Forget political correctness and timidity. Through this gritty, didactic countdown, author Driscoll answers sensitive questions Christians may be afraid to ask. Pastor of the Mars Hill megachurch in Seattle, Driscoll (Vintage Jesus
) asked his congregation to submit their burning questions online. After they submitted and voted on 893 questions, Driscoll answers the top nine in the nine chapters of this book. From worship styles to explicit discussions of sex and birth control, the topics represent timely questions with which real people struggle. Driscoll includes quotations, stunning statistics, endnotes and footnoted verse numbers as evidence. Historical context and pop-culture references help to further clarify the more complicated explanations. When handling controversial topics, Driscoll sometimes employs a crass, mocking humor. Though this humor accomplishes its goal of being “arresting and difficult to ignore,” it may alienate the very readers from other denominations, religions and sexual orientations Driscoll hopes to rebuke and reconcile. Some questions have only idealistic, black and white answers (don't have sex until you're married). In other instances, such as birth control, he presents the arguments and leaves gray areas the reader may resolve as “their conscience permits.” On the whole, Driscoll is strong medicine. (June 30)
