeptical criticism it deserves in order to find out if it’s even true. But that’s not necessary, because her bible has already said how true it is...so get on board or suffer eternal death and punishment....yay! She’s a bright woman, who has a love affair with an invisible man in surety that’s will and does please her more than the lesbian love she so longs for. But somehow god made her that way? Ahhh, to suffer and crucify her wants and needs for a greater hope of eternal love with this man, whom she probably would love to have been a woman. It’s an interesting but all too common look into the smoke and mirrors world of an educated person justifying belief in an ancient resurrection story. Cling to it with all your might girlfriend, sounds like you need it to have ultimate meaning for your life. Cheers 🍻
June 22, 2021
Truly a pleasant read. Its a pretty basic defense of Christianity as its practiced today in the USA. Does it answer all questions or truly "Confront Christianity", well no. But if you are a professed Christian there is little here that you will find distasteful, or even that you would disagree with.
To me it skims the surface and I did honestly want something more in depth and questioning. But you can't fault the author for writing the book that she thought was necessary to confront the questions she thought were important.
Or perhaps she just wants people who question the faith to be led to a few simple examples of how the faith still holds water even if you have doubt. If so then its a bit dishonest. Real questions don't just smooth over difficulties they go to the heart of contradictions, give new evidence and create doubt where the reader thought they had none. In that way you confront in every sense a religion, not just give pat answers to those who can be easily led.
True faith demands challenge, not this pablum.
If I was to raise twelve confronting challenges I would choose something like the following:
1) How and why did Christianity go from a plurality of thought to a narrow spectrum of beliefs?
2) Judaism was a central aspect to Christian life from its very beginning, in what way do we justify its seperation over the millennia? What have we gained? What have we lost?
3) Christianity has been tied with personal repentence and salvation as its most fundamental teaching, in a modern age with its confessional culture and where privacy is so diminished how can these elements be preserved?
4) If the Catholic church no longer seeks to oppose Protestant doctrines but rather seeks ways to bridge the differences with what it now sees as legitimate reform and traditions, then what are the protestant religions protesting against?
5) Sexual abuse and the corrupt abuse of power generally in the Christian religion has brought into question the role of authority. In what way can the teachings of Christ and the Church fathers be seen as being perverted by these abhorations or in some ways the origin of these problems?
6) With increasing interelations developing between world religions believers of all faiths appear to be converging. Has the Christian faith lost its way when it so clearly converging with other faiths? Or is this a central tenant of the faith being realized?
7) Has sexuality in Christian theology taken on a value and definition over its history that now needs to be reassessed? The fundamental principals that underlay the development of a sexual ethic in Christian theology developed over centuries and may now be at a point where new realities call into question what were the fundamental principals that have guided us until now.
8) Where does life begin and end? Never has the power to preserve life before birth and extend life longer been possible. Is it life as envisioned and stated at the foundation of Christianity? If not where can we place the theological understanding of life?
9) Islam developed with an understanding of Christianity that provides for respect and tolerance. This has not developed as a scriptural direction as such within Christianity. Is it not time to view the relationship of Christianity to Islam as one that can both inform our own faith and provide the basis for mutual support of our faiths?
10) Christianity has many contradictions within it, many of which can not be resolved as they are mysteries of the faith. As such is not fundamental doubt and humility in the face of our poverty of understanding an element that is an important tenant of our faith?
11) There are many areas of Christian theology that can be augmented by other faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Confuscianism. Can we not see Christianity within a panoply of religious thought? Though we are of different faiths are we not compelled by our faiths as a religious duty to teach and learn in mutual respect?
12) The overbearing simplicity that American Christianity insists upon, with a reductionism that makes an absurdity of the complexity of religious thought has provided support for a ruling ideology of governments both Democrat and Republican that has supported the destruction of the environment and the endless wars that have created havoc in the past few decades. In what way can we say contemporary movements reducing Christianity to a simple logic is a sin or really the fundamental essence of Christianity itself?
Here I have raised twelve questions to challenge Christianity. Each has been selected to pin point the faith of a society that has either abandoned its roots in that faith or has changed radically in its faith from its origins. Nothing stands still, even faith has a fashion. We have expanded our society broadly to connect with a global society. Our roots in historical development are not lost but always seen as the source of faith. We examine here the broad challenge of interconnection and take stock of our heritage. How have the origins been betrayed, developed or challenged? You must decide, this is about you. No one can decide for you in matters of faith.
Along with this challenge we offer another. The challenge to Atheism. No where can you hide from the moral dilemmas faced by Christianity, and least of all in not believing in a God. The question becomes one of heritage and the moral obligations imposed by circumstance. You find yourself here and now, you can not avoid the choice and its moral repercussions. If you have been raised in the modern world you face the world through a prism of understanding and moral considerations that are largely Christian. We can not escape the effect of a globalization that had Christianity as its traveling companion.
For this reason I would add in a Final Challenge to unbelief. Unbelief I will argue is not a tenable position either, but a refusal to decide upon the moral issues we face. That Christianity has not give us a simple answer, means we must find the answer. Whether we claim a faith and the existence of a God is irrelevant to that struggle, the moral problems we face will not go away. Faith is a pathway to salvation, but only if we use it, only if we work for it.
To me it skims the surface and I did honestly want something more in depth and questioning. But you can't fault the author for writing the book that she thought was necessary to confront the questions she thought were important.
Or perhaps she just wants people who question the faith to be led to a few simple examples of how the faith still holds water even if you have doubt. If so then its a bit dishonest. Real questions don't just smooth over difficulties they go to the heart of contradictions, give new evidence and create doubt where the reader thought they had none. In that way you confront in every sense a religion, not just give pat answers to those who can be easily led.
True faith demands challenge, not this pablum.
If I was to raise twelve confronting challenges I would choose something like the following:
1) How and why did Christianity go from a plurality of thought to a narrow spectrum of beliefs?
2) Judaism was a central aspect to Christian life from its very beginning, in what way do we justify its seperation over the millennia? What have we gained? What have we lost?
3) Christianity has been tied with personal repentence and salvation as its most fundamental teaching, in a modern age with its confessional culture and where privacy is so diminished how can these elements be preserved?
4) If the Catholic church no longer seeks to oppose Protestant doctrines but rather seeks ways to bridge the differences with what it now sees as legitimate reform and traditions, then what are the protestant religions protesting against?
