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Summary: A Powerful Book for skeptics
Review: I was definitely a skeptic from my college days until I read this book sometime in 1978. After a few months to think and research, I was born again on 10/4/78. Loan a copy of this book to your skeptic friends.
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Summary: The reviews of this book give further evidence...
Review: The reviews of this book give further evidence that the Bible contains the truth. More Than A Carpenter was very helpful to me when I was a skeptic. A book can't give you the saving faith that you need to believe in Jesus. But God used this book to force me to consider why I had rejected Christ. I was convinced that there were no reasons to believe in Jesus (I didn't even know what it really means to believe in Jesus). After I read this book, I realized that I had rejected Christ without even considering the evidence. This book didn't "prove" anything to me. It was an eye-opener that forced me to think long and hard.Like I said at the beginning of this review, the other reviews give further evidence that the Bible contains the truth. The world really is divided into two groups: those whom God has chosen, and those whom God has not chosen. Those who read this book and come away with a harder heart give evidence that the facts really don't matter. They have chosen to reject the truth. These are people that God has chosen, as is His right, to not save from His judgement. Those who read this book and gain something from this book give evidence that they are one of God's chosen. Why do I make this simple distinction? Because this book, while it doesn't (and what book could?) prove that Jesus is the Son of God, it does contain the truth. There have only been two types of reactions to it: rejection and acceptance. As it says in John 1:9-13: "The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. But although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan--this rebirth comes from God." (NLT) I truly hope that those who have rejected the truth in More Than A Carpenter will reconsider. I can't open your mind and force you to look at the evidence honestly. I can't change your world-view (if you reject the spiritual because you have a Naturalistic world-view). No one can, except God. I urge you to ask Him to open your mind and then seek the evidence. If you do, I am confident that, like Josh McDowell (and myself), you will find that there really is no contest. The evidence for Jesus is overwhelming.
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Summary: I have yet to hear a good argument against it!
Review: Firstly, the reasons I didn't give it 5 stars is because of its over-dramatic tone. He overdoes it in praising some of his references instead of just stating who they are. Also, while not overtly denominational, it presupposes the brotherhood of James as biological, which Catholics (and many other Protestants) interpret as a kinship that is not biological. Finally, he presents "religion" as "man's effort to save himself through works" opposed to faith alone in Jesus, pitting the stereotypical Catholic and Protestant caricatures against each other, which is unnecessary. The book should stick to presenting the case for Christ to an unbeliever. Okay, that being said, this remains a fantastic little book for the simple reason that no one seems to give a substantial refutation of it. Just read all of the negative critiques here. They all do one of the following: (1) criticize the book without stating why, (2) criticize the trilemma but without offering an alternative choice, (3) criticize the trilemma and offer the alternative that the person of Jesus was made up (which is addressed by the rest of the book!), (4) lean on the excuse that lots of people died for false causes, ignoring McDowell's clincher: yes, but why would the apostles die for a lying, KNOWING it to be a lie? No critic adequately answers this one. (5) Criticize McDowell's logic by stating that the mere presence of miracles makes the Gospels unbelievable, which McDowell already addresses as an anti-supernatural bias, a perfectly valid point. Finally, (6) criticize the book and put links to other pages. I've followed the links, and I've even done searches for arguments against this book, and found the same problem - criticism without substance. Bottom line: as over-dramatic as the tone may get at times, the book presents solid evidence that detractors may criticize, but they can't seem to refute! Someone email me with a serious refutation of this book ...Until then, I'm recommending it! Josh, you're a bit sappy, and I detect a bit of bias against a certain Church, but you did a solid job defending my Lord and Savior, and I thank you for your contribution.
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Summary: This book gets life-changing RESULTS!
