GOD: An Honest Conversation for the Undecided

Wagner, a pastor and former Promise Keepers v-p, writes for those who are discovering or rediscovering God in an age when many believe he is no longer necessary. Wagner's conversational style reads like the transcript of an afternoon at a coffee shop, informally presenting attributes of God that might appeal to the modern seeker—for example, his unpredictability; his passion for peace and his love for truth, goodness and beauty. Anecdotes and illustrations come from Ted Nugent, Dana Carvey, Charles Dickens and J.S. Bach. In a mostly successful effort to avoid Christian jargon, Wagner produces a few awkward constructions, calling the cross "a contraption of death" and John Calvin "a 16-century Christ-follower." More detrimental is Wagner's appealing to the Bible as truth without establishing its credentials; for example, he asks the reader to assume that God created the world. To explain why the Bible is a better source of revelation than any other holy book, Wagner says that Scripture is "a tried and true guide to living successfully." But since his declared audience of "the undecided" can't be expected to presuppose Scripture's reliability, the book is based upon circular logic. However, its portrait of a complex, loving God who can be known experientially as well as rationally—summed up in an effective discussion of the 23rd Psalm—offers an appealing perspective. (Jan. 18)