I love stories. Everyone has one,
and I enjoy hearing them. A person’s story gives me insight into who that person
is, and what drives or motivates them. And from the perspective of sharing the
gospel, your story tells me where you are on your faith walk, and gives me a
place from which to start.
Alister McGrath, in his book Narrative
Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith (Baker
Books, 2019) writes about the use of stories to explain your faith. He draws
heavily from the works of C.S. Lewis as well as J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the
Rings” for examples of how extra-biblical stories can play a part in sharing
the Gospel. And he also draws from the biblical accounts of the Exodus, (the
hope of deliverance); the Exile, (Where do we really belong?); the Christ,
(Rendering the love of God); and the Kingdom, (what do we really desire?).
I read through the book fairly
quickly, because I didn’t take the time to head to the back of the books to refer
to the several hundred footnotes. I would have liked to have seen more examples
of practical applications, so this is probably not the book for a casual
reader. Having said that, it would probably be useful as a textbook, or even as
the basis for a Sunday School class, or a small group that wants to learn how
to be more effective when it comes to personal evangelism efforts.
There is some useful information to
be found throughout, and in chapter 6, dealing with the meaning of life, the
reader is invited to ask questions such as “who am I”, “do I matter”, “why am I
here” and “can I make a difference?”.
And when we are able to answer those questions, we are well on the way
to developing a world view, worthy of any Christian.
I received a copy of this book as a
member of the publisher’s Blogging program. I was not required to write a
positive review.
3.5/5
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