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Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?
Believing. Most of us take it for granted. We just do it--whether it's trusting that the sun will come up tomorrow, that the lunch we are about to eat is not poisoned or that our religious beliefs are not ill-founded. But why should we believe any of these things? Why should anyone believe anything at all? With insight and humor, James W. Sire examines the reasons people give for believing what they do and suggests what are truly satisfying and compelling reasons for belief. He then turns to the question of a specific belief--namely, belief that the Christian faith is true. Sire tackles both the best reason for belief in Christianity (the identity of Jesus ) and the chief reason against it (the problem of evil). And he responds to these issues personally and philosophically. Here is a book to challenge the skeptic and reassure the doubter in us all.
239 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 1994
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About the author
James W. Sire
37 books72 followersJames W. Sire was a Christian author, speaker, and former editor for InterVarsity Press.
Sire was an officer in the Army, a college professor of English literature, philosophy and theology, the chief editor of InterVarsity Press, a lecturer at over two hundred universities around the world and the author of twenty books on literature, philosophy and the Christian faith. His book The Universe Next Door, published in 1976 has sold over 350,000 copies. He held a B.A. in chemistry and English from the University of Nebraska, an M.A. in English from Washington State and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri.
Sire was an officer in the Army, a college professor of English literature, philosophy and theology, the chief editor of InterVarsity Press, a lecturer at over two hundred universities around the world and the author of twenty books on literature, philosophy and the Christian faith. His book The Universe Next Door, published in 1976 has sold over 350,000 copies. He held a B.A. in chemistry and English from the University of Nebraska, an M.A. in English from Washington State and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 12, 2024
Helpful beginnings. The book covers the concept of how to determine general beliefs, and later gets into evidence for miracles in the Gospels. Covering biblical evidence is always good, but I wish he would have taken more time to first discuss the general concept of “beliefs.” Particularly I wanted details on scientism, how our decisions to act are informed by best guesses (personal beliefs) from observations about the world around us, degrees of doubt and certainty, how evidence and faith work together in proving a theory beyond reasonable doubt, how we can never know something with 100% certainty, and such.
December 27, 2019
A helpful introduction to several aspects of Christian apologetics and general philosophical outlooks. It’s intended audience is university students. My only criticism is that it read like two books—the first half philosophical, the second half theological/biblical. The interweaving of the two foci wasn’t, in my opinion, all that successful. Nonetheless, overall a good and useful tool.
October 13, 2019
Pretty good overview of some basic issues with religious epistemology and issues with Christian epistemology in particular. I thought his treatment of the role of personal experience in the latter part of the book was particularly excellent.
I there there are some ways in which the author's treatment of some of the historical issues were a bit simplistic, but I'm not sure it'd be fair for me to expect more precision considering this is aimed at a non-specialist audience. I think the general apologetic angle of this book is slightly dated. I'm not sure if the primary objections to the faith are rational but rather moral. Of course, I'm not sure Sire would object to that. He just happens to be focusing primarily on the rational issues.
I there there are some ways in which the author's treatment of some of the historical issues were a bit simplistic, but I'm not sure it'd be fair for me to expect more precision considering this is aimed at a non-specialist audience. I think the general apologetic angle of this book is slightly dated. I'm not sure if the primary objections to the faith are rational but rather moral. Of course, I'm not sure Sire would object to that. He just happens to be focusing primarily on the rational issues.
September 25, 2025
This book is profound, and gave me lots to think about. I loved the argument frame used throughout the book, and the overall format was really helpful. This is a topic about which you could go on and on, so I appreciate the author’s succinct, straightforward approach to a complex subject. The density of the book is a tad overwhelming at times, and there were references to some older works or authors that could’ve used a bit more explanation. Apart from that, this is an excellent read for anyone who’s been pondering their beliefs, faith, or simply the why behind human existence. 4.5/5 stars.
June 26, 2018
So many beliefs, so many world views, so little thought. Sire is not writing a dissertation but he is trying to get the reader to think and quit falling for every line of thought that hits our fancy. Too many people today dare not think ... and that, I think, is a shame.
February 26, 2011
I've loathed writing a review for this book, because I don't think I could do it justice.
The book was quite an annoying read. The first half was (seriously) taking college students' responses to the question "Why should anyone believe anything at all?" and giving the author's two-bits on why those reasons are correct or incorrect. Basically, it covered the first week of a freshman course on epistemology. While claiming to deal with post-modern thought, it really avoids the issue by a vague rejection of the system that doesn't deal with the issues at all.