Review: If you want someone to really understand why they can actually believe in the Bible and the message that it contains (the Gospel of Jesus), my experience has been that getting them to read this book is one of the best ways. While in the US Air Force, I was stationed on Guam, where a friend of mine had a copy of this book, which he had borrowed from a friend. He explained a little about it and told me he really enjoyed reading it. He said that his own faith was greatly increased. I thought that sounded pretty good, so I asked him to let me borrow it. I did, it was awesome, my own faith grew tremendously,and I couldn't help but to tell another friend of mine all about it. So, this next friend borrowed it, he thought it was great, it made a great impression on him (he was a newborn Christian, at the time, and 12 years later he still has a very close walk with the Lord), and then a friend of his borrowed it! So, finally we had to get the book passed back up the food chain, from friend to friend to friend to friend to friend, just to get it back into the hands of the original owner (I can only assume that he hadn't borrowed it, too). That was around 1989 or 1990. 12 years later, I was thinking about how great of an impact that little paperback book had on me and was telling my wife how grateful I was to have ever come across it. She decided to buy 18 copies of it for me, for Christmas. So I gave copies to some family members and friends from work. A recent incident was a few months ago. One night as I was leaving work, I decided to give a copy to a guy who is a supervisor (not mine), but because the lights were being turned out and everyone was expected to leave for the night, I didn't have time to write a note to him explaining where the book came from and why (like I wanted to), so I just left it on his desk. The next day he was sent to a different floor of the building, so I didn't see him again until 3 weeks later, when I was also moved to the same floor. When we first saw each other, I had forgotten all about giving him the book. I noticed that he was far more chipper than in the past and he had a plastic Jesus on top of his computer monitor. Here was a guy who, not too long before, I'd seen wearing a Metallica t-shirt and sometimes could get edgy over seemingly trivial things. A couple of minutes later, I remembered leaving that book and went and told him that I was the one who left it and explained how I didn't have time to leave a note. At first his eyes got big, which made me think for a second that he was angry with me; but then his face really lit up with happiness and surpise (that it was me). He said, "That was the best little book I have ever read in my life!" He couldn't stop thanking me and said that his whole life has changed and that book had a lot to do with it. Since the last time I had seen him, he had been baptized and even married! He said that he now attends church services 3 times a week, too. He thought for sure that either his wife or one of her friends had left it for him to find. But, of course, she insisted that she did NOT! So, finally the mystery was solved for him. Now, I can't wait to buy some more to give away, as I believe the Lord leads me to do so. I already have a few more people in mind that I think would really like it and benefit from it. The book is easy to read and understand, not too long, and just gets right to the point. The point being that Jesus claimed to be More than a carpenter. He dogmatically claimed to be God. Either he was lying, was delusional, or else he was telling the truth. Only one of those 3 options allows for one to say that he was a great teacher. So, if someone wants to say that they don't believe that Jesus is God, then they should not also say that he was great teacher (as a lot of people do). It's explained that the odds of one person fulfilling all of the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah to come, as Jesus did, is so mathematically improbable, that it is obvious that Jesus IS who he said that he is (It would require a whole lot MORE faith, and of the BLIND variety, to believe other-wise, after learning this). McDowell has a mathematician to give an example of what the odds are of one person fulfulling them all. The example given is something like, if you filled the entire state of Texas with coins 8 feet deep and only 1 had a special mark, Jesus would have had to have picked that 1, on the 1st try. I think this book is kind of like NIKE shoes. JUST READ IT! :-)
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Summary: Further Away From God!
Review: I'm not quite convinced that Jesus was "More Than A Carpenter," and after reading this book, I feel that I am even further away from god than I was at the beginning. As I read the first chapter in this book I was already in disbelief, however, I continued reading it so that I couldn't cancel out the possibility that it might be helpful. I felt that Josh McDowell contradicted himself one to many times in this novel pushing me further away from belief. I decided to read this novel thinking it would bring me closer to god being that I believe that religion is important because without faith people go corrupt. McDowell states that he asked all these people certain questions and yet they are conveniently unable to respond back to them. When I was reading I thought to myself how easily I could have responded back to his interrogations. An example was when McDowell stated "How do you test other historical masterpieces (such as the bible) regarding their authenticity?" Along with that question he argued how can one prove that Martin Luther King JR. and George Washington were real? I would argue the point that Martin Luther King JR. and George Washington didn't do anything that another human couldn't have done, however, Jesus supposedly came back from the dead in which no other human has done before. McDowell also didn't contemplate the fact that some people consider the bible as a literary masterpiece rather than a historical one. The only part of this book I found helpful was the last chapter because rather than trying to back up his beliefs with facts he backed them up with his experiences which makes more sense to me. I truly feel that McDowell purposely wrote this book to make people lose faith, bringing himself closer to god. I wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone who is trying to become a Christian or a person who already is one.
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Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I got this book because I'm a new Christian and wanted to learn about the historical proofs about Christ to share with my husband. I had heard that this book was easy to read and understand for people seeking the truth about Christ but I was certainly mislead. This book was totally confusing and hard to understand. It is not written for a seeker or a skeptic, in my opinion. It appears to be written for the well-versed theologian. I felt more confused after reading it. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because I feel the man's heart was in the right place and I enjoyed the parts about how the Bible manuscripts have been preserved and accurate even though they are so old. I was really disappointed.
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Summary: very good answers to the most important questions
Review: I'm glad I read this book. The words in this book help non-believers and believers to know what and why believers believe.
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Summary: Got Questions?
Review: Here in one compact volume is the evangelist's toolkit. Who was Jesus? What is Christianity really about? What about science and evolution? Can an old book written by dead guys be relevant? or real? What about good people who die? Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? These basic questions are soundly answered with love, authority, and simplicity. Josh McDowell can be trusted to articulate the plain truth and speak in sound doctrine. With a heart for young people and solid doctrine underlying his faith, this former atheist explodes the myths of the popular culture and reveals the Truth, this Jesus, standing bright and bidding in His glory. I buy these books 6 or 8 at a time to give them away to seekers or those I witness to.
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Summary: Basic Concepts
Review: This book is excellent for explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a simple way. Some people on this site have been very critical of the "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord" section, but his explaination is extremely accurate and basic philosohpy should easily get you through these concepts. If I claim to be a "doctor", there are three options...I am, I'm not, or I'm misrepresenting myself as one. Basic concept guys....no wonder you didn't understand the book.
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Summary: Great Primer for Youth--Spritual Milk
Review: This book is a great place to start when people say "I believe in God, and Jesus, but what exactly does that mean?" It addresses a lot of the same issues as Lewis' "Mere Christianity" but is quite bit more approachable. The only weakness is that it may be a bit too simplistic in its arguments. I used it as Senior High Sunday School curriculum and it worked well.
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