Letters from a Skeptic
Book: Letters from a Skeptic
Authors: Gregory and Edward Boyd
Rating: ***
Description: A grown-up son writes to his intelligent and sceptical father on the Christian faith. Through 30-odd letters they correspond, the father raising every doubt and objection he can think of, and the son responding sincerely. As a result, God brings the father to faith in Him eventually. A real-life demonstration of apologetics at work, with a heart.
Note though, that Gregory Boyd holds the view of open theism, which is that God does not know the free will choices that people will make in the future because God either chooses not to know or because the future isn't knowable. (See http://www.carm.org/open.htm). In my opinion, this view is unbiblical and does not edify Christians, despite what open theists say. Boyd may try to confront the problem of evil and suffering by saying that God did not have complete control, but I think it is ultimately more comforting to have a God who is absolutely sovereign and good, such that even the most seemingly senseless evil turns out to be allowed for His good purposes. There is no intellectual difficulty with accepting God's sovereignty and goodness in the face of suffering - the difficult lies in emotionally and volitionally accepting it, and that's what faith is about.
Yet all in all, the book provides good apologetic material in a real situation and Boyd shows patience and lots of sincerity in engaging his skeptical father - something we all can learn from.
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