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Book Title: THE TROUBLE WITH JESUS
Author: Joseph M. Stowell
Recommended by: Ruth Aipperspach
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Joseph M. Stowell in his book THE TROUBLE WITH JESUS
gives us a timely and urgent reminder that merging the name JESUS into
"equality" for diversity with other religions denigrates the
pre-eminence of Christ.
In the first chapter "Breakfast without Jesus" he describes attending
the Chicago Leadership Prayer Breakfast, hearing prayers without any
reference to "in the name of Jesus." But, he points out that
events after September 11, 2001 saw people praying, and singing "God
Bless America" repeatedly, with no or little reference to 'Jesus.'
Stowell describes in the third chapter that the best way for people to
see Jesus is for Christians to be both salt and light in their
communities. He warns against isolation, cloistering one's faith,
confrontation and compromise of beliefs.
Stowell cautions his readers about making Jesus fit all religions and
says it is the responsibility of Christians to speak out boldly in all
situations.
The author encourages readers to engage in what he calls "Authentic
Christianity"--a way to embrace faith and energize oneself. One
might call it as compassion in action. Whatever happened to
Community, the sharing and caring for each other? Stowell uses the
command in John 13:35 as a pertinent summary for the ending of his
book,THE TROUBLE WITH JESUS ... to Follow Jesus .... be an Imitation of
Him... and engage in passionate Pursuit of Him.
Unusual title, fascinating book and worth reading.
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Book Title: THE LANGUAGE OF GOD. A Scientist
Presents Evidence for Belief
Author: Francis J. Collins
Recommended by: James W. Wray
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In this book, new to our church Library, Francis J.
Collins, a medical doctor, describes himself as “a rigorous scientist
…[who is] also…a serious believer in a transcendent God.” The purpose of
his book is to show “that belief in God can be an entirely rational
choice, and that the principles of faith are, in fact, complementary
with the principles of science.”
Collins, “the son of freethinkers”, with no exposure to religion in his
youth, found himself ministering to poor mountain people in his third
year of medical school at the University of North Carolina. He was
struck “profoundly” by “the spiritual aspect of what many of them were
going through. I witnessed numerous cases of individuals whose faith
provided them with a strong reassurance of ultimate peace, be it in this
world or the next, despite terrible suffering that in most instances
they had done nothing to bring on themselves.” For the first time in his
life he felt it necessary to consider whether “God might be a real
possibility.”
The story of his conversion is not exceptional. He found questions and
answers in C. S. Lewis’ books, starting with Mere Christianity.
Ultimately he became a believer and, in this book, he answers the
question: are the findings of science compatible with Christianity.
Collins' scientific credentials are strong; he was the leader of the
Federal Human Genome Project which, in 2000, announced the charting of
what he calls "the language of God". Collins accepts the findings of
science, including the “Big Bang” theory of the origin of the universe,
which posits that all matter was, at one time, confined in an incredibly
dense core which began to disintegrate “approximately” 14 billion years
ago. Collins says: “The Big Bang cries out for a divine explanation. It
forces the conclusion that nature had a defined beginning. I cannot see
how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is
outside of space and time could have done that.”
He quotes Stephen Hawking, the English physicist and author of A Brief
History of Time: “It would be very difficult to explain why the universe
should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who
intended to create beings like us.” Another physicist, Rober Jastrow,
seeking an answer to the mystery of creation, writes:
“At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise
the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived
by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He
has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest
peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band
of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”
For anyone who has puzzled over the supposed conflicts between science
and Scripture, Collins book is revealing. His view of Darwin's theory of
evolution is much like that presented in another book found in our
church library, by theologian Bernard Ramm, '""The Christian View of
Science and Scripture"" (1956),
Dr. Collins' testimony as scientist and believer make his book
inspirational reading.
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