Review: "But is it true?"

As a younger Christian I was greatly helped by feeding on such classics of apologetics as Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ and F.F. Bruce’s Are the New Testament Documents Reliable?

Michael Ots’s new book is a worthy successor, in which he serves up all that was best in these titles to the next generation. In ten short chapters he seeks to address some of the common objections to the Christian faith. He asks whether faith is irrational, has been disproven by science or is merely a psychological crutch.

Reliability of the Bible

There then follows seven chapters focusing upon the trustworthiness of Scripture, the reliability of the gospels and the evidence for the resurrection. A conclusion draws his argument to a close and makes an appeal to the reader to believe the gospel. Ots writes very well. The chapters are short but cover a wealth of material in a clear and accessible fashion. There are ample flashes of self-deprecating humour and glimpses of personality. He quotes liberally from ancient thinkers through leading academics to the New Atheists and Ricky Gervais.

Obstacles to truth

He includes a very helpful opening chapter discussing how we think and behave; identifying the obstacles to truth in our lives and the problem of intellectual bias. This was very insightful and not something many evangelistic books include. Each chapter also closes with a concise bibliography of other books and resources and these references serve as useful signposts for further study. I very much enjoyed reading this book. It is clearly weighted towards questions about the Lord Jesus and the Bible. This book would be ideal for the young Christian seeking to be built up in their faith. It would be profitable for Christian Union members to read before a university mission. It would also be extremely beneficial for anyone preparing a lunch-bar or evangelistic talk looking for sound arguments and memorable quotes and anecdotes. At heart it is an evangelistic book, so let me encourage you to persuade an unbelieving friend to read it, or even to read it with you, and pray that they will find in response to the book’s title that—yes—the gospel is true.

This review first appeared in the July 2016 edition of Evangelicals Now. Used by kind permission.

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