The Great Quest: Invitation to an Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning

by Os Guinness

"The unexamined life is not worth living." —Socrates What is life all about? What are we here for? Is there any meaning or purpose to our existence? Thinkers throughout the centuries have pondered these questions. While the distractions of the modern world prevent many from grappling seriously with such matters, the truth is that humans cannot live without meaning any more than we can live without breathing or eating. Os Guinness invites us to examine our lives and join the great quest for meaning and a life well lived. For those who are up to Socrates' challenge, it is a search that is indispensable to making the most of life. Guinness charts the course of the thinking person's journey toward faith and meaning, calling for a firm grasp of reason, an honest awareness of conscience, and a living sense of wonder. He affirms that there is a time for questions, and that following those questions can indeed lead us to answers, evidence, and commitment. When life becomes a question, the search is on for an answer. Come find yourself on a sure path to meaning.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Faith, Christian Living, Christian, Christianity, Religion

124 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 22, 2022

About the author

Os Guinness (D.Phil., Oxford) is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including The American Hour, Time for Truth and The Case for Civility. A frequent speaker and prominent social critic, he was the founder of the Trinity Forum and has been a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies. He lives near Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Joseph Crampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an example of Os Guinness’s thoughtful apologetic. I believe that the target audience is the disillusioned thinker who sets out to discover the meaning and purpose of life, and is as much a pre-evangelism tract as it is another splendid essay of a deeply insightful and well-educated mature Christian.
That said, the first two-thirds of the book did not touch my soul in quite the same manner as his stirring final chapter! Five stars based on the incredible crescendo of chapter 8.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: An invitation to the examined life in the pursuit of a meaningful existence, a well-lived life.

The meaning of life. It sounds like one of those discussions for a first-year intro to philosophy class as we are challenged by the dictum of Socrates: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In response, we often joke about it. Or we make it an absurd joke, as in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in which the supercomputer Deep Thought computes the answer to the Ultimate Question of the Meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything, as 42.

Os Guinness believes the absence of meaning in modern life of significant concern. Citing the statistics of rising suicide rates and falling birth rates in the modern world, he believes the quest for meaning to be pressing:

"The truth is that the urgent need of our times is a fresh seriousness about human existence and a renewed openness to ultimate questions. Answers to ultimate questions are not only vital to each of us as individuals but to whole societies and civilizations. Indeed, there are no great societies or civilizations without confident answers to ultimate questions, and such answers need to become vital again in our schools, our universities, and our public discussion as well as in our families."

OS GUINNESS, THE GREAT QUEST, P. 4

Guinness contends that one needs meaning as one needs oxygen and his plea as he introduces this book is that if we haven’t thought these things through, that we do so. He also identifies some of the reasons we fail to do so: distraction, bargaining that we’ll do it later, and the noise and interference of our busy lives. But for those serious about asking the questions and reaching the conclusions that come of an examined life, Guinness offers to be a guide on the journey.

Guinness lays his cards on the table. He is a convinced Christian, while respecting other religions and worldviews. He proposes to be as fair as possible because he wants people to think things through. He also asks of his readers a personal engagement in their search, ready to say, “here I am” if the transcendent comes calling. While welcoming reason, he eschews the ability of proofs to do anything more than suggest that a belief is reasonable.

With these preliminaries out of the way, he outlines four phases in our search

1. A time for questions. Warning of the psychological objections to our questions and belief in finding meaning as “bad faith,” he notes the insatiable capacity of humans to ask and some of the perennial big questions: Where did we come from? What can we know? What are we? Where are we going? What can we hope for? The questioning may reveal the inadequacy of the beliefs, the view of the world we have embraced. We may find experiences in the world that shatter our conceptions, signals of transcendence that encourage us to look deeper.

2. A Time for answers. We begin with conceptualizing, weighing different ideas and how they address our questions. We critically assess the differences and compare different “answers.” How would each shape the way we live if we thought the world that way. For Guinness, there are three main families of answers, those of the Eastern families of faith, those of secularists, and those of the Abrahamic faiths. As we work through these possible answers to the great questions, Guinness concludes, “Does any faith that you as a seeker may consider answer your questions? Does it do so in a way that switches on the light in the darkness and fits like a key in the lock…?”

3. A time for evidences. One might think answers are enough. He contends that the only reason to believe anything is on the basis of reasonable evidence that it is true–Does it align with reality? Do the facts fit? In detail and as a whole?

