Why Believe?
Why Believe?: A Reasoned Approach to Christianity
By: Neil Shenvi
“Christianity . . . , if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.” — C.S. Lewis
Why should you believe Christianity?
Maybe you think it’s foolish. Maybe you’ve encountered questions you don’t have answers for and it’s caused you to doubt everything you’ve been told. Maybe you’ve been hurt by someone who was or claimed to be a Christian. Maybe you’re deterred by all religions. Maybe you just really don’t care. Maybe you do believe but you don’t really know why.
I don’t know where you’re at right now, but asking ‘Why Believe?’ is a good place to be. Because there are many reasons to believe and if you’re willing to ask the question, I firmly believe God will show up for you.
Like the quote above states, if Christianity is false, you have nothing to lose, but if Christianity is true, then this is a matter of life and death, as dramatic as it sounds, that is what is ultimately at stake. And either way, you have a choice to make.
This is a really good book for those who question the truthfulness or goodness of Christianity or outright object to it. It’s also for people who are Christians but are finding themselves wondering if it makes sense anymore.
Neil Shenvi (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) has worked as a research scientist at Yale University and Duke University and has published over thirty peer-reviewed papers. I’ve seen him quoted in a lot of books I’ve read and have since wanted to read something he has written. (You can check out his website HERE.)
He came to faith during his years of higher education. He says of that time:
“I had always assumed that Christianity could not possibly be accepted by thoughtful, intelligent people, at least not by people as thoughtful and intelligent as me. Surely, Christianity was for well-meaning and sometimes not-so-well-meaning people with substandard educations and a streak of intellectual fear bordering on dishonesty.”
He had his own journey through asking hard questions, researching, and figuring out how Christianity can stand up to rigorous scrutiny. This book comes from that process as a way to show that to be a Christian is not to be irrational.
He addresses all the most common topics, questions, and objections, framing both sides of the arguments in a fair and balanced way. He is quick to acknowledge where arguments are taken too far or when we come to a place of mystery.
His writing style and use of logic, tables, and analogies make this a very understandable apologetics book and will be one of my top recommendations now for that topic. It can be read straight through or used as a reference, just reading the chapters that talk about particular questions you may have.
[It’s similar to Tim Keller’s The Reason for God or Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity.]
Some of the questions he addresses are:
Isn’t it better for humanity to avoid conflict about religious truth claims in order to keep the peace?
Are all religions true?
What’s the deal with Jesus?
He presents C.S. Lewis’s famous trilemma— Lunatic, Liar, or Lord— and consequently talks about if the Bible is historically reliable. (The book Taking God at His Word or Surviving Religion 101 talks specifically about why we can believe the Bible is true, reliable, and inerrant.)
He provides corroborating evidence from non-Christian authors, geography, and archaeology, and addresses several objections to this trilemma.
There is a large section that discusses the resurrection.
Does God exist?
Here is discussion on mathematics, language, and the origins of life/the universe.
What is the god-of-the gaps approach?
I recently read Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn’t that’s a bit more academic but has a large portion dedicated to the origins of the universe, and how things like math, art, and music point us to a Creator.
Is there objective moral truth?
He challenges that even those who claim to be moral relativists don’t actually live like they are when it comes down to it.
Is truth good? Why should we seek it?
Why would a good God allow evil?
What’s the deal with evolution?
I recently read A Biblical Case Against Theistic Evolution that would be a great addition to this section.
Why wouldn’t God just forgive everybody?
Are all people morally corrupt?
How does Christianity compare to other religions?
Isn’t Christianity just a religion for hateful bigots?
It is a very comprehensive book that covers a lot of material, but what I found most important was his presentation of the gospel.
It’s said, ‘If you can think your way into Christianity, you can think yourself out of it.’
Although it’s important and helpful to show evidence for the reasonableness and truthfulness of Christianity, salvation is not a matter of intellectual change but of heart change.
What Shenvi reminds us of is that the biggest obstacle we have to overcome to put our faith in Christ is not whether we believe God exists, whether Jesus rose from the dead, or why evil pervades the world. The biggest hurdle for us is our sin.