The second half was perhaps even more disappointing. It was a very broad scope of Christian apologetics, but it really lacked any solid rebuttals of common attacks on Christian faith. In his own eyes the author thought he was making other worldviews look silly, but in actuality he was only making himself look that way. I kept trying to approach the book from the perspective of an atheist, agnostic, or adherent to a different religion, and I found it easy to refute or write off most or all of the author's claims.
The only defense I could give for the book is that it was written in 1995 when Christian evidentialist apologetics were at their peak and more modern forms of apologetics were not widely recognized as being valuable. A book that I would recommend more is the author's "The Universe Next Door," which gives fair analysis (if not evaluation) of various worldviews. That book is what interested me in this current book.
The book was quite an annoying read. The first half was (seriously) taking college students' responses to the question "Why should anyone believe anything at all?" and giving the author's two-bits on why those reasons are correct or incorrect. Basically, it covered the first week of a freshman course on epistemology. While claiming to deal with post-modern thought, it really avoids the issue by a vague rejection of the system that doesn't deal with the issues at all.
The second half was perhaps even more disappointing. It was a very broad scope of Christian apologetics, but it really lacked any solid rebuttals of common attacks on Christian faith. In his own eyes the author thought he was making other worldviews look silly, but in actuality he was only making himself look that way. I kept trying to approach the book from the perspective of an atheist, agnostic, or adherent to a different religion, and I found it easy to refute or write off most or all of the author's claims.
The only defense I could give for the book is that it was written in 1995 when Christian evidentialist apologetics were at their peak and more modern forms of apologetics were not widely recognized as being valuable. A book that I would recommend more is the author's "The Universe Next Door," which gives fair analysis (if not evaluation) of various worldviews. That book is what interested me in this current book.
January 1, 2013
This book was developed from a talk that Sire gave at over one hundred university campuses. The talk's name was the same as the book's, and Sire would have volunteers pass out index cards that had that question printed on it to students, who would then write down their answers. Their answers were placed in different categories, such as sociological reasons, psychological reasons, and religious reasons. Sire exams the different reasons offered for why anyone should believe something, and then comes to the conclusion that the only good reason to believe anything is because it's true.
The second half of the book is devoted to the examination of whether Christianity is true or not. Sire focuses almost exclusively on Jesus in this section. I think this part of the book could have been more in-depth, but I don't think Sire tried to provide an exhaustive apologetic, so I'm rating the book on his goals. Some of the best chapters were devoted to the reliability of the Gospels and their account of Jesus.
The second half of the book is devoted to the examination of whether Christianity is true or not. Sire focuses almost exclusively on Jesus in this section. I think this part of the book could have been more in-depth, but I don't think Sire tried to provide an exhaustive apologetic, so I'm rating the book on his goals. Some of the best chapters were devoted to the reliability of the Gospels and their account of Jesus.
June 15, 2015
Book could be summarised as follow Christianity.
Taking cover of science, like sociology and philosophy, to argue the belief system in favour of adopting Christian religion is not working at all.
Coming from India, following eastern philosophy of life which is less of a religion and more of a way of life, I find very difficult to grasp the need for anyone to enforce their religious viewpoints on others, persuade to convert one's belief and making forceful attempt to prove a religion is better over the other!
Taking cover of science, like sociology and philosophy, to argue the belief system in favour of adopting Christian religion is not working at all.
Coming from India, following eastern philosophy of life which is less of a religion and more of a way of life, I find very difficult to grasp the need for anyone to enforce their religious viewpoints on others, persuade to convert one's belief and making forceful attempt to prove a religion is better over the other!
August 8, 2011
Sire does a good job in covering the lot, from philosophical and modern evaluations through reason (which he argues is itself an act of faith) to reach the biblical truths. He even deal with modern skeptic questions about the resurrection, about the reliability of the Bible, about the problem of evil and the modern search /quest for the historical Jesus. Quite good!
September 20, 2007
a very bias look at an objective subject - too much focus on Jesus and Christianity and why this faith is the answer to our questions and the path to a fulfilling and meaningful life
February 21, 2009
I believe I read this one during college. I think it does a great job answering the question asked in the title.
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November 20, 2009I am reading it now...several years after it was published because I found it in a used book store in september.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews