[.ca] Finding God In The Questions: A Personal Journey (ISBN 0830833471)

A Welcome Surprise:
I'm going to be honest: I got this book by mistake. I'm in the IVP book club and-as is inevitable-one denial form got lost under a stack of papers and this book showed up on my doorstep like an unwanted orphan. I was like, "Geez, I gotta pay almost twenty bucks for this?!" But as soon as I opened the book and looked at the table of contents, I knew the book was more than I thought. SECTION ONE: DOES GOD EXIST? 1. Why do the questions keep coming? 2. Is The Universe And Accident? 3. How Did We Get Here? 4. Who Are We? SECTION TWO: WHAT IS GOD LIKE? 5. Why Bother With Religion An The Bible? 6. What Did Jesus Teach? 7. Who Was Jesus? SECTION THREE: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? 8. How Should Faith Shape Our Lives? 9. Is God In Control? 10. Can We Bet On The Heart Of God? As you can see, it is a standard two-stage apologetic (see _Five Views on Apologetics, which I also reviewed): theism then Christ. The former drawing on work in the Intelligent Design movement the latter drawing principally on the excellent work of N.T. Wright-not to different from what you might see in a William Lane Craig book, just pared down. My next surprise also came before I even started reading the book. From the back inside flap I learned that Johnson actually teaches at Harvard University. I mean, I knew he must have gone to med school at some point, but I thought he had left academia behind. To me, he was just some lightweight TV commentator. So it was with a slightly more open mind that I began to read the book. What I found was a very forthright (sometimes strainingly so) recounting of his own questioning process. \oNote that all the section headings and chapter titles are interrogatives.\c You can tell he's doing something he feels is important even though it's difficult. High-profile people catch a lot of flack for their faith (witness Mel Gibson) and though he hasn't exactly hidden it, this is the first time he's really spoken up about it and you can feel it. At one point he's like "Yes, I actually believe in the resurrection of Jesus" as if he's forcing himself not to beat around the bush. I respect that. I only have one serious worry about his view and than concerns the all-important issue of the divinity of Christ. It's the only place he's somewhat cagey. He endorses a very carefully worded answer to the question "Is Jesus God" that avoids commitment to the hypostatic union (though it certainly doesn't deny it, the quote is from N.T. Wright and appears on p. 145). My real beef is with his treatment of the Nicene Creed and the Catholic Church. He complains at several points of the Creeds "intellectualization" and even compares it to a "biology lesson." He refers to the Catholic Church as an "imperial church." Even if you are a Protestant, you ought to be concerned at he balking at the Creed. Even if he does not formally deny the hypostatic union, he misses Dorothy Sayers' point in _Creed or Chaos_ that "the dogma is the drama". He ought to read Gerard O'Collins' _Christology_ a simple, readable text which puts Christology in context. I hope that Johnson is not hiding heresey behind the term "intellectualism" and his anti-Catholicism, that would be a shame because this book is so surprisingly good otherwise. It's the only point where I feel like he was holding back. I'm pretty theologically scrupulous, so hopefully it's simply lack of scrupulosity on his part. I would love to discuss with him the way the Creeds emerged out of the Church Fathers' love for Jesus and the Truth, not out of "intellectualization of the Gospel," it's a common and sad misunderstanding that can be easily dispelled. Finally, the book is chock-a-block full of challenges to get out there and risk something on your faith, which I really appreciate. It should accompany any apologetic and I commend him for it.

Pondering Questions About the Questions:
Johnson may have been prophetic when he wrote, "Some who admire my secular achievements will be turned off by this spiritual exploration and some who admire my spiritual stance will be disappointed in my conclusions." Though I'm sure there's a large niche audience in between, I'm equally sure that the audience on the far sides will be less than enamored. The evangelical readers on the right, use to a more classical presentation of Christianity in an InterVarsity book, will no doubt be surprised by some of Johnson's discussion of Christ's divinity and miracles as well as the nature of the Genesis creation account. The agnostic intellectuals on the left, will likely be intrigued but unlikely convinced. Though written with homespun humour and interesting illustrations, "Finding God in the Questions" is just too pithy for the title. Is this a book about questions and doubts, as the jacket cover and promotional materials indicate, or is it a book about answers? Doubt is not probed seriously enough and answers are not explored thoroughly enough. Several times I allowed my hopes to grow, anticipating a soul-stirring and mind-stretching discussion of honest doubt, only to find quick answers that seemed to value closer over exploration. As an introduction to issues relative to questions of God, Jesus, and personal ethics, "Finding God" is a valuable addition to the literature. As a deep and personal probe into the psyche that wrestles with the idea of a good and personal God in a seemingly evil and impersonal cosmos, "Finding God" left me with too many questions too easily answered. Crabb's "Finding God" examines similar terrain in a way that felt more personal. Curtis' "Sacred Romance" discusses reason and faith in ways that seemed more intellectually credible. Ross' "Creator and the Cosmos" presents scientific research on the uniqueness of planet Earth that appeared more plausable.

A Message of Hope:
Timothy Johnson's book is an account of his own spiritual journey in which he has found God by examining the big questions which trouble many of us. He begins by asking if the universe is an accidental creation and concludes that our inner and outer universes are far too vast and complex not to be created by design. The footprints of an intelligent creator are found everywhere as in the very nature of human conscience and in our basic need to form relationships which shape our lives. Johnson next turns to a discussion of organized religion which he sees as having a role in trying to interpret and communicate spiritual truths as well as providing a sense of community for its members. He admits that many people seek God within themselves but Johnson chooses to look mostly to the Bible for help in his search. In particular he is interested in what he can learn about Jesus from the Bible and other sources. What intrigues Johnson most is the Jewishness and humanness of Jesus as well as His radical teachings. Johnson refers to himself as a "follower of Jesus" in the style of the earliest Christian believers before the existence of any creeds or formalized Christian religion. Above all he places great importance on the role of the servant which was valued so highly by Jesus Himself.

Strongly recommended reading for the Christian community:
In Finding God In The Questions: A Personal Journey, Dr. Timothy Johnson (Medical Editor for ABC News) to addressing the existence of God and the relevance of Jesus Christ. Finding God In The Questions examines the evidence for belief and is also an intimate personal accounting of his faith in God. From his perspective of being a man of science and of faith, Dr. Johnson shares his own lifetime dealings with the tension between doubt and belief. Finding God In The Questions is strongly recommended reading for the Christian community, especially for those who are dealing with the stress of doubt and seeking the bliss of faith.

Sincere but uncompelling:
In this book the author, as he does on TV, comes across as very down to earth and sincere in his beliefs. He is even upfront about his bias that he really wants to believe in the existence of God. I believe this bias is most evident when he tells us that he believes the gospel accounts are a credible account of Jesus' life. I have spent the last eighteen months reading and pondering this issue and have come to the opposite conclusion. It is interesting how the author delicately tiptoes around the issues of whether or not Jesus actually performed miracles. In fact in an interview given on the net (Beliefnet) he says he is "agnostic" about Jesus' miracles. Now how can he say that if he believes the gospels to be reasonably accurate accounts of Jesus' life? I agree that the central message of the gospels is not about Jesus' ability to perform miracles, but if there is doubt about whether he even performed them then how can anyone not reasonably doubt many of the other things in the gospels? The author likes to concentrate on many of Jesus' positive ethical teachings but somehow manages to omit Jesus' repeated threats of eternal hell in his teachings. In the end the author ends up with a kind of "cafeteria theology". It's inoffensive but uncompelling.