True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of Our Complex World (Veritas Books)

I bought this book excited to see how the author would compare Christianity to other worldviews (religions and philosophies) across a range of vital topics. I was sorely disappointed and cannot recommend this book.Among the several problems I had with this book:Throughout, Skeel misses opportunities to draw substantive distinctions between Christianity and other worldviews; and often he simply omits a worldview completely (or, oddly, keeps hanging on worldviews that no one today subscribes to, such as Gnosticism). For example, Islam is mentioned very few times in the book, as is Judaism, and I only counted one mention of Hinduism and no mentions of Buddhism. Nothing on Chinese worldviews like Confucianism or Taoism. How can this be in a book that has the premise of comparing Christianity to other religions and worldviews? (I thought I may have misunderstood the purpose of the book, so I went to re-read the Introduction, and here it is: "We will find, I think, that Christianity is considerably more plausible (and materialism and other systems of thought somewhat less) than you may think." OK; so we *will* compare and contrast.)In other places Skeel relies too heavily on C.S. Lewis, for me. But I have to say, I'm not a huge C.S. Lewis fan. He is OK, but when a book like this relies so heavily on one other Christian author, I question how widely read that original author is. In other places Skeel sets up and knocks down a current popular Christian philosopher--William Lane Craig, whom he does not name by name in the book but merely in an endnote--by cherry picking from.the full body of Craig's work. (Odd, I thought, when in other portions of the book he's name dropping current thought leaders left and right. I have read Dr. Craig's book Reasonable Faith. I have watched a large number of his debates and lectures and also listened to several of his podcasts. I think Craig would say--and I am saying--that Skeel misrepresents Craig's work on the Kalam cosmological argument. Do a search with google on "Kalam cosmological argument" to see for yourself.)And in other places Skeel brings up a topic as if to help it support his thought, but then he simply lets it hang. This happens time and time again. Very frustrating.Other substantial issues I had with this book:The chapter Suffering and Sensation has no discussion on Buddhism's approach to suffering. None. Astonishing. Did Skeel think not one of his readers ever heard of the Buddha's teaching on human suffering? How can you hope to claim Christianity has a better explanation for suffering than other worldviews when you don't compare it to those other worldviews that *do* have an explanation for the very thing you're talking about?I found the section "The Problem of Evil" in this chapter to be criminally inadequate. Skeel writes: "In the end, I do not think Christianity can give a complete explanation of *why* there is suffering and evil in the world." (p. 94). I almost dropped the book right there and stopped reading. Of course Christianity provides a complete explanation of why there is suffering and evil in the world. There is suffering and evil in this world because of Satan and because we are not fighting against flesh and blood "but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). There.Another mistake I think Skeel makes is that he relies heavily on the Old Testament book Job to try to make sense of suffering in the world. I've known other Christians and non-Christians cite Job, too, to grapple with the concept of human suffering. To me, this is like relying on ground-based telescopes to view the sky when the Hubble Space Telescope is now available. In other words: Why rely on the Old Testament when the New Testament now prevails? At best this is immature, at worst, it is misguided and misleading.In the chapter The Justice Paradox there is no discussion of Islam. Well, there is one mention if you consider actually naming the religion by name and leaving it there. I'm completely baffled by this, unless Skeel was afraid of addressing the concept of justice in Islam. For anyone who is interested, simply google "Justice in Islam" and you'll find many good source materials for study. It will blow your mind. It's a shame Skeel didn't take the opportunity to address this in his book. He had/has a platform, and he didn't take up the fight.The author attempts to tackle some enormous topics in five chapters: Ideas and Idea Making, Beauty and the Arts, Suffering and Sensation, The Justice Paradox, and Life and Afterlife.In the chapter The Justice Paradox he never defines the term "justice" or "just society". I'm widely read so I understand what he is getting at, but I don't think the average reader will. That's a shame. The other shame is that Skeel seems to project his personal beliefs about the law (obviously, he's a lawyer by trade) and its uses onto all of Christendom. If you're not a careful reader with a broad understanding of history and philosophy, you'll be easily misled.In addition, to state that Jesus' trial was a failure of two legal systems is to be blind to the fact that it was a triumph of Jesus' purpose here on earth.Skeel rightly mentions a Christian influence on the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights (but to what extent is left to your own research and study). But, here again, Skeel makes no mention of Muslim country's objecting to the Judeo-Christian basis of the Declaration and, indeed, the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which affirmed Islamic sharia law as its sole source. Anyone can look this up using a google search. Why wouldn't Skeel include it in this book? Again, Skeel had a platform but refused to use it to teach about the distinct differences between Christianity and Islam.I admit that I merely skimmed the final chapter on heaven. Up to this point I found Skeel's work so full of missing information, missed opportunities, and outright errors from scripture that I didn't want to do a word-by-word reading to find even more. I might go back and review; might not.This is the kind of book that happens when you're not well-versed (or, worse, ill-versed) in your source materials. I won't give this book a 1-star rating because Skeel does pose some fascinating questions, and also there are some truths here, they're just buried and you'll need a very keen and discerning eye and mind and spirit to tease them out. To me, in the end, the ride wasn't worth it.PS: In several points in the book Skeel bemoans the fact that there are no/few Christian artists in various public forums espousing the truths of Christianity from their perspective. I couldn't agree more. I'm a Christian, and a poet and novelist. I'd welcome the opportunity to share with a wider audience my artistic worldview. :)Did not like2/5 on Amazon1/5 Goodreads

According to Prof. David Skeel faith in God helps us feel loved by God that can energize us because we feel safe and dignity. He says the intersection of law and faith can be a catalyst in building relationships and in the administration of justice. So Skeel says materialism and those who say heaven begins on earth are part of contemporary Christian discourse.