5) Sexual abuse and the corrupt abuse of power generally in the Christian religion has brought into question the role of authority. In what way can the teachings of Christ and the Church fathers be seen as being perverted by these abhorations or in some ways the origin of these problems?
6) With increasing interelations developing between world religions believers of all faiths appear to be converging. Has the Christian faith lost its way when it so clearly converging with other faiths? Or is this a central tenant of the faith being realized?
7) Has sexuality in Christian theology taken on a value and definition over its history that now needs to be reassessed? The fundamental principals that underlay the development of a sexual ethic in Christian theology developed over centuries and may now be at a point where new realities call into question what were the fundamental principals that have guided us until now.
8) Where does life begin and end? Never has the power to preserve life before birth and extend life longer been possible. Is it life as envisioned and stated at the foundation of Christianity? If not where can we place the theological understanding of life?
9) Islam developed with an understanding of Christianity that provides for respect and tolerance. This has not developed as a scriptural direction as such within Christianity. Is it not time to view the relationship of Christianity to Islam as one that can both inform our own faith and provide the basis for mutual support of our faiths?
10) Christianity has many contradictions within it, many of which can not be resolved as they are mysteries of the faith. As such is not fundamental doubt and humility in the face of our poverty of understanding an element that is an important tenant of our faith?
11) There are many areas of Christian theology that can be augmented by other faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Confuscianism. Can we not see Christianity within a panoply of religious thought? Though we are of different faiths are we not compelled by our faiths as a religious duty to teach and learn in mutual respect?
12) The overbearing simplicity that American Christianity insists upon, with a reductionism that makes an absurdity of the complexity of religious thought has provided support for a ruling ideology of governments both Democrat and Republican that has supported the destruction of the environment and the endless wars that have created havoc in the past few decades. In what way can we say contemporary movements reducing Christianity to a simple logic is a sin or really the fundamental essence of Christianity itself?
Here I have raised twelve questions to challenge Christianity. Each has been selected to pin point the faith of a society that has either abandoned its roots in that faith or has changed radically in its faith from its origins. Nothing stands still, even faith has a fashion. We have expanded our society broadly to connect with a global society. Our roots in historical development are not lost but always seen as the source of faith. We examine here the broad challenge of interconnection and take stock of our heritage. How have the origins been betrayed, developed or challenged? You must decide, this is about you. No one can decide for you in matters of faith.
Along with this challenge we offer another. The challenge to Atheism. No where can you hide from the moral dilemmas faced by Christianity, and least of all in not believing in a God. The question becomes one of heritage and the moral obligations imposed by circumstance. You find yourself here and now, you can not avoid the choice and its moral repercussions. If you have been raised in the modern world you face the world through a prism of understanding and moral considerations that are largely Christian. We can not escape the effect of a globalization that had Christianity as its traveling companion.
For this reason I would add in a Final Challenge to unbelief. Unbelief I will argue is not a tenable position either, but a refusal to decide upon the moral issues we face. That Christianity has not give us a simple answer, means we must find the answer. Whether we claim a faith and the existence of a God is irrelevant to that struggle, the moral problems we face will not go away. Faith is a pathway to salvation, but only if we use it, only if we work for it.
March 16, 2020
Confronting Christianity is an incredibly helpful book for all believers. I feel more equipped to share my faith, particularly in the highly educated, academic environment my husband and I find ourselves in while he's attending Tuck Business School at Dartmouth. You definitely want to get the hard copy for your bookshelf, as I envision myself coming back to this book as a reference many times over the years. A must read, in my opinion!
November 9, 2023
Have been listening to the audio-book...
Great job done by the narrator!!!
Number one Apologet and defender of the Christian faith at the highest level is still C. S. Lewis for me.
But Rebecca McLaughlin is also very good, she gives incentives for thinking and finding answers to difficult questions concerning the Christian faith...
Full recommendation to all my friends which have kept an open mind!!!
Great job done by the narrator!!!
Number one Apologet and defender of the Christian faith at the highest level is still C. S. Lewis for me.
But Rebecca McLaughlin is also very good, she gives incentives for thinking and finding answers to difficult questions concerning the Christian faith...
Full recommendation to all my friends which have kept an open mind!!!
July 1, 2019
Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion lays down a foundation of sinewy truth that pushes back against the temptation of simplistic answers or the tendency toward complacent dismissal of thoughtful skepticism.
The truth is that Christianity will stand up to scrutiny, but Christians must also stand up and become informed adherents to our faith as we strive to love God fully–heart, soul, and mind. McLaughlin unpacks twelve questions, incubated in our post-Christian culture, to pound against the pavement of our well-loved orthodoxy:
1. Aren’t we better off without religion?
An honest glance into history’s rear view mirror can hardly miss the positive impact of Christianity upon human flourishing. Biblical principles dovetail with findings of modern psychology and if you scratch the surface of many ethical ideals, there’s a Christian principle waiting to be found.
2. Doesn’t Christianity crush diversity?
Actually, Christianity is the most “diverse, multiethnic, and multicultural movement in all of history.” (Loc 837)
3. How can you say there’s only one true faith?
We’ve confused respect for other people’s beliefs with respect for other people. McLaughlin asserts that challenging another person’s beliefs is actually a sign of of respect, and it is logically impossible for two diametrically opposed belief systems to be equally true. “Claiming that monotheism fits with an all-religions-are-one approach is like claiming someone can be in two places at one time: it’s possible, but only if you kill the person first and dismember the body!” (Loc 1069)
4. Doesn’t religion hinder morality?
If Christianity had to stand or fall based on the performance of Christ’s followers, it was doomed before it ever began! However, “to be a Christian is to acknowledge your utter moral failure and to throw yourself on the mercy of the only truly good man who ever lived.” (Loc 1369)
5. Doesn’t religion cause violence?
This question fails to take into consideration the breadth of religiously motivated violence beyond Christianity and the devastation that has been caused by non-religious (and anti-religious) ideologies bent on cementing their hold and wiping out their detractors.
6. How can you take the Bible literally?
It is more important to approach the Bible literately than literally, meaning that, just as with any other written text, it is necessary to read with genre in mind. I would not apply Shakespeare in the same way that I apply a recipe book, and I should not read Psalms or a parable in the way I read the Gospels or the stories of the patriarchs in Genesis.
7. Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?
