Who is Jesus... Really?: A Dialogue on God, Man, and Grace

Coffee House Chronicles #2

by Josh McDowell, Dave Sterrett

With over 40 million books sold, bestselling author Josh McDowell is no stranger to creatively presenting biblical truth. Now, partnering with fellow apologist Dave Sterrett, Josh introduces a new series targeted at the intersection of story and truth.

The Coffee House Chronicles are short, easily devoured novellas aimed at answering prevalent spiritual questions. Each book in the series tackles a long-contested question of the faith, and then answer these questions with truth through relationships and dialogue in each story. In Who is Jesus, Really?: A Dialogue on God, Man, and Grace , the group of students now meeting at the coffee house at a college town in Texas come face-to-face with the implications of the person and works of Jesus Christ. Their questions and conversations lead them to creatively respond to a well-known Atheist about Jesus’ claims and actions. The other two books in the Is the Bible True, Really? and Did the Resurrection Happen, Really? continue the unfolding story at the college campus and the coffee house down the road.

Genres: Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian, Theology, Christian Living, Religion

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

Josh McDowell is a bestselling Christian apologist, evangelist, and author of over 150 books, including Evidence That Demands a Verdict and More Than a Carpenter. Once an agnostic, he converted to Christianity while investigating its historical claims. He went on to earn degrees from Wheaton College and Talbot Theological Seminary. For decades, McDowell has been a prominent speaker with Campus Crusade for Christ, addressing issues of faith, character, and youth culture worldwide. His work emphasizes historical and legal evidence for Christianity and tackles challenges posed by skepticism and non-Christian beliefs. He lives in California with his wife, Dottie, and is the father of four children, including fellow apologist Sean McDowell.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, will read again.....lots of answers to questions that people who doubt Jesus is God.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Easy read. As I read this I think of the arguments and the cases made for Christ. How he was a real person and how he was god. There is a lot of good arguments here. Excited to see this and have it as a resource.

[Elizabeth Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some absolute gems of intellect and common sense in this book; I enjoyed the read. The narrative aspect is a little weak, bordering on ‘corny’, however its main purpose is to make the apologetics of the book more entertaining and easy to read than a mere non-fiction essay-style bunch of text. So I like what Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett have done.

The first thing that it says on the blurb is The atheist club on campus is asking hard-hitting questions, but I don’t feel like they are all that hard-hitting. They are a little generic and non-specific, those that reflect the very general questions we hear all the time from atheists today. That’s not to say they’re all easy and straight-forward to answer though. In fact, reading this was great because it put into words things I knew in my heart or had a faint knowledge of, and now I feel I have a more prepared, intelligent response ready next time I am confronted with these queries. It does not go deep into specific questions about Christianity or the ethical issues surrounding it. To be fair though, this book is not supposed to, as it is addressing the question of Jesus’ identity and it is meant to be a short, easy, readable book.

The atheists’ arguments against Christianity seem too weak for me to feel as though the story is real. They often merely ask Do you have scientific proof of this? or simply respond with dismissive comments like I don’t believe Jesus was God or even a good teacher or I’m not convinced yet that such a person even existed.

I really love some of the quotes that are referred to in this book, particularly C.S. Lewis’ statement on whether it’s possible Jesus was lying about His divinity. They will be very helpful in my own efforts to defend my belief that Jesus was (and is) in fact God. I also like how the first character introduced, (Nick) is trying to defend his faith, but is completely overwhelmed when verbal attacks come and he becomes frustrated and too defensive. This is realistic, as we are not perfect, we make mistakes, we are sometimes not sufficiently prepared and may say the wrong things when defending our faith. When I read this section, I was starting to get annoyed at Nick for reacting the way he did initially, but then I realised that quite often, this can be me. The other, more experienced at apologetics character, Jamal, is a much cooler and calmer evangelist, and I enjoyed learning from him. I would like to get hold of the other books in the series Is The Bible True… Really; and Did The Resurrection Happen… Really? This particular booked skipped over the opportunity to go into these questions deeply, and I realise now why.

[Chris Valdivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked!

Great book, moves along quickly but never backs away from the hard topics people really voice. Very accurate biblical foundation as well as a good story. I would recommend getting the whole series, which I'm going to do now. I'm hooked.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It reminded me slightly of the movie God's Not Dead and the book didn't really feel like a book at all -- just seemed like people sitting around having a conversation. I found it easy to read and I am glad I read it.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice book, but it didn't really catch my interest. It would be a good book for teaching or to us a way to connect with people.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christology in the form of a story. It's not that deep, but used as a Christ apologetic for modern young readers.