This a well written, thoughtful, and thought provoking book discussing Christian answers to and insights into several paradoxes we all encounter and struggle with in life and faith (or lack of faith). It is very approachable, but will be valuable to even the most learned, I suspect. It is not overly long by any means, but lists other sources if you want to read further. I especially liked his insights into the spectacular failure of not one but two different legal systems during the trial of Jesus, and how that relates to Jesus' stated mission to fulfil the law with his sacrifice for those condemned by the law (all of us ultimately). The one person that the law should have acquitted as innocent is the one person that pays for the crimes committed by all the rest of us.

Skeel offers five disparate meditations, on topics ranging from creativity, to art, to suffering, to justice, to Heaven.He's a lawyer, and as such, his writing is crisp, erudite, challenging. . .and not for an entry-level Christian, fundamentalist, or high school graduate.I had occasion to visit his blog and offer brief feedback regarding page 94, “…although Job repeatedly asks God for an explanation of suffering and evil, God never gives him one.” and he was gracious in response:http://trueparadoxblog.com/2014/12/08/pete-wehner-on-suffering-and-true-paradox/#comment-623This is a great book for the mature Christian you know who needs something slightly off the beaten path, while still fully orthodox.

I very much enjoyed the author's manner of distilling philosophical theories on both sides of the argument for the existence of God and the divinity of Jesus. However, I found the book to be too short, and I feel that the author could have expanded some of the discussions and length of his thesis.

This is a book that addresses some of the most difficult questions confronting religious faith. Written by a lawyer, it is framed in arguments not unlike a lawyer would do to convince a jury. As such, it can be a bit tedious but the arguments are well reasoned. It provides important confirmation for Christians.

This book was written on an intellectual level and based on logic. However, God is supernatural and we can only reach God by our hearts instead of brains. Look at how the disciples and even Jesus tell the gospel. They didn't have a long debate with nonbelievers. Instead, they use gifts of the Holy Spirit to heal people and love people. Their preaching is simple and they used a lot of parables.

Covers our shared experiences, both good and bad, and shows how Christianity puts them into a meaningful framework. I have to admit, lawyers in heaven seemed to be a stretch, but his discussion of eternal life is very insightful.

I had not heard of David Skeel, a US law professor, before - and learned of his new book (published later in 2014) through academic colleagues in the US.I can imagine this book being one which splits the voters, as it does not 'conform', as it were, to the idea that either Christians or skeptics might have of a 'defence' of faith. Such books ordinarily deal with a given topic in some considerable detail, or with a range of related topics in a summary or encyclopaedic manner - this, at 161 pages (excl references) is not long enough for either, and indeed even though a relatively brief read, Skeel is quite discursive in his approach.In this case, the author sets out to discuss a number of key paradoxes in our shared human experience, and aims to show how the Christian proposition explains those paradoxes better than the competing world views - and, especially, better than the current secularising reinterpretation of life, which appears now to lie like a blanketing fog over Western culture. He covers five key areas of ideas: (1) ideas and idea-making, (2) beauty and the arts, (3) suffering and sensation, (4) the justice paradox and (5) life and afterlife.I am not sure that he attains an unequivocal slam-dunk for the Christian worldview in each case, and I suspect that part of the reason for this is that the volume was co-edited by an atheist colleague, with the result that the conclusions are, if anything, understated or minimalist. But, I am not sure that this is a bad thing. Skeel does not come across as 'precious' about Christian truth - in fact, his presentation of the ways in which Christianity makes sense of these five areas (unlike competing world views) is relaxed and quite nuanced.As someone who works in the financial sector in the UK, where it is quite clear that the Regulators sincerely believe that everything that is wrong may be 'fixed' by ever more draconian and complex legislation, I found his treatment of justice (and the human inability to create a 'just society') to be particularly insightful - especially as he writes from the perspective of a law professor. In some ways, I might wish that he had gone further in his conclusions, but actually the point he makes, he makes well enough. Christianity alone, with its valuing of law, whilst teaching the imperfectibility of human nature, gives us a model for our culture which is both realistic and idealistic. Unfortunately, each successive wave of secularists seem to exhibit a marked amnesia to the plentiful lessons from human history, and believe that, this time, they'll be able to come up with the goods. Skeel does I think persuasively make his point.Overall, this is a good book. It sits far enough outside of our normal expectations to present a refreshing read, because it challenges preconceptions. It is a relatively quick read, but I suspect one that I will return to - and I found that I was appreciating the author's style of writing, which repaid recapitulation and further thought. I have not given it five stars because my sense is that there were areas where Skeel might have played his hand more strongly, to the benefit of both believing and skeptical constituencies.If you are looking for something thought-provoking and different to read at the beginning of 2015, then this might be a good place to start!

Humbly and honestly written. Found it to be a remarkable mirror of my own journey as a follower of Jesus.

Excellent presentation of the evidence for Christianity in our post-modern world