Since Christians developed the scientific method and have been well-represented in scientific discovery throughout history, this misunderstanding is rooted in a deficient view of the purpose of science. “Christians and atheists are vulnerable to the same mistake: the idea that science will either prove or disprove theism. A more fruitful approach is to look at the world around us and ask ourselves, does this seem coherent with the possibility of God?” (Loc 2533)
8. Doesn’t Christianity denigrate women?
Criticism of the role of women in Christianity is often based in a poor reading of Paul’s epistles that equate his words with “traditional” gender roles and impose male “headship” in ways God did not intend. Having said that, biblical marriage is a metaphor soaked in mutual sacrifice and death to selfishness, and the role of Christian women in the New Testament church sets the bar high for us today to follow in the sandaled footsteps of our first-century sisters in Christ.
9. Isn’t Christianity homophobic?
Throwing baby and bath water out the window in one fell swoop, evangelicals have elevated marriage at the expense of what McLaughlin refers to as “one-body unity.” Since “we who are many are one body,” (I Corinthians 10:16-17) friendship is “not the consolation prize for those who fail to gain romantic love.” (Loc 3217) However, the Bible is also clear that Jesus preached a morality that was (and still is) offensive to heterosexuals and homosexuals alike.
10. Doesn’t the Bible condone slavery?
When the Bible describes a scene from history, it is often merely descriptive without being prescriptive. Having said that, slave terminology is used in the New Testament as a thing to be desired. Paul routinely rejects any higher title than “bond servant,” and when he refers to Onesimus, an actual slave who became a Christ follower, he calls him “a brother, beloved in the Lord.” It is a mistake to let the racism of white church leaders of the past define Christianity going forward.
11. How could a loving God allow so much suffering?
This may be the most difficult question McLaughlin tackles in her book because it’s one that we all encounter sooner or later, and it’s easy to fall into error in our efforts to “excuse” God for the problem of evil on a fallen planet. She bases her examination of suffering in the death of Lazarus and the crisis of faith this caused for Mary and Martha. Jesus self-identification as “the resurrection and the life” is a statement to the grieving sisters that “your greatest need is not to have your brother back again. It’s to have me.” Suffering sifts our desires, and the instinct that rises first is to push back. It is in this pushing back that relationship begins to take root.
12. How could a loving God send people to hell?
Neither heaven nor hell, in biblical terms, are geographic localities. While heaven is “shorthand for the full blessing of relationship with God,” hell is separation and rejection. The scandalous grace of God is all that stands between hell and every human rebel on the planet.
Perhaps you are one who bumps into a cocktail of these twelve questions on the daily. Or, maybe you (like me!) are happy for the insight they give, but are rarely pressed into a defensive stance. Thinking about what we believe helps to solidify our faith, strengthening the bones of belief as we resist the subtle slippage toward lazy theology. God is greatly glorified by a probing faith that puts truth on the table for a rigorous discussion that confronts doubt and comes away even stronger.
Many thanks to Crossway for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.
The truth is that Christianity will stand up to scrutiny, but Christians must also stand up and become informed adherents to our faith as we strive to love God fully–heart, soul, and mind. McLaughlin unpacks twelve questions, incubated in our post-Christian culture, to pound against the pavement of our well-loved orthodoxy:
1. Aren’t we better off without religion?
An honest glance into history’s rear view mirror can hardly miss the positive impact of Christianity upon human flourishing. Biblical principles dovetail with findings of modern psychology and if you scratch the surface of many ethical ideals, there’s a Christian principle waiting to be found.
2. Doesn’t Christianity crush diversity?
Actually, Christianity is the most “diverse, multiethnic, and multicultural movement in all of history.” (Loc 837)
3. How can you say there’s only one true faith?
We’ve confused respect for other people’s beliefs with respect for other people. McLaughlin asserts that challenging another person’s beliefs is actually a sign of of respect, and it is logically impossible for two diametrically opposed belief systems to be equally true. “Claiming that monotheism fits with an all-religions-are-one approach is like claiming someone can be in two places at one time: it’s possible, but only if you kill the person first and dismember the body!” (Loc 1069)
4. Doesn’t religion hinder morality?
If Christianity had to stand or fall based on the performance of Christ’s followers, it was doomed before it ever began! However, “to be a Christian is to acknowledge your utter moral failure and to throw yourself on the mercy of the only truly good man who ever lived.” (Loc 1369)
5. Doesn’t religion cause violence?
This question fails to take into consideration the breadth of religiously motivated violence beyond Christianity and the devastation that has been caused by non-religious (and anti-religious) ideologies bent on cementing their hold and wiping out their detractors.
6. How can you take the Bible literally?
It is more important to approach the Bible literately than literally, meaning that, just as with any other written text, it is necessary to read with genre in mind. I would not apply Shakespeare in the same way that I apply a recipe book, and I should not read Psalms or a parable in the way I read the Gospels or the stories of the patriarchs in Genesis.
7. Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?
Since Christians developed the scientific method and have been well-represented in scientific discovery throughout history, this misunderstanding is rooted in a deficient view of the purpose of science. “Christians and atheists are vulnerable to the same mistake: the idea that science will either prove or disprove theism. A more fruitful approach is to look at the world around us and ask ourselves, does this seem coherent with the possibility of God?” (Loc 2533)
8. Doesn’t Christianity denigrate women?
Criticism of the role of women in Christianity is often based in a poor reading of Paul’s epistles that equate his words with “traditional” gender roles and impose male “headship” in ways God did not intend. Having said that, biblical marriage is a metaphor soaked in mutual sacrifice and death to selfishness, and the role of Christian women in the New Testament church sets the bar high for us today to follow in the sandaled footsteps of our first-century sisters in Christ.
9. Isn’t Christianity homophobic?
Throwing baby and bath water out the window in one fell swoop, evangelicals have elevated marriage at the expense of what McLaughlin refers to as “one-body unity.” Since “we who are many are one body,” (I Corinthians 10:16-17) friendship is “not the consolation prize for those who fail to gain romantic love.” (Loc 3217) However, the Bible is also clear that Jesus preached a morality that was (and still is) offensive to heterosexuals and homosexuals alike.
10. Doesn’t the Bible condone slavery?
When the Bible describes a scene from history, it is often merely descriptive without being prescriptive. Having said that, slave terminology is used in the New Testament as a thing to be desired. Paul routinely rejects any higher title than “bond servant,” and when he refers to Onesimus, an actual slave who became a Christ follower, he calls him “a brother, beloved in the Lord.” It is a mistake to let the racism of white church leaders of the past define Christianity going forward.