4. A time for commitment. Finally we must commit ourselves to whatever we believe is true. Guinness frames this in Christian terms of discovering “that loving and being loved [by God] is the very heart and soul of faith and the meaning of life” and saying “Here I am!” to that God. Whatever the “faith” one commits to, Guinness warns against the myth that it is about the search and not the destination–equating this to the legend of the Flying Dutchman, doomed to never dock but to sail forever.

Some may object to the Christian framing of this work. While there are statements by those of other “families” throughout, the preponderance becomes increasingly Christian in the progression of the phases. Guinness has warned us and certainly speaks in the terms he knows best, particularly when it comes to commitment where he speaks warmly of entering into loving relationship with God in which one finds meaning and purpose.

So, the reader must decide how far to go with Guinness as guide. Strictly following his four phases without being guided by the Christian examples, I could well see a person ending up in any of the three main “families” and any of the branches of those families. And to do so would certainly be to live an examined life rather than the muddled life of distracted modernity. Guinness can offer further guidance for someone wishing and willing to consider a thoughtful account for how one may embrace Christian faith. The illustrations from both his own life and others may well ring true with one’s own journey and help make sense of it.

I suspect this book may work best as something two friends, who trust and can be candid with each other, may discuss, even if one believes and the other is seeking. I could see a process of working through the phases together that would leave neither unchanged. Indeed, one of my thoughts on reading was that reaching a place of commitment ought not end the living of an examined life, and it has often been the dialogues with seekers, skeptics, and those in deep pain that have driven me deeper into the questions, the answers, the evidences, and my own commitment.

____________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary advanced review galley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[David Zimmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my fourth Os Guinness book, and the first that I have not liked. The great quest, according to Guinness, is the search for finding meaning in life, or a meaningful life. He writes that “the urgent need of our times is a fresh seriousness about human existence and a renewed openness to ultimate questions.” His explanation and defense of this premise is insightful. The answer, he believes, is found in the Christian faith. His method of connecting the “seeker” of meaning to the “answer” of meaning, in my opinion, is more philosophical than biblical. It is not that his method is wrong, but that it is lacking. There is no clear declaration of the Gospel, no emphasis on salvation.
People need more than purpose and meaning in life; they need a Savior. They don’t need “excellency of speech, or of wisdom,” (1 Corinthians 2:1). They need “the foolishness of preaching,” (1 Corinthians 1:21), the message of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:2). This may be implied in this short volume, but it is my opinion that it ought to be emphasized. A volume aimed to help Christians to bring post-modern man to God should not be vague in its Christian message.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thoughtful reflection on faith and journeying.
“The unexamined life is not worth living” - Socrates
"You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." - Saint Augustine of Hippo

[Josh Olds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only Os Guinness could write a book on discovering meaning in life and fully and comprehensively cover the topic in 120 pages. The Great Quest is an invitation to living an examined life. Dr. Guinness plays off of Socrates’ famous words “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

The first third of the book sets up the journey toward an examined life. That is, a pretty good chunk of The Great Quest isn’t about the quest but in all the things that lead up to the quest to prepare us for the journey. That should tell you the value Guinness places on preparation. Only once you’d determined the path can you actually set out on your journey. In the opening chapters, Os philosophizes that life is a journey (we prefer the word “story” here at lifeisstory.com, but I’ll allow it) and that it’s only truly lived when we understand where we’re going and what we’re doing. Too many people, he says, simple float through life incurious, unquestioning, and distracted from the purpose of living. There is a sense in which he’s right, of course, but his perspective is one that’s built on a sort of elitism and classism that never acknowledges the vast number of people who are simply too exhausted by survival to do much more. There is little time to philosophize and dream when simply getting to the next meal or the next paycheck will be a struggle.

That sort of highbrow philosophizing sort of sets the tone for The Great Quest. If the audience is the educated and the financially-secure, then his words ring true and serve to either encourage or indict. But Guinness fails to address or consider with any substance the vast numbers of people whose search for meaning in life is halted by the need to survive. As such, his audience is limited and while he offers an indictment on the ruling class, he has no balm for the bourgeoise.

