I know Geisler's work but not Frank Turek's; I don't know Norm personally except to say his mind and writings heavily influenced my philosophy of ministry while in seminary. In fact, I envisioned myself something of an apologist until I read a required text, various articles, and several excerpts by him ... then I knew better.
Two jacket endorsements provided by the publisher, Crossway Books, are worthy of mention due to the respect I have for each endorser:
Atheism requires gobs of blind faith while the path of logic and reason leads straight to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Geisler and Turek convincingly show why.
–Phillip E. Johnson, author, Darwin on Trial and Reason in the Balance
Geisler and Turek present the crucial information needed to avoid being swept away by the onslaughts of secular ideologies that cast science, philosophy, and biblical studies as enemies of the Christian faith.
–William A. Dembski, author, The Design Revolution
The Review:
Having been involved in graduate academics several times and in two fields, my first take was the authors intended their work to be used as a college level apologetics text. However, upon reflection, I now see how it would useful in the pastor's library as well as in the library of any evangelist or serious lay witness. Here, in one place, a witness for Christ may find a counter argument for almost any anti-Christian argument they encounter.
Which raises the most serious of my criticisms of the book; it doesn't feel easy to navigate. A reader should be able to review the Table of Contents, the addenda, and the jacket covers and have a reasonable feel for what they will encounter and how it will lead them to the authors' desired conclusion ... I did not get that feel here.
Instead, I felt the authors took every little construct and tool accumulated over the years, laid them on the kitchen table, organized them, threw together some chapters, and presto, like Aaron's Golden Calf, out popped the book. One possible explanation is what, in my opinion, were poorly written and "cutesie" chapter titles. I'd be interested in the authors' take on this.
Written in a courtroom-like style, the author's slowly build the case for the validity of Christianity; they conclusively show that the difference, not just between atheism and Christianity but between all other a-theologies/theologies and Christianity, is indeed "faith." Using empirical and forensic evidence, Geisler and Turek show how adherents of all other "isms" require immense amounts of faith to believe what they believe, whereas the evidence for Christianity demands a verdict of "true."
The authors use a puzzle as the construct for their apologetic. They mean to communicate that even though we might be able to put the pieces together without the picture, it is easier when we have the picture. They claim to have provided the picture box top for the reader-seeker-apologist. I think they have except for the apparent awkwardness of the volume.
The Recommendation:
Ignore the foreward by David Limbaugh; I've nothing against Limbaugh, but his foreward is six pages of what Bill O'Reilly calls bloviating ... I really don't think Limbaugh helped the authors.
If you're not a serious student of and an authentic witness for the faith I wouldn't recommend you waste your money on this work ... of course, if you're not I wouldn't recommend you spend it on a Bible either, seeing as how your confession tells us all we need to know.
I would recommend this to serious students of and authentic witnesses for the faith as "close reach" book ... that is, a reference work within close reach. However, this work should not be used by anyone unwilling to work with what feels clumsy and awkward. The information is there but something is missing in the organization of it, I just can't put my finger on what it is. Perhaps it's just me.
The Authors' Bios:
Dr. Norman L. Geisler is author or coauthor of some fifty books and hundreds of articles. He has taught at the university and graduate level for forty three years and has spoken or debated in all fifty states and in twenty-five countries. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University and now serves as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Frank Turek, Senior Partner of The Austin Group, authors and conducts dynamic training and development programs in "people skill" topics essential to the business community. An eight-year veteran of the United States Navy, Frank served as a Naval Aviator in the Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf. He holds two Master Degrees—one in Public Administration and one in Apologetics. Frank has also taught courses in Leadership and Management at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
I've received no compensation for this review other than a complimentary copy of "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" through the generosity of the publisher Crossway Books."
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