This work is for the benefit of the modern skeptic that is open
to possibly re-thinking their position and for Christians who have
friends and family looking for a rational way out of their
unbelief.
The book starts with the indisputable: someday you are going to
die. The question is, what's next? Since one's eternal state is
forever, the thoughtful person should seek to obtain the best
possible outcome.
At one time religious traditions informed us about our fate, but
the secular person has been cut off from traditional answers. One
is left with the nihilism of scientific materialism or an
irrational leap into mysticism. But perhaps today's most common
alternative is to distract oneself with things of the
world-entertainment, achievement, etc.
At the beginning of the Enlightenment, the French mathematician
Blaise Pascal noticed similar tendencies in affluent Paris. He was
outraged that his friends would be so reckless with their souls.
Framing his plea against the backdrop of Pascal's famous Wager,
author Paul Ernst takes the reader through the cumulative case that
a group of men and woman 2000 years ago were not merely
pre-scientific and gullible, but were shaped by an event that would
cause them to reject their own beliefs and give up everything for
what they knew to be true.
The early chapters are about establishing a method for
evaluating truth claims and evidence. As most people do not have a
clearly thought out worldview, Ernst lays out a simple but
unexpectedly robust map for thinking about philosophical systems.
The worldviews of Naturalism, Theism and Eastern Pantheism are set
out so that the reader might be able to better identify their own
faith commitments. At the same time Ernst exposes the myth of
"neutrality" concerning ultimate ideas.
The next part of the book lays out the case for a Being like the
Judeo-Christian God from the evidence of the natural world. The
Kalam Cosmological Argument as set forth by Dr. William Lane Craig
and the design inference of Dr. William Dembsky are made accessible
to the general reader.
Ernst then sets up the plausibility of the claims of the
earliest Christians with a defense of miracles based on C. S.
Lewis's refutation of skeptic David Hume and the pretensions and
limitations of modern science.
The specific claims of the New Testament are examined using
sound historical methodology based on what most 1st century
historians, and not theologians, actually believe. Jesus' claims of
deity are examined against a 1st century Jewish backdrop-the only
one with the proper context. The resurrection of Jesus far exceeds
any naturalistic explanation for basic facts believed by the
majority of scholars.
After the positive evidence, Ernst deals with classic objections
to Theistic belief-such as the problem of evil, the hiddenness of
God and alleged falsehoods in the Bible. There is solid defense of
the Bible as God's revelation that makes its case based on the
Bible's own internal evidence without resorting to circular
reasoning.
The author details his own hard-fought intellectual journey
against doubt and his own anti-supernatural presuppositions. This
is contrasted with the path taken by the famous atheist Antony Flew
who likewise found the evidence compelling but never came to faith.
The author believes Flew lacked the desire for eternal life. Ernst
candidly admits that a fear of judgment and the dread of
nonexistence were central for him, as they should be for all.
In the final chapters, the love of God is demonstrated through
his gracious offer to all his creatures and examples are given as
to what it means to trust God. The book finishes with what Jesus'
followers say is the way to secure eternal life.