He details the depravity of humanity over all of time and we can’t ignore that humanity’s capacity for evil is staggering. He argues (and I can attest to it from personal experience) that we know it’s innate in us when we see how children behave. We don’t have to teach them to hit, bite, steal, and be selfish. It comes naturally. We don’t want to admit it, but the only thing keeping us from being the worst of the worst, is God’s grace. That’s a humbling thought.
“Each of us needs to come to terms with his or her own corruption and moral failure.”
And we don’t want to do that. We’re perfectly fine with comparing ourselves to ‘actual’ bad people and claiming moral high ground. We’re pretty decent people… after all, we’ve never killed anyone.
But that’s not true self-reflection. Shenvi provides a pretty convicting exercise. Would you be willing to have your thoughts broadcast to the public for a day, all your urges, desires, emotions, and judgments? No? Hm… our thoughts exhibit a good deal of our sinfulness don’t they?
“Communist regimes meant to bring equality and dignity to the poor collapsed into totalitarianism, poverty, and corruption. The attainment of money and fame has led celebrity after celebrity into isolation, despair, and even suicide. The material prosperity of the American dream has done nothing to fill our inner emptiness, so we numb ourselves with alcohol, drugs, sex, and entertainment to hide from reality. When we take an honest look at our own hearts, the misery we have inflicted on ourselves and others, and the state of our world, the Christian explanation becomes not only plausible but unavoidable: something is deeply, radically wrong with us.”
What was monumental for Shenvi coming to faith was the realization that Christianity uniquely explained the condition he found himself in when no other religion did.
“the gospel presents us with two truths all of us must face as human beings: that we are all moral failures and that we all need a Savior. Of all the major world religions, only Christianity insists that we are radically morally corrupt people who are consequently alienated from a perfectly good God. And only Christianity insists that what we primarily need is not moral improvement but rescue. If these claims about the human condition turn out to be true, then they are compelling evidence for the truth of Christianity, which is unique in its assessment of the human condition.”
It is telling that only Christianity tells us we can’t fix ourselves. And we don’t really like that. We like to have control of our lives. We want to see the what it will take to get what we want and be able to check off all the boxes. We strive for self-sufficiency.
But what we view as ‘freedom’ and ‘achievement’ in self-sufficiency is actually bondage to a path of destruction. We will never be enough on our own. We need a Rescuer.
“We are all sin addicts… Moral debits and credits are irrelevant to our condition because all the credit in the world can’t cleanse our hearts… In the same way, we certainly need forgiveness, but we need more than just forgiveness. We also need transformation. We need someone to rescue us out of bondage, to break our chains, and to lead us into freedom…
When we realize that our sin is poisoning us, poisoning our relationship to others, and poisoning our relationship to God, we don’t merely want it forgiven; we want it healed… Jesus offers us a redemption that not only saves us from wrath but also restores us.”
That is the gospel message. We are sinful. We need a Savior. Jesus came and lived the perfect life we never could, died the death our sins deserved, and defeated death, the consequence for our sins. We now have the opportunity to be saved and redeemed. A free gift to anyone who comes to Christ. Not because we do enough or are good enough, but because he loves us and wants us to worship him.
“On the one hand, Christianity has what is perhaps the most radically pessimistic view of humanity of any religion or worldview… On the other hand, Christianity has a radically optimistic view of God’s grace. Although we are all equally fallen, we are all equally redeemable.”
And that is why people become Christians. The apologetics matter, but the gospel is what speaks to the depths of our hearts. It speaks to our inner struggles and longings in a way that nothing else does.
[I would like to take a quick moment to commend Shenvi for using the ‘on the one hand… on the other hand’ literary device appropriately. Eighth grade English in real life!]
I recommend this book to everyone.
It speaks to really important questions and does a great job of defending the faith.
But know that just reading this book will not magically transform your life unless you are truly willing to recognize your sin and your need of a Savior.
God is not out to change minds, he is out to change hearts.
Shenvi answers the question ‘Why Believe?’ but only you can make the decision whether or not you will.
This is a good book to open your mind to things you may have held staunch opinions (or no opinions) on before, but the book that will radically change your life is the actual Bible. It is God’s words and if you seek him, you will find him.
Further Reading:
I’ve read several books on apologetics, some more academic than others, some focused on certain topics. Click the link below to see some other options for further study or to see other sources.
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book just released May, 2022. You may use my affiliate link below to purchase a copy.
Share this book review to your social media!