11. How could a loving God allow so much suffering?
This may be the most difficult question McLaughlin tackles in her book because it’s one that we all encounter sooner or later, and it’s easy to fall into error in our efforts to “excuse” God for the problem of evil on a fallen planet. She bases her examination of suffering in the death of Lazarus and the crisis of faith this caused for Mary and Martha. Jesus self-identification as “the resurrection and the life” is a statement to the grieving sisters that “your greatest need is not to have your brother back again. It’s to have me.” Suffering sifts our desires, and the instinct that rises first is to push back. It is in this pushing back that relationship begins to take root.
12. How could a loving God send people to hell?
Neither heaven nor hell, in biblical terms, are geographic localities. While heaven is “shorthand for the full blessing of relationship with God,” hell is separation and rejection. The scandalous grace of God is all that stands between hell and every human rebel on the planet.
Perhaps you are one who bumps into a cocktail of these twelve questions on the daily. Or, maybe you (like me!) are happy for the insight they give, but are rarely pressed into a defensive stance. Thinking about what we believe helps to solidify our faith, strengthening the bones of belief as we resist the subtle slippage toward lazy theology. God is greatly glorified by a probing faith that puts truth on the table for a rigorous discussion that confronts doubt and comes away even stronger.
Many thanks to Crossway for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.
March 9, 2020
1/12/2020 Done.
1/02/2020 Unusually, I want to share my thoughts on this book PRIOR to reading it. I want to come back to my preconceived notions as a sort of personal experiment. Not being a Christian, just a former one, and current Atheist, I harbor immense anger and disappointment toward all religions. I suspect that I was given this book by a minister nephew to possibly address some of that anger. I'm not out to "find my faith," as I have none, and no desire to locate any. Well, not any conventional faith, anyway. Maybe faith in humanity would be a nice thing to find.
So, my notions: I figure this book can go one of two ways. 1) It will try to justify everything I detest about Christianity, by using the Bible, which I believe to be broadly translated to the convenience of those reading it, or 2) It will point out that everyone, their brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend, favorite politician, whichever crazy Evangelical is currently popular, or minister have somehow fouled things up by translating scripture to their convenience. It will be interesting to find out which one. I can firmly say, the first sentence I come across that hints at justifing any homophobia, xenophobia, or other hate, and I'm done. It will just reinforce my view of Chritianity, and I will learn nothing new. Perhaps I will learn something.
Note: I will defend anyone's right to practice the religion of their choice, or no religion at all, up to the point of that religion, and any of its consequential judgement or harm, being forced on others. That includes brainwashing, which seems to be a specialty of many Christian faiths.
1/10/2020 Read the introduction. Author already sounds both pompous and subtly defensive. I'm trying to maintain an open mind.
Read Chapter 1. I'm beginning to understand what "apologetic" means. It means "making excuses for and TELLING you why Christianity is better." The author writes as if ALL of those who claim to be Christians practice the tenets of Christianity, which is far from reality. She has yet to acknowledge that, for so many, belonging to a community (church) has absolutely nothing to do with faith, but everything to do with the perception of status.
1/12/2020 Read Chapter 2. Author states Christianity isn't the main result of missionary work, but existed in many countries prior to missionaries showing up. Not comforting, since what I want to know is if it's as twisted in those countries as it is here? She states that Christianity and the Bible are anti-racist, yet refuses to acknowledge that a huge proportion of white Christians are some of the most racist people in this country. Just because there are "non-white churches" throughout the country doesn't mean that "white churches" AREN'T full of racists. I know unfortunately too many personally. So, the chapter asks "Is Christianity diverse?" That seems highly irrelevant when WHITE Christians are, without a doubt, from where almost all racists come. She continues to describe Christianitity at its ideolical epoch, only lightly mentioning its digressions.
1/12/2020 Reading Chapter 3. And I'm done. I said I would hold out with an open mind until the author justified any form of hate. Well, she has rallied against hate, without acknowledging that hate has a stronghold in the Christian religion and not just in Christian Extremism. I can't continue to read a book that consistently rationalizes real problems and issues. It instead glorifies all that is good about Christianity, while denying that good exists outside of Christianity. I skimmed through the rest and read what my minister nephew had highlighted. Sounds like so much of the same. She's beating a dead horse for me. I suspect all the four-and five-star rave reviews here are from good, God-fearing Christians who also want to stick their heads in the sand and do nothing about the shortcomings of their religion. I'm out.
1/02/2020 Unusually, I want to share my thoughts on this book PRIOR to reading it. I want to come back to my preconceived notions as a sort of personal experiment. Not being a Christian, just a former one, and current Atheist, I harbor immense anger and disappointment toward all religions. I suspect that I was given this book by a minister nephew to possibly address some of that anger. I'm not out to "find my faith," as I have none, and no desire to locate any. Well, not any conventional faith, anyway. Maybe faith in humanity would be a nice thing to find.
So, my notions: I figure this book can go one of two ways. 1) It will try to justify everything I detest about Christianity, by using the Bible, which I believe to be broadly translated to the convenience of those reading it, or 2) It will point out that everyone, their brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend, favorite politician, whichever crazy Evangelical is currently popular, or minister have somehow fouled things up by translating scripture to their convenience. It will be interesting to find out which one. I can firmly say, the first sentence I come across that hints at justifing any homophobia, xenophobia, or other hate, and I'm done. It will just reinforce my view of Chritianity, and I will learn nothing new. Perhaps I will learn something.
Note: I will defend anyone's right to practice the religion of their choice, or no religion at all, up to the point of that religion, and any of its consequential judgement or harm, being forced on others. That includes brainwashing, which seems to be a specialty of many Christian faiths.
1/10/2020 Read the introduction. Author already sounds both pompous and subtly defensive. I'm trying to maintain an open mind.
Read Chapter 1. I'm beginning to understand what "apologetic" means. It means "making excuses for and TELLING you why Christianity is better." The author writes as if ALL of those who claim to be Christians practice the tenets of Christianity, which is far from reality. She has yet to acknowledge that, for so many, belonging to a community (church) has absolutely nothing to do with faith, but everything to do with the perception of status.
