Tuesday, December 13, 2016

A Daily Defense by Jimmy Akin

A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist
by Jimmy Akin
The history of Christianity is one of debate. As the gospels reveal, Jesus was challenged right from the start. Rival schools like the Pharisees and Sadducees posed pointed questions to him, trying to trap him in his words and even to get him in trouble with the authorities. ...

Our world is very different from the one in which Jesus lived, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. If people posed challenges to Jesus, they will do so to us as well.
I'm really glad I received a review copy of this book because otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up. This excellent book provides an easy daily reminder of our beliefs and how to defend and explain them. Each day presents a challenge to the Catholic faith, a (one-sentence) defense, and an explanation of the belief. Sometimes there is also a final one-sentence tip which may range from a cogent summary to a reading recommendation to directing the reader to a related page with a different wrinkle on the topic.

Some of the objections are that I just don't encounter such as "Matthew's genealogy of Jesus omits some generations and thus is wrong" or "The Bible originally taught reincarnation, but the relevant passages were struck out by the Council of Nicaea." For me the answers to these are academic, but interesting.

Many, though, are those I am familiar with. I love the way that Akin's defense statements often turn my usual thoughts on the subject into a new direction. The explanations are thorough and often include information or positions I wouldn't have thought of. And I thought I knew a lot about how to explain some of these topics.

Highly recommended.

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