The On The Bookshelf Podcast

interview--Ken Ham returns with ”Divine Dilemma”

"Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" That is a common question posed to Christians (and sometimes among them) but it's not a wise question. As Christian apologist Ken Ham explains, God is good and created everything  to be good. It's human beings who brought sin and therefore death into the world (it's in Genesis 1-11) We are all sinful, and therefore not good compared to God. This is not academic: his younger brother, an exceptionally-talented and brilliant preacher, died young of a fast-moving dementia-inducing brain disease. But his brother's recorded sermons bring strength and understanding of what it's like to live in a fallen world, looking forward to a perfect New Heaven and New Earth.

This is a powerful book from the CEO of "Answers in Genesis", the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum.

interview-Doug Groothuis returns with ”7 World Religions in 7 Sentences”

World Religions in Seven Sentences: A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic” by Douglas Groothus (IVP Academic)

Take an exceptional theologian and give him an assignment with very narrow parameters (The “in seven sentences” series from IVP Academic) and you’ll have an excellent tool to explain the core differences between the world’s religions. These are “windows into their worldviews and ways of life. Pluralism does not mean claiming all religions are equally good or true or that religions can somehow be fit into a larger viewpoint in which they are all deemed equally legitimate as roads to salvation. This is an unsupportable philosophical claim. While religions are many, truth is one, and all religions cannot be one, given their differing truth claims.” The author “addresses the central doctrines of each religion in relation to Christianity and attempts to ascertain how each religion testifies before the bar of truth.” Atheism—“God is dead”. Judaism—” I Am who I Am”.

Hinduism—“You are that”. Buddhism—“Life is suffering.”

Daoism—“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.”

Christianity—“Before Abraham was, I am.”

Islam—“There is one God, and Muhammed is his prophet.”

So what do these sentences mean? Some are self-explanatory, while others are obscure (even deliberately so). The case for Atheism is made through the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, a brilliant and passionate writer whose “disposition was obvious and whose anti-God arguments were specious.” Judaism’s great gift to the world was the self-revelation of God in true and understandable words, which gave authority to the written word. Of Hinduism, the author concludes, “You and I are finite selves, and any aspiration beyond that is not enlightenment but self-deception.”  “For Buddhists, earthly life is literally hopeless. “ There is no God, and life is nothing but suffering. (Why would anyone embrace that?) Daoism is one of three religions of China. It has no creeds or norms to violate, demands nothing, promises nothing, and dies not love or care for humanity.” (What’s the point?)

Christianity promises eternal life by acknowledging our sins and accepting the forgiveness offered by Jesus, the Son of God the Father and bearer of the Holy Spirit. Islam offers a God who does not love or care for creation but rules over it, and his favor is sought by works (the six tenets and five pillars.)

Only one worldview offers grace and Heaven based on the love of God. The others offer no hope, no relief from suffering except extinction, and no way to heaven except by earning it.  Logic favors Christianity. 

interview-Rachel Wightman-Faith & Fake News: A Guide to Consuming Information Wisely

In a world of rapidly-changing media , how can we discern the truth?

Faith and Fake News  : A Guide to Consuming Information Wisely  
by Rachel I. Wightman (Wm. B. Eerdmans Co. Publishing)

As online spaces increase in importance, we urgently need to consider how to love our neighbors on the internet. In Faith and Fake News, Rachel Wightman shares her expertise as a librarian and educator, instructing students in information literacy. This timely and essential guide explains the information landscape and its tendency toward thought bubbles, discusses techniques for fact-checking and evaluating sources, and offers suggestions on ways to engage with our neighbors online while bearing witness to Christ and the truth. 

The book can be multi-purposeful. As a Christian, discernment. As a journalist, wisdom. As a journalism professor who is a Christian, an excellent resource 9and potential textbook!) This book would be perfect for first-year programs for incoming freshmen as well as courses on social media, communications, and political science.

Camille Cates -Moving Forward After Abortion

It's one of the most divisive issues of our time--but it's not the first time America has felt this way. Pro-lifers insist there's a baby in the womb; pro-choicers insist it's the woman's right to choose (and they see abortion as a political statement). But for the women who have an abortion, it's seldom a celebration. Usually , it's an intensive and private decision that echoes into their future whether they want it to do so or not.

It is a very BIG deal. The author shares her personal story of how her first daughter was molested and killed by her fiancé and the father of her second child, which she aborted. Hard choice. Abortion usually is. 

But there can be forgiveness, reconciliation, restoration. There can be a relationship with God that is repaired. It takes honesty and a compassionate counselor. This book is an excellent resource for that counselor, taking a suffering woman through steps that help her mourn her loss, process the grief, and heal her broken heart.

Larry Albert of ”Imagination Theatre” talks radio drama

With a half century in the acting business, most of which has been on the radio, my friend Lawrence (Larry) Albert shares stories of "Imagination Theater" and his mentor and friend Jim French, creator of IT and writers of many of the first decades of its shows. In this extended interview we chat about the business of radio and the delight of radio theater that has been entertaining listeners since the earliest days of broadcast.