1/12/2020 Read Chapter 2. Author states Christianity isn't the main result of missionary work, but existed in many countries prior to missionaries showing up. Not comforting, since what I want to know is if it's as twisted in those countries as it is here? She states that Christianity and the Bible are anti-racist, yet refuses to acknowledge that a huge proportion of white Christians are some of the most racist people in this country. Just because there are "non-white churches" throughout the country doesn't mean that "white churches" AREN'T full of racists. I know unfortunately too many personally. So, the chapter asks "Is Christianity diverse?" That seems highly irrelevant when WHITE Christians are, without a doubt, from where almost all racists come. She continues to describe Christianitity at its ideolical epoch, only lightly mentioning its digressions.
1/12/2020 Reading Chapter 3. And I'm done. I said I would hold out with an open mind until the author justified any form of hate. Well, she has rallied against hate, without acknowledging that hate has a stronghold in the Christian religion and not just in Christian Extremism. I can't continue to read a book that consistently rationalizes real problems and issues. It instead glorifies all that is good about Christianity, while denying that good exists outside of Christianity. I skimmed through the rest and read what my minister nephew had highlighted. Sounds like so much of the same. She's beating a dead horse for me. I suspect all the four-and five-star rave reviews here are from good, God-fearing Christians who also want to stick their heads in the sand and do nothing about the shortcomings of their religion. I'm out.
December 14, 2022
This uh... this is how you write a Christian book.
She deals intelligently and graciously with the most relevant questions people levy against Christianity in our modern day.
There's a couple second-tier interpretations that may differ in some ways from my own, but I'd definitely recommend this for my non-Christian friends who have questions about Christianity.
“If Jesus is the Bread of Life, loss of Jesus means starving. If Jesus is the Light of the World, loss of Jesus means darkness. If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, loss of Jesus means wandering alone and lost. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, loss of Jesus is eternal death. And if Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins, loss of Jesus means paying that price for ourselves.”
She deals intelligently and graciously with the most relevant questions people levy against Christianity in our modern day.
There's a couple second-tier interpretations that may differ in some ways from my own, but I'd definitely recommend this for my non-Christian friends who have questions about Christianity.
“If Jesus is the Bread of Life, loss of Jesus means starving. If Jesus is the Light of the World, loss of Jesus means darkness. If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, loss of Jesus means wandering alone and lost. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, loss of Jesus is eternal death. And if Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins, loss of Jesus means paying that price for ourselves.”
January 23, 2020
I found it well researched, well written, compassionate and thought-provoking. I'll definitely re-read it later this year.
March 31, 2021
I finished this book with mixed feelings and had a hard time putting my finger on it. I've read a lot of apologetics books and I think the issue was that McLaughlin just presented the information in a different way than I was used to and caused me to approach the questions in a new way. Which is a good thing. She has a fresh perspective. It's similar to Tim Keller's book- The Reason for God, but I would say his book is more accessible to the general population and this book was a little more academic. It felt like she was writing this book for her academic colleagues- those who work at universities- yet I found it to still be helpful.
Rebecca McLaughlin is a British female with a PhD from Cambridge who has put aside her same-sex attractions and is in a happy marriage to a man, together having 3 children. Her journey to faith was heavily influenced by these factors and speaks into how she answers these 12 hard questions.
This book was well-researched. She provides plenty of resources for further reading as each topic could be an entire book in itself. I will say that some of her statistics, analogies, or examples didn't always connect for me. And a lot of her sentences I had to read multiple times to understand what she was saying. I have a fairly large vocabulary and there were several times I had to consult a dictionary. It's not necessarily a light read, but it is very helpful. Probably best read an entire chapter at a time and then verbally processed with someone else to get the most out of the material.
I especially liked her chapter on a loving God allowing suffering. Everyone has experienced grief and pain, and she brilliantly uses the story of Jesus and Lazarus to show us the reality of suffering and our relationship to God. She also:
- reminds us of the diversity of Christianity and its global reach. We tend to see it as an American institution and miss out on a lot when our perspective originates from there.
- won't let us take the easy way out of truth finding by letting us think all faith paths are true, but calls us to respect others as thinking human beings who have thought about their beliefs.
- is honest and doesn't gloss over the stains on Christianity's history, but provides plenty of evidence to the contrary.
- wrote her chapters on science, women, homosexuality, and slavery sensitively, yet blunt. Informatively, logically, and persuasively.
I would say, read this book, but don't ONLY read this book. I could recommend a specific book for each chapter that would expound more than her space allowed and that draws on more Scripture. She did a great job and I believe accomplished what she set out to do. This book is a great resource that touches on all the most common questions for Christianity, but if a chapter leaves you unsatisfied, I urge you to look for another book to inform your thinking. These questions are too important not to.
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
Rebecca McLaughlin is a British female with a PhD from Cambridge who has put aside her same-sex attractions and is in a happy marriage to a man, together having 3 children. Her journey to faith was heavily influenced by these factors and speaks into how she answers these 12 hard questions.
This book was well-researched. She provides plenty of resources for further reading as each topic could be an entire book in itself. I will say that some of her statistics, analogies, or examples didn't always connect for me. And a lot of her sentences I had to read multiple times to understand what she was saying. I have a fairly large vocabulary and there were several times I had to consult a dictionary. It's not necessarily a light read, but it is very helpful. Probably best read an entire chapter at a time and then verbally processed with someone else to get the most out of the material.
I especially liked her chapter on a loving God allowing suffering. Everyone has experienced grief and pain, and she brilliantly uses the story of Jesus and Lazarus to show us the reality of suffering and our relationship to God. She also:
- reminds us of the diversity of Christianity and its global reach. We tend to see it as an American institution and miss out on a lot when our perspective originates from there.
- won't let us take the easy way out of truth finding by letting us think all faith paths are true, but calls us to respect others as thinking human beings who have thought about their beliefs.
- is honest and doesn't gloss over the stains on Christianity's history, but provides plenty of evidence to the contrary.
- wrote her chapters on science, women, homosexuality, and slavery sensitively, yet blunt. Informatively, logically, and persuasively.
I would say, read this book, but don't ONLY read this book. I could recommend a specific book for each chapter that would expound more than her space allowed and that draws on more Scripture. She did a great job and I believe accomplished what she set out to do. This book is a great resource that touches on all the most common questions for Christianity, but if a chapter leaves you unsatisfied, I urge you to look for another book to inform your thinking. These questions are too important not to.
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
March 8, 2021
Christianity is the world's largest religion. And as Rebecca McLaughlin argues, if nothing else just given the sheer mass of those who find its beliefs compelling, everyone at some point should give serious Christianity deep consideration.
If you are not a worshipper of Jesus, I want to commend this book to you and ask you to consider reading it.
