If I Were God, I'd Make Myself Clearer: Searching for Clarity in a World Full of Claims

By John Dickson

Book Overview

If there really is something spiritual out there, wouldn't there be some pretty clear signposts to it? Surely God wouldn't leave people with nothing but a bewildering variety of religious voices?If... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1876326514
• ISBN13: 9781876326517
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Matthias Media
• Length: 84 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.2" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

A great give away book

This book is the second in the If I were God series. In it John Dickson considers the vast array of spiritual claims made by different religions and individuals and asks whether any clarity about God can be found. I like this book. It is a small book at 79 pages, and a great give away book for non-believers at that. The language is simple and clear of Christian jargon. I think this is an excellent book for Christians to read too as it helps us get to grips with a popular concept that has swamped popular culture over the last 20 years; pluralism - the concept that all religions are simply roads to God. Dickson's aim in writing the book is not to prove the Christian faith at all, but rather by outlining the main lines of verification open to the interested enquirer he aims to illustrate the broadly verifiable nature of Christianity. The book starts with a discussion on how we are, by nature, incurably religious; Dickson then asks how on earth are we to find clarity amid the noise of competing religious claims? Too often the response, when presented with such a wide range of options is to concede defeat, abdicate responsibility and make no choice at all. The book then examines pluralism, a popular concept today , and one which appears to be firmly entrenched in the western liberal society of today. It does this by reference to various world religions, and also by looking at Acts 17 where Paul addresses a multitude of religions in the Aeropagus in Athens. Dickson helps us see the pluralism is essentially intolerance in disguise, as it stems from an aversion to having to think too hard about anything spiritual. Dickson then encourage us to put our thinking caps on and investigate. He gives pointers by which we can assess whether a religion is verifiable or not - God's signposts if you like. After a brief examination of word religions - Dickson applies this framework to Christianity. The openness of Christianity to rigorous scrutiny is in Dickinsons opinion (and mine!) one of the most exciting things about it. The concept with this book is not to outright prove that Christ is the only way to God, rather it is to challenge the faulty assumptions that society takes on board as truth, and if one was considering Christ - this book tells them how would they go about investigating him. The appendix contains a really helpful list of books for further reading. To many the gospel is rejected simply because it claims to be true, not because it has been examined and found to be false. My hope and prayer is that books like this will help folk deconstruct this flakey concept and will realise that the claims of Jesus can be investigated.