[Jacque Stengel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book aimed for the college level person. It is a series of books (small) that are primarily set in a coffee house and have a dialogue pertaining to the title. In this volume, they are debating the historicity of Jesus. Was he a real man? Does history back up his life? There are several 'characters' in various stages of belief. From the strong believer to the atheist and they get together to debate the issues as they see them.
This wasn't exactly what I thought it would be when I started. I actually found myself cheering when the believers were able to bring a point across to the non believers that made them stand up and take notice. There is a lot of historical examples found in this book and it would make for a great go to guide when coming across to skeptics who want to know how Jesus fits into history. It is written simply enough that I believe it would be a great book for even a Jr. High youth group to dive into and learn how to defend their faith without giving up or getting angry. If you are looking for a more in depth analysis of who Jesus is, I would suggest "The Case for Christ", but for a beginning look at dialogue this is an excellent start.
As of this review, there are 2 other books in this series and "Is the Bible True...Really" is actually the first book. The other book is "Did the Resurrection Happen....Really". I am looking forward to January so I can share these books with my daughter's youth group. I hope they will open up a dialogue and dive deeper in their beliefs.
Josh McDowell himself was once a non believer and has since become a well respected author and speaker on the truth behind Jesus and looks to teach youth the the truth.
Dave Sterrett speaks for Probe Ministries and teaches Christ centered living at conferences, schools and churches.
6.5 thumbs up out of 7....pretty close, but I wish there would have been a dictionary for those 'big' words that not all college graduates may even know.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley for an honest review. This review is my own words and thoughts. No other compensation was given.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's really easy to state your case when you are also the one challenging it. this is essentially a debate between a christian and a series of atheists. the problem is it is written by a christian with an agenda and obvious biases and prejudices. i can't attack this as a literary style since it's been used by everyone from plato to kahlil gilbran in the past. you just have to recognise it for what it is. and that is exposition, not debate. there is no real exchange of ideas, there is simply one set of ideas stated in a way that makes it appear to answer someone else's set of questions. for a christian to use this style, which i find deceptive, is questionable. i will give josh mcdowell some credit for tempering his dogma and attempting to be fair in his arguments, though i don't think he succeeds.

[Robert Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the three books in the "Coffee House Chronicles" series.
Given in a short story format, McDowell and Sterrett present the questions that revolve most often around the issue of Jesus' identity.
Did Jesus even exist?
If so, do we know that the New Testament's account of his life is trustworthy from an historical perspective?
Why was Jesus condemned to die if he was a teacher of love and peace?
Presented as a narrative dialogue between a group of college students and a couple of disagreeing professors, the two authors tackle this issue head on from a Christian perspective.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd in the three Coffee House Chronicles books. This one looks at who Jesus really is, was he God? and several other questions. This book discusses the fact that often the atheists don't have facts to back up their feelings and Christians do. It talks about the possibility of miracles. It asks if Jesus was a lunatic or a liar. Another very thought-provoking book.

[Cheryl Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are unsure of who Jesus is and have questions about your faith, this is a very easy to read book. It is basic and gives you a lot to think about and resources to follow up on.
In this book, you follow some college kids and Professor as they look into the question "is Jesus real and who He says He is?"
The dialogue is easy to understand, and gives great answers about Jesus.

[Lyndsey520971 · Rating 5 out of 5]

same as the prior book of the coffee house series, "Is the Bible true...really?" Amazing, convincing, brilliant, etc. What I was looking for. And the story of Nick, Jamal, and their friends is continued.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of a series of books written by Josh McDowel, a converted agnostic journalist who authored The Search for Christ. In this book he uses fiction to help explain the truth about the Bible and Jesus Christ.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, sweet (occasionally a little too sweet, perhaps) view from 10,000 feet.

[Natalya · Rating 3 out of 5]

McDowell's content is excellent as always. Much of this material is also in his book More than a Carpenter. I didn't appreciate the writing style of this book though.

[Wiranto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference book

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second of the Coffee House Chronicles, following "Is The Bible True ... Really?"

[Ric White · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to like this book so much more than I do. I appreciate the arguments shown in the book. The facts and references to greater minds are wonderful. I believe much of the content could be properly utilized in discussions with those who have some of these arguments against the Christian faith. It's so weird, though, to see such well-developed and highly intellectual arguments presented in the most awful narrative I've ever seen published. I used to teach middle school Language Arts, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I've read many seventh grade short stories with better dialogue and character development. I am fully aware that this is not the point of the book. However, if you're going to include it, make it decent. It distracts from the quality work that can be found here. Get rid if all that stuff, and I believe you have a very satisfactory book.