12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion
Rebecca McLaughlin
WHEATON, ILLINOIS
Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion
Copyright © 2019 by Rebecca McLaughlin
Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.
Cover design: Josh Dennis
First printing 2019
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-6423-9
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-6426-0
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-6424-6
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-6425-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McLaughlin, Rebecca, 1980–author.
Title: Confronting Christianity: 12 hard questions for the world’s largest religion / Rebecca McLaughlin.
Description: Wheaton: Crossway, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018041912 (print) | LCCN 2018056552 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433564246 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433564253 (mobi) | ISBN 9781433564260 (epub) | ISBN 9781433564239 (hc)
Subjects: LCSH: Apologetics. | Bible—Theology.
Classification: LCC BT1103 (ebook) | LCC BT1103 .M353 2019 (print) | DDC 239—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018041912
Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
and for all my other fiercely intelligent friends
who disagree with me, but will do me the
honor of reading this book
1: Aren’t We Better Off without Religion?
2: Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?
3: How Can You Say There’s Only One True Faith?
4: Doesn’t Religion Hinder Morality?
5: Doesn’t Religion Cause Violence?
6: How Can You Take the Bible Literally?
7: Hasn’t Science Disproved Christianity?
8: Doesn’t Christianity Denigrate Women?
9: Isn’t Christianity Homophobic?
10: Doesn’t the Bible Condone Slavery?
11: How Could a Loving God Allow So Much Suffering?
12: How Could a Loving God Send People to Hell?
In 1971, Beatles star John Lennon had a dream. Closing his eyes to the atheist regimes of his day, he dreamed of a brotherhood of man with no heaven, no hell, no countries, no possessions, “nothing to kill or die for,” and “no religion.” This dream persists. “Imagine” was sung reverentially at the opening ceremony of the ...
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About Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion"Compelling reading, not