Zacharias (The Grand Weaver
) brings together many of today’s leading apologists (who are also colleagues at his Ravi Zacharias International Ministries) for a relatively concise treatment of major apologetic themes, including the existence of God, the problem of evil, the exclusive truth claims of Christianity and evidence for the universe’s intelligent design. Writers explore Eastern religions, conversational apologetics and the challenges postmodern thought presents to accepting Christianity. Not all the entries here are equal—a stronger edit might have given the whole more cohesion and kept some essayists from straying a bit—but some are impressively readable. Oxford professor Alister McGrath covers atheism with grace, and Zacharias himself tackles the problem of evil simply and clearly in a short 30 pages. Underlying the whole is a sense of compassion, that apologetics is not solely about establishing truth claims but about understanding listeners’ deep needs and what their current philosophy provides them. The subtitle is unclear—this is really a standard apologetics manual rather than a book about living out the Christian faith (an idea which Zacharias perhaps should develop elsewhere). But readers will find this helpful and comprehensive, smart and kind . (Jan.)
