Monday, February 23, 2015

Book Review of Faith is Like Skydiving by Rick Mattson











Faith is Like Skydiving And Other Memorable Images for Dialogue with Seekers and Skeptics
by Rick Mattson
ISBN 978-0-8308-4411-1
IVP Books
Reviewed by Clint Walker

When I was in college, my friend was trying to figure out relationship issues. He became my roommate, and we would check out Gary Smalley videos from the local library and discuss them. Smalley's videos described the process of using "emotional word pictures" with one's spouse and children in order to effectively communicate what was on one's heart. The idea was that the communication was more effective when one used these word pictures than when one simply used concrete statements. Rick Mattson takes a similar approach, and strangely enough he applies this approach to the task of Christian apologetics in Faith Is Like Skydiving.

Each chapter in Faith is Like Skydiving takes on a different issue in explaining and defending the faith. Each chapter has a phrase that is an easily memorable title. That phrase addresses a certain objection to the Christian faith with a word picture than serves as shorthand for an intellectual argument against the objection to faith. It is a brilliant idea. And it helps folks communicate what they believe well and remember what they have learned about defending the faith easily.

This would be a great book to read alone. It would be an even better book to go through in a group and discuss chapter by chapter.


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