A very good and thoughtful book addressing some of today's most pressing issues re the veracity of Christianity. Believers as well will be both encouraged and stretched by picking up this volume.
If you are not a worshipper of Jesus, I want to commend this book to you and ask you to consider reading it.
A very good and thoughtful book addressing some of today's most pressing issues re the veracity of Christianity. Believers as well will be both encouraged and stretched by picking up this volume.
April 25, 2021
I was a little hesitant to read this book, mainly because I’d rather ignore these questions than confront them, and was afraid it may dispel some of the fundamental things I believe. But I highly recommend reading this, whether you are a Christian or not, to help answer some of the cultural and modern questions of today. I listened to this (free via Hoopla!) but am considering a hard copy to highlight, reference back to and loan out to friends.
October 7, 2019
Superb. Now one of my top recommended apologetics books. It’s up there with Keller’s two books yet an easier read. I hope McLaughlin writes for years to come.
July 29, 2022
Big yes.
December 28, 2022
One of the best Christian books I’ve read in the last few years! Very well done. Bonus that I listened to the audio book and the author was the one reading.
May 13, 2022
There's a certain falsity to the "apologetics" enterprise, in my experience. Ostensibly, it's about giving a defense (cf. the Plato's Apology of Socrates) for one's particular religious worldview. Apologists talk about "answering skeptics" and so on—you might get the impression that it's all *for* the skeptics and outsiders, that some of them might be convinced. Except, looking further, it so often seems that apologists are only talking to their co-religionists, fellow believers, and in candid moments seem more concerned about "doubters" leaving the church, turning apostate, than they care about making new converts from old heathens. At least in a strictly apologetic capacity.
Rebecca McLaughlin's book, unfortunately, suffers from this strange falseness right from the title. Do not believe the marketing blurb! The book does not "confront" Christianity in any sense recognizable to non-Christians. The questions are not necessarily hard, nor are they necessarily ones most troublesome to those outside the faith. (Conservative Muslims, for example, might ridicule the doctrine of the Trinity or deny the divinity of Christ, which this book treats very superficially or not at all.) And while "World's Largest Religion" is a true claim about Christianity in a very broad sense, McLaughlin's level of religious conservatism immediately creates tension: she wants to claim as many Christians as possible when arguing from demography, but she also wants to make specific theological claims that many of those Christians would deny or even denounce as heretical. She also wants to deny the "true" Christianty of certain people who claimed piety while acting heinously. They were merely "professing," don't you know!
When double talk doesn't work, we get Bible stories and anecdotes from friends, not all of whom even get first names for their trouble. Surely this won't convince skeptics: I don't hold the Bible in the same regard (i.e., authority) as McLaughlin does, so her answers to over half of these questions—when she does bother to answer squarely—resolve to "for the Bible tells me so." And I don't give much weight to her friends' speculations about the true nature of reality. Why should I? They're given less epistemological motivation than the Bible.
Every chapter is devoted to a particular question, and follows a certain schema. First, it's not a sure thing that the headline question is the one that will be answered, and the answer isn't always a strict "No" (which you might expect, since the questions are framed confrontationally). In some cases McLaughlin pivots to another, perhaps easier-to-answer question. Perhaps the answer turns out to be "maybe not" or "yes, but" or "actually, this doesn't even count on my worldview." It's all rather muddled. When she does cite experts, they tend to be one-offs, with very little exegesis or context. Most often they're just highly credentialed people who happen to be Christian. Did you know there are Christian professors at MIT??? But for the truly difficult stuff, we must turn to the Bible. Yay?
If I could summarize Rebecca McLaughlin's position here, it's that she loves Jesus very much, and holds to Biblical authority very much. So unlike those asshole presuppositonal Calvinists or whatever, she's not going to gloat about how the Amalekites and Midianites and Flood-drowned babies totally deserved it. But she will try mightily to metaphorize, reframe, or overthink a passage so it's not as bad as a skeptic might claim it to be. And so she goes to everyone's favorite place, the question about slavery in the Bible.
It's all the same garbage. It wasn't as bad as American race-based slavery! (And anyway those slavemasters were all only professing Christians.) There were some rules about just how brutally you could treat your people-property! Some slaves had high social station... as slaves! This in the same book that talks about how the appearance of worldly success is as nothing in a condition of sin blah blah blah, how is the condition of unfreedom any different? And she tells us that really, God hates slavery, but (even though he can intervene at any time, there's no limit) he let it go for a few thousand years or so just so Christians could be abolitionists, or whatever. It's truly outrageous, because I'm sure McLaughlin is better than this.
The interesting wrinkle is what I will call the "fake woke" turn in McLaughlin's rhetoric. Because, you see, her particular brand of conservative "full-blooded" Christianity is actually the best thing for women and people of color, you silly liberal secularists! Well, I don't quite understand what's so binary about the choice for women here, or how her argument is so different from conservative Muslim apologetics about the hijab. She flounders her arguments about homosexuality but flogs her credibility as a struggling woman attracted to women. And on the point about "diversity," while it's true that non-whites (and especially non-Westerners) are highly religious, on her worldview, does God actually care about racial diversity among the elect? Or did God, as with slavery, put that desire aside for the first few thousand years (at least ;) ) of human history, with blatant Israelite chauvinism in the Old Testament? And "diversity" only extends to those things we can't control, since there's not a lot of room for lifestyle diversity, or religious diversity, in her worldview. Finally, for all this posturing, there's a troubling fixation on Islam, specifically, as a competitor religious worldview, almost as an enemy-of-my-enemy for the Western skeptics. I won't take that bait.
1 star. Nothing but trouble.
Rebecca McLaughlin's book, unfortunately, suffers from this strange falseness right from the title. Do not believe the marketing blurb! The book does not "confront" Christianity in any sense recognizable to non-Christians. The questions are not necessarily hard, nor are they necessarily ones most troublesome to those outside the faith. (Conservative Muslims, for example, might ridicule the doctrine of the Trinity or deny the divinity of Christ, which this book treats very superficially or not at all.) And while "World's Largest Religion" is a true claim about Christianity in a very broad sense, McLaughlin's level of religious conservatism immediately creates tension: she wants to claim as many Christians as possible when arguing from demography, but she also wants to make specific theological claims that many of those Christians would deny or even denounce as heretical. She also wants to deny the "true" Christianty of certain people who claimed piety while acting heinously. They were merely "professing," don't you know!
