Rice Broocks fully fits the title in his book God’s Not
Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of
Uncertainty. He adopts an
interesting approach to meet this thesis by offering an exposition on some
atheistic beliefs based in science before turning to the truth that is God’s
Word. Ultimately, he hammers home three
significant points – (1) evidence-based faith is not blind, (2) life has a
purpose and a meaning, and (3) God does exist and has revealed Himself to all
of humanity through Jesus Christ His Son.
If you are looking for a detailed philosophical work that
will chip away at the atheistic foundations based upon blind assumptions,
debate tricks, ridicule of Christians, and blatant deception, this is not the
work for you. Try out Mitch Stokes
recent work entitled A Shot of Faith to the Head. On the other hand, if you see an intellectual
honest and accessible work that can be ready by Christians at various stages in
their maturity, then by all means get this book.
The first six chapters of Broocks’ manuscript tackle the
issues of faith and science. He moves
from a definitive statement that God is not dead through the relevance of faith
to a purposeful existence in life. He
extensively quotes both sides of the argument and lands squarely upon the side
of God. He shows convincingly how
atheists want to ridicule and mock Christians by orchestrating a lie that you
cannot believe in science and God.
Multiple scientists have come forward to show that is not true. Broocks has the ability to make some complex
issues rather simple. He succinctly
summarizes one chapter with this statement:
“a pointless beginning points to a pointless existence.” Thus, if we believe that we do have a
purpose, as atheists will admit, then we must have a purposeful beginning which
means the current scientific explanation (big bang theory) does not fit. That, in and of itself, lends credence to a
Creator.
The last 4 chapters shift to the historicity of Jesus and
evidence found in the Bible and Christians who have been changed by God’s
grace. I did not expect the merger of
these two topics in this book, but they are quite effective and lead to a
wonderful conclusion – (1) God did, in fact, make the world; (2) God lives in
the hearts of humans that bend to His will; (3) God, as Creator, is the only
author of life; (4) God is in total control of the world, and (5) God did all
of the above so that we would seek Him and thus fulfill the void in our hearts
and souls.
One interesting part that I will further investigate is
Broocks’ mentioning of Antony Flew. He
was an avowed atheist that changed his mind in 2004 by stating that, without a
doubt, God did exist. Very little was
said by Broocks other than Flew wrote a book to outline his rationale for
changing his mind. I will probably
peruse that very soon. Interestingly, I visited
with Wikipedia page and note this statement:
“This book (and Flew's conversion itself) has been the subject of
controversy, following an article in The New York Times Magazine alleging
that Flew had mentally declined.” That
simple line seems to offer further proof that Broocks mentioned – rather than
offer a true debate on the issues, atheists are more comfortable flinging barbs
in the court of public opinion. The assertion is that an intellectual atheist could only change their mind due to the debilitation of their mind due to age. Strange is it not?
I do consider this book worthy of a read for anyone on
either side of this debate. I do not
believe it will change an atheist’s mind because that can only occur through the
power of God. It can, however, bolster a
Christian’s faith by providing evidence that God is fully alive and working in
this world.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I
received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book
review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The
opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with
the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of
Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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