Guinness suggests that the answers to the meaning of life lie in three broad, conceptual families of worldviews—Eastern philosophy/religions, secularism, and Abrahamic religions. Unfortunately, the size of the book does not allow him to engage with that concept in much detail and, as he remains at the conceptual level, there is little practical discussion of how or why individuals choose or fall into any of these families. For The Great Quest, the answer lies in a subset of the Abrahamic faiths, namely Christianity. This is no surprise, of course. Guinness’s conclusion is that “loving and being loved [by God] is the very heart and soul of faith and the meaning of life.”

In the end, The Great Quest offers some insightful quotes, incisive rhetoric, and interesting philosophizing, but its intellectual abstraction keeps it academically aloof and away from the dirt and grime that characterizes all great quests. While The Great Quest patterns itself after the mold of Malcolm Muggeridge, it is no Jesus Rediscovered.

[Marcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Os is always worth reading, but this wasn't amongst my favourites by this great writer. It's typically clear and overall, he structures his thoughts well. However, the first 40 pages or so seemed to be spent setting the scene. Which doesn't work for a book of this length. (122 pages)

Os lays out a helpful series that the seeker today can and often will follow. Starting with the basics of asking the big questions. Sad as it is, he is probably right to begin at this level. That's where we are at. He follows this with a series of steps looking at the role of reason, our affections, etc. Later, he offers a cursory treatment of the different 'families of faith'. Which he may have written more about elsewhere. I think he's often right in his broad-stroke descriptions but there is more nuance than he goes into in this short book, of course. Amongst Dharmic faiths, for example. And within Abrahamic groups, even.

There are some real flashes of insight and he does go beyond a purely intellectual affair, which I think does some justice to the main Judeo-Christian way. Reading Os alongside Rabbi Heschel does make me think that the Biblical God is at pains to escape the smothering effects of propositions alone. I tend to understand the Biblical way as right-hemisphere and the Greek way as left-hemisphere reasoning writ large. They are both important and must be married, as Karen Wong has noted. But the asymmetry points to the greater role of personal love and the call to adventure. Os distils that into this short book through tales of figures like C.S. Lewis and Malcolm Muggeridge. These anecdotes balance out his layered philosophical and sociological insights.

I'm not sure how much this will resonate with people in less comfortable environments that don't have Os's level of education, etc. There are lessons that apply to all seekers, but is limited by certain affluent Anglo-American assumptions. Greater empathy to the diverse strivings of those around the world across social strata, and drawing on some of his experiences in China and elsewhere, would have been of benefit to this book I think. I'd also have been interested to hear about the seeker of today versus Ireland back when his ancestors were leading evangelists, etc. Although, to be fair, he has went into many of these points elsewhere. I just think the reader is missing a lot of Os in this short book.

Overall, it's a good book and should be of benefit to many a seeker. However, unless you are going to cover Os's oeuvre as I might soon manage, I would recommend other Guinness books instead.

[Larry White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where are YOU?

Os Guinness’ “The Great Quest” is truly an outstanding book. But maybe you shouldn’t read it. At least not just yet. It likely depends on how the subtitle resonates with you: “Invitation to an Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning.” But don’t wait too long to consider the invitation, or you might just find that you have affirmed Socrates’ warning: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Observing that personal worldviews are inescapable, even if often adopted by default or the pressures of social convention, Guinness doesn’t so much argue through much of this short book for any particular choice, but rather for the vital nature of the quest itself to understand oneself and to conform one’s being with one’s understanding of reality. Consciously or subconsciously, we all base our life decisions on a set of presumptions and expectations of how reality, or life, works, i.e., a worldview.

He structures the quest around three phases: the questions, the potential answers, the evidence for the potential answers, and ultimately the commitment. It is a slim volume and, beyond identifying basic precepts – and sometimes limitations – of the obvious broad alternatives, doesn’t examine these alternatives in depth. That is left to the reader, as it should be. This is about process and the essential steps that must be taken for a thorough examination.

“The Great Quest” is an outstanding complement to Guinness’ other recent book on the meaning of life, “Signals of Transcendence.” In the present book he touches on a number of the illustrations examined in greater detail in “Signals.” If you might be attuned to your own signals of transcendence, even if just a gnawing sense that there is more, you might be ready for the essential question posed by “The Great Quest.”

The essential question that Guinness says must be considered in the first phase is “where are you?” If you are not ready to explore that profound circumspection “The Great Quest” may not be for you. But it will be to your benefit, perhaps essential benefit, one day. It will help you examine your life, and that is the path to meaning.