When double talk doesn't work, we get Bible stories and anecdotes from friends, not all of whom even get first names for their trouble. Surely this won't convince skeptics: I don't hold the Bible in the same regard (i.e., authority) as McLaughlin does, so her answers to over half of these questions—when she does bother to answer squarely—resolve to "for the Bible tells me so." And I don't give much weight to her friends' speculations about the true nature of reality. Why should I? They're given less epistemological motivation than the Bible.
Every chapter is devoted to a particular question, and follows a certain schema. First, it's not a sure thing that the headline question is the one that will be answered, and the answer isn't always a strict "No" (which you might expect, since the questions are framed confrontationally). In some cases McLaughlin pivots to another, perhaps easier-to-answer question. Perhaps the answer turns out to be "maybe not" or "yes, but" or "actually, this doesn't even count on my worldview." It's all rather muddled. When she does cite experts, they tend to be one-offs, with very little exegesis or context. Most often they're just highly credentialed people who happen to be Christian. Did you know there are Christian professors at MIT??? But for the truly difficult stuff, we must turn to the Bible. Yay?
If I could summarize Rebecca McLaughlin's position here, it's that she loves Jesus very much, and holds to Biblical authority very much. So unlike those asshole presuppositonal Calvinists or whatever, she's not going to gloat about how the Amalekites and Midianites and Flood-drowned babies totally deserved it. But she will try mightily to metaphorize, reframe, or overthink a passage so it's not as bad as a skeptic might claim it to be. And so she goes to everyone's favorite place, the question about slavery in the Bible.
It's all the same garbage. It wasn't as bad as American race-based slavery! (And anyway those slavemasters were all only professing Christians.) There were some rules about just how brutally you could treat your people-property! Some slaves had high social station... as slaves! This in the same book that talks about how the appearance of worldly success is as nothing in a condition of sin blah blah blah, how is the condition of unfreedom any different? And she tells us that really, God hates slavery, but (even though he can intervene at any time, there's no limit) he let it go for a few thousand years or so just so Christians could be abolitionists, or whatever. It's truly outrageous, because I'm sure McLaughlin is better than this.
The interesting wrinkle is what I will call the "fake woke" turn in McLaughlin's rhetoric. Because, you see, her particular brand of conservative "full-blooded" Christianity is actually the best thing for women and people of color, you silly liberal secularists! Well, I don't quite understand what's so binary about the choice for women here, or how her argument is so different from conservative Muslim apologetics about the hijab. She flounders her arguments about homosexuality but flogs her credibility as a struggling woman attracted to women. And on the point about "diversity," while it's true that non-whites (and especially non-Westerners) are highly religious, on her worldview, does God actually care about racial diversity among the elect? Or did God, as with slavery, put that desire aside for the first few thousand years (at least ;) ) of human history, with blatant Israelite chauvinism in the Old Testament? And "diversity" only extends to those things we can't control, since there's not a lot of room for lifestyle diversity, or religious diversity, in her worldview. Finally, for all this posturing, there's a troubling fixation on Islam, specifically, as a competitor religious worldview, almost as an enemy-of-my-enemy for the Western skeptics. I won't take that bait.
1 star. Nothing but trouble.
December 19, 2022
Very impressed.
April 24, 2019
Rebecca McLaughlin gives us a good look at 12 hard questions that people are asking about Christianity. As with any good apologetics book the author wrestles with questions that are not just obscure, but with questions that are being asked everyday by normal people who are just curious about the claims of religion.
What happens when people ask their questions? Most of the time Christians have a tendency to get protective, or nervous, or frightened that their faith does not really answer the questions that are being asked. So when you are asked, “Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?” You become defensive. You want to protect what you believe, so you make excuses or talk around the issue or try to dismiss the claim. What you really need to do is go deep and answer the question lovingly and gently with educated information that gives a clear, concise, logical answer that will help the question asker to be able to then wrestle more with their question and come up with a better grasp of what Christians truly believe and can defend.
When you are asked, “Doesn’t Christianity denigrate women?” You can give a loving response about how Christianity truly honors women, truly builds them up and places them on an equal level with every other human being. How Christianity shows that women are loved, cared for, and given empowerment to walk in todays culture with their heads held high and have confidence that they matter to God.
How do you respond when you are asked, “Why does a loving God allow so much suffering?” You can come back with an educated, thoughtful response of how in humility and strength a person is able to bear up under suffering and express a true “HOPE” in the love of God who walks alongside of us in our suffering, because in His Son, Jesus Christ, He has experienced human suffering and understands the pain and hurt and also the triumph that we can experience when faced with suffering. A Loving God allows us to grow and mature and learn how to deal with the pains of this world.
All that to say that Rebecca gives us 12 well thought out and articulated responses to the major questions that people will ask each day about our faith in Christ.
This is an apologetic book that will help each of us to be confident in how to help others learn more of the truth of Scripture
What happens when people ask their questions? Most of the time Christians have a tendency to get protective, or nervous, or frightened that their faith does not really answer the questions that are being asked. So when you are asked, “Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?” You become defensive. You want to protect what you believe, so you make excuses or talk around the issue or try to dismiss the claim. What you really need to do is go deep and answer the question lovingly and gently with educated information that gives a clear, concise, logical answer that will help the question asker to be able to then wrestle more with their question and come up with a better grasp of what Christians truly believe and can defend.
When you are asked, “Doesn’t Christianity denigrate women?” You can give a loving response about how Christianity truly honors women, truly builds them up and places them on an equal level with every other human being. How Christianity shows that women are loved, cared for, and given empowerment to walk in todays culture with their heads held high and have confidence that they matter to God.
How do you respond when you are asked, “Why does a loving God allow so much suffering?” You can come back with an educated, thoughtful response of how in humility and strength a person is able to bear up under suffering and express a true “HOPE” in the love of God who walks alongside of us in our suffering, because in His Son, Jesus Christ, He has experienced human suffering and understands the pain and hurt and also the triumph that we can experience when faced with suffering. A Loving God allows us to grow and mature and learn how to deal with the pains of this world.
All that to say that Rebecca gives us 12 well thought out and articulated responses to the major questions that people will ask each day about our faith in Christ.
This is an apologetic book that will help each of us to be confident in how to help others learn more of the truth of Scripture
January 25, 2020
Finally, an apologetic novel that does not mince words, answers both scripturally and anecdotally, and is told from the lens of a woman. From the beginning, McLaughlin not only supports Christianity philosophically, historically, and ontologically, but also she seamlessly elaborates on why atheism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism fail to hold up.
