E. M. B. Green

Michael Green, Anglican priest and theologian, lists here the 10 most common excuses to refuse being a Christian, and purports to debunk them all as being nothing but fallacies. Here's an apology for religion, then, but humoristic and targeted to a wide and popular audience. Well...

First, let's salute the successful attempt to have gathered in 10 short chapters the 10 main arguments in favour of believing in God, and rallying to Christianity especially. It's short, but straightforward; and show more the writing style, engaging, make it all pleasant to read. The thing is, it's pleasant to read but nothing more. In fact, it's not very challenging, and if you were expecting an argument of some intellectual substance then you'll be seriously disappointed -here's a cocktail mixing among all the most silly clichés on the topic!

First: ignorance -plain and simple. He equates evolution with chance, affirms there is nothing with it which could bother Christians, and even goes as far as to quote Paley! It starts very poorly... It goes on by peddling absurd assertions on moral, being here both revolting and laughable. Revolting when he defends the works of Christian missionaries across the world (the Aucas in South America are labelled 'savage people from the stone age', that only a conversion to Christianity has civilised...). It's laughable when he claims only Jesus can save you from smoking, and, even, homosexuality (yes, it wouldn't be complete without a good dose of homophobia...). Advancing such arguments, no one will be surprised to see him then peddling circular arguments to defend the superiority of Christianity over other religions: the Bible is true, because the Bible says that what the Bible says is true (ta dah! Here's reincarnation being proven too, as far as he is concerned).

It surely is funny to read, but when it comes to being clever it's an epic fail. In the end, you can't but feel like throwing the question back at him: Michael Green, you must be joking, right!?? show less

Written about the church, primarily for clergy and others in Christian leadership. This is a readable and interesting book. It was published nearly 35 years ago, but Michael Green was a forward thinker, assessing what he saw as the way forward, if the church was to survive into the 21st century.

The first few chapters of the book look at what the author perceives as guidelines related to Christian ministry from within the New Testament. In the later chapters he takes an honest look at some of show more the controversial issues which were dividing the church of the 1980s.

It’s inevitably somewhat dated, and I found the style a little awkward at times, with many parenthetical Scripture references within one paragraph. But there are some thoughtful comments, and far-seeing insights and predictions.

New believers might find this book too critical, and it's unlikely to interest those outside Christian circles. It’s written for those who believe, who see problems in the way church congregations are run, and who would like to see a vision for something different. Long out of print, but often found second-hand. show less

These days most people will grant that Jesus Christ was a great teacher who lived in a corner of the old Roman empire. Most also welcome his teachings as a sound basis for civilization. But what difference does that make now? Why has a whole religion been built on this person? What did he actually say and do? And how can we trust the written records about him? This fast-moving, highly readable book introduces Jesus of Nazareth honestly and openly, with no prior knowledge assumed.

A comprehensive and beneficial analysis of the promotion of Christianity in its first three centuries.

The author discusses the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts in which the message was first promoted, the message itself and the way that it was promoted, those doing the promotion, their motivations, and their strategies, based upon textual and archaeological evidence.

The author does well at showing the critical importance placed on evangelism as part of the Christian life in early show more Christianity, but also vice versa-- that the Christian life was an important aspect of evangelism in the same period. He does well at showing the challenges that the first century world provided against the promotion of the Gospel and how the early Christians worked to overcome those challenges.

There are times when the author is likely stretching the evidence; as a good Anglican, he still seeks to justify infant baptism and grace only theology, although he does recognize that the bishop/presbyter/elder was the same office in the first century.

Nevertheless, an excellent resource to gain a better appreciation of the work of evangelism done in the first centuries of Christianity, and provides encouragement regarding the ability of doing the same work today. show less