Hi folks,
Over the last year or so I’ve heard of a few friends-of-friends who have previously claimed Christ have rejected him. Now I’ve been asked to recommend some good, sensitive, supportive books or other resources to support these friends whose loved ones have walked away from God’s family and I have NO ideas (aside from prayer, of course)! Can anyone help please?
K.

Try Francis Collin’s “Language of God”.

Hmmm
I’m a bit confused; is it for the walk awayers or for friends of the walk awayers?

Thanks Owen - for the families/friends of the walk-awayers.

Krystyna Kidson - 26 March 2008 03:11 PM

Thanks Owen - for the families/friends of the walk-awayers.

I would second Owen’s recommendation and would suggest it’s an excellent read for both those who’ve walked away and for their families/friends. It’s an excellent apologetic for faith (though not explicitly Christian faith).

When one of the world’s great agnostics (my father) recommended this book to me recently I immediately ordered a copy from Amazon. (While I’m waiting for it to arrive I’m reading a friend’s copy which I’m about one third the way through.)

The author, Francis Collins, is a world renowned geneticist who heads the National Center for Human Genome Research in the US. In this book he explains why he sees no tension between science and faith. While in an early chapter Collins explains his own journey from atheism to Christian faith, it’s not explicitly an apologetic for Christian faith, but rather an apologetic for the existence of a loving God. He has combined personal testimony, easy reading and eloquent prose together with a thorough (though not exhaustive) defence for faith which make a terrific read.

I’m interested that two people have recommended a book on science and faith though Krystyna did not say what were the reasons her friends-of-friends gave for rejecting Christ.  Does Collins deal with the problem of pain?

Janice Money - 27 March 2008 12:01 PM

I’m interested that two people have recommended a book on science and faith though Krystyna did not say what were the reasons her friends-of-friends gave for rejecting Christ.

Hi Janice. Yes of course just recommending/reading books is unlikely to restore faith. Much more important is showing love and building relationship including understanding why that person has given up their faith. Where necessary acknowledge, apologise and if possible address failures of the church. (While we are Christ’s ambassadors, we are very flawed ones.)

Does Collins deal with the problem of pain?

Yes, but rather briefly (ie about 5 pages).

Anyhow, as a general apologetic for faith, I think “The Language of God” is a very good one.

Yes of course just recommending/reading books is unlikely to restore faith. Much more important is showing love and building relationship including understanding why that person has given up their faith. Where necessary acknowledge, apologise and if possible address failures of the church.

I also agree with that!  On-topic, relevant discussion and making sure the walk-awayer is aware of you caring for them in general is most important, I think. I am very leery of giving books to others unless they have told me they want to read something or I can see a very clear and direct need for one, AND unless I know that the book in question explicitly meets their specific needs. And I’ll only physically give a book over if I know I’ll be in a position to discuss it with them. However, I didn’t know what book would be good to get onto my bookshelf if that happened - now however, I have an idea! Thank you!

I’ll have to read that Language of God book myself sometime… my impression of it isn’t good, and yet people keep recommending it.

Dannii Willis - 27 March 2008 03:27 PM

I’ll have to read that Language of God book myself sometime… my impression of it isn’t good, and yet people keep recommending it.

Dannii, if you’re a Young Earth Creationist (I don’t know if you are or not) then I wouldn’t be surprised if you disagreed with his conclusions since Collins presents persuasive arguments for Theistic Evolution.

Based on this page, the whole thing seems rather suspect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioLogos

He seems to be equating evolution with the work of Christ?

And arguing based on the supposed commonality of a “moral law” or “search for God” is just begging to be corrected. While I agree they are both very common, it’s an incredibly weak argument.

I’m guessing the book isn’t very biblical or theological.