Each chapter answers a hard question and when McLaughlin dives into, "Is Christianity homophobic?", I was awestruck. Never have I read an author so vulnerably and declaratively state what she has struggled with and how Jesus is worth more than any of it.
I would move this to your next must-read.
Each chapter answers a hard question and when McLaughlin dives into, "Is Christianity homophobic?", I was awestruck. Never have I read an author so vulnerably and declaratively state what she has struggled with and how Jesus is worth more than any of it.
I would move this to your next must-read.
October 25, 2023
3.5 stars.
It had a lot of good in it! I don’t really know how to put into words what I struggled with in this one. Her chapters on science, sexuality, and diversity are strong. Ironically, I found her chapter on women pretty disappointing. Most of her arguments are excellent, some of them are kinda mid. Not sure I would ever read this book with a non-believer to be honest. I think it would be a great resource for someone beginning to wrestle with questions!
It had a lot of good in it! I don’t really know how to put into words what I struggled with in this one. Her chapters on science, sexuality, and diversity are strong. Ironically, I found her chapter on women pretty disappointing. Most of her arguments are excellent, some of them are kinda mid. Not sure I would ever read this book with a non-believer to be honest. I think it would be a great resource for someone beginning to wrestle with questions!
January 29, 2022
Absolutely brilliant. Probably the best apologetics-y book I’ve read.
Content wise, this covers loads of tough issues in a thoughtful and (I think) well-pitched way. I didn’t feel short-changed at any point: there weren’t any moments where I felt she dodged the question. While there’s lots of cultural engagement, and wrestling with difficulties (both with the Christian message and how Christians have used/abused it over the centuries) this didn’t come at the expense of pointing me to what the Bible actually teaches, and of showing how *Jesus* should be at the heart of answering any objection to the Christian faith.
Tone wise, McLaughlin is at the same time gentle and unashamed of what the Bible teaches; respectful of the imagined objector and confident in the goodness and rightness of the gospel. She really wonderfully communicates the difference that Jesus has made to her and others. She also writes clearly and often beautifully.
My only question was on the way she used the credentials of the many Christian Academics she references. I understand that, for a non religious person, that fact that there are Christians who are clearly very smart might help win a hearing for the gospel. As a Christian reader, I wonder whether it might have helped me to have a reminder of the difference between the wisdom of the world and of the cross - I’m not sure professors believing Christianity should be a plank in our apologetic arguments! But very minor, I’m convinced it was just to show that the Christian faith isn’t inherently unreasonable.
Content wise, this covers loads of tough issues in a thoughtful and (I think) well-pitched way. I didn’t feel short-changed at any point: there weren’t any moments where I felt she dodged the question. While there’s lots of cultural engagement, and wrestling with difficulties (both with the Christian message and how Christians have used/abused it over the centuries) this didn’t come at the expense of pointing me to what the Bible actually teaches, and of showing how *Jesus* should be at the heart of answering any objection to the Christian faith.
Tone wise, McLaughlin is at the same time gentle and unashamed of what the Bible teaches; respectful of the imagined objector and confident in the goodness and rightness of the gospel. She really wonderfully communicates the difference that Jesus has made to her and others. She also writes clearly and often beautifully.
My only question was on the way she used the credentials of the many Christian Academics she references. I understand that, for a non religious person, that fact that there are Christians who are clearly very smart might help win a hearing for the gospel. As a Christian reader, I wonder whether it might have helped me to have a reminder of the difference between the wisdom of the world and of the cross - I’m not sure professors believing Christianity should be a plank in our apologetic arguments! But very minor, I’m convinced it was just to show that the Christian faith isn’t inherently unreasonable.
May 31, 2021
The book tackles 12 objections to Christianity that are fairly common today, but given that only one chapter is reserved for each matter, where others devote entire books, it is quite obvious that the author is not exhaustive in her approach. However, McLaughlin makes Christian apologetics approachable and personable, for both Christians and non-Christians, where others can sometimes come across as harsh or perhaps even arrogant. This and her personal background give her writing a value where many others fall short.
I find it interesting that McLaughlin is accused in other reviews of confirmation bias in this book, but this completely disregards the author's personal journey. At what point is a person not allowed to come to conclusions based on the evidence that they have gathered over a long period of time, even after acknowledging and considering other viewpoints? Oh well, I digress I suppose.
McLaughlin's strength comes from her genuine openness which is apparent in her work outside this book. That probably colors my review a fair bit, but I'm sticking to my enjoyment of her approach.
I find it interesting that McLaughlin is accused in other reviews of confirmation bias in this book, but this completely disregards the author's personal journey. At what point is a person not allowed to come to conclusions based on the evidence that they have gathered over a long period of time, even after acknowledging and considering other viewpoints? Oh well, I digress I suppose.
McLaughlin's strength comes from her genuine openness which is apparent in her work outside this book. That probably colors my review a fair bit, but I'm sticking to my enjoyment of her approach.
February 11, 2023
Just finished reading this. Outstanding book. Instantly, a book that deserves a place on your shelf, preferably beside C.S. Lewis or Chesterton.
Named the 2020 Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year by Christianity Today and deservedly so. It’s a careful, Biblical, thoughtful, and thorough apologetic. But more than that, it’s written with compassion and grace. I very much enjoyed this. Moved me to tears at moments.
Highly recommend. You can give this to a minister, a seasoned believer, a new believer, or even a non-believer and it is effective for all. She has cemented her place on my “read everything they write” shelf.
Named the 2020 Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year by Christianity Today and deservedly so. It’s a careful, Biblical, thoughtful, and thorough apologetic. But more than that, it’s written with compassion and grace. I very much enjoyed this. Moved me to tears at moments.
Highly recommend. You can give this to a minister, a seasoned believer, a new believer, or even a non-believer and it is effective for all. She has cemented her place on my “read everything they write” shelf.
April 2, 2022
This book unpacks a lot & I know I won’t be able to address all aspects in a quick review. But, overall I found this book helpful, informative and challenging. The writing is so well done. I appreciated the authors straightforward approach and strong scriptural foundation. She addresses common objections or misconceptions about Christianity without belittling those who may have those questions. It left me feeling encouraged that God and his Word can handle the tough questions.
October 16, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. It is very approachable and readable. I picked it up on a whim and I liked it so much I ordered a copy so I can go back to it.
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