[Ryan Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A well written, generous, and astute invitation to the well examined life. Drawing on literature, art, theology, fiction, science, philosophy, and historical content, Guinness in his wonderful way gently shows the need for a reasoned and experienced life of meaning. He also levels some well founded critiques and observations of culture, as he always does so profoundly. This is a brief book meant to guide someone starting, on, or considering the quest for truth and the big answers. But it’s brevity is a advantage and Guinness does a nice job of simply placing ideas, setting frameworks, and giving sound, historically and philosophically relevant advice. Of course he ends with his own findings and says from the start he will supply the answer he found, but generally he is much more guiding than lecturing or proving. Overall, a good little book to help spur people on to thinking more deeply in an age of distraction and apathy.

[Collin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. I was looking for a book that you could hand to someone not so interested in searching for any deeper meaning in life that would hopefully convince them that the search is worth it, and provide tools for how to think about various worldviews. This book definitely promotes such a search, and does give some tools, but not quite as much as I would like. The author is upfront about his Christian perspective, but ended up pushing the Christian worldview more overtly than I was looking for. It was still very worth reading, but I probably would be most likely to recommend it to someone who has some existential questions about life and faith, but who is also already favorable toward Christianity.

[Skyler Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to clarify that this 3 star rating is for me personally, however, I can easily see this book being rated higher by others. Since I read this book as an already well established Christian, many of the steps were unhelpful to me. I did enjoy the last chapter the best. It’s fun to remember the first love moment and to go back to it again and again. I would recommend this book to either immature or questioning Christians or to non-religious seekers of truth.

One slight qualm I have with this book is the author proclaims at the beginning he will provide an objective view of the journey. However, throughout he upholds Christianity as the best, and almost metric for truth. While I don’t disagree, I thought it was insincere to suggest objectivity then not follow it.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures the phenomenology, the feeling, of the spiritual quest well. I appreciate Guinness' ability to synthesize broadly many thinkers. He is slightly too modernistic-leaning for me, but it'd probably a good change of pace and challenge for me to hear such voices. His framing of Judeo-Christian is a bit broad, and, it sounds like that lingo is being contested now. Nevertheless, if you're gunna go the apologist route, better to land at Os than with others with a more rationalist, foundationalist, presuppositionalist, or narrower perspective. His philosophical acumen helps with that agenda.

[Elena Melling · Rating 2 out of 5]

😅 couldn’t wait to finish this book. I’m sure Os Guinness brilliance is just too superior for my understanding because I found this book boring, repetitive, at a loss for who it’s audience is. I’ve always wanted to read Fools Talk so maybe that one will hit home better. He mentioned his wife’s former life very briefly and yet he drops off after her “signal of transcendence.” I was like don’t stop! That’s the story I want to read or the myriad of other great Christians stories he mentions but doesn’t elaborate!

[Tali Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I need to read this book again and try to take longer, but I really struggled to find the point. It seemed like a really long winded explanation of something that people should already know. Life is complicated and you should know what you believe. Again, I know that this author is highly respected so I do want to read this book again and try his other books, I just really struggled to get into this one.

[Tommy Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant journey in finding meaning in life

Os takes us on a thorough, yet accessible journey through the search for meaning. He sets a path and exposes our hesitations. The last chapter is brilliant as he navigates the tricky road of us searching for God and yet God drawing us in the search. Thankful for his sharp mind.

[Michael Lumsdaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the idea and organization of this book were excellent. He did not do a good job of keeping the focus purely on the quest as he seemed to suggest he would though. He transitioned from focusing on the quest to pushing a specific destination (Christianity) in several chapters.

[Paul Pompa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Target audience is a seeker who’d like to understand seeking, or a Christian trying to understand the seeker. The person not seeking, and without interest in seeking, will have no interest in it.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thought-filled approach to thinking through the journey of the seeker who wants an examined life. He could have spent more time on the results of those who choose different paths, but, overall, an important work in our day of denial and debauchery.

[Dale Masten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fails to present many (there are a few) compelling insights or arguments for a seeker’s journey. Read his “Long Journey Home” instead. It’s excellent.

[Zeke Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many good quotes and arguments against postmodernism, but not my favorite Os book. I thought the overall themes of the book were too broad and general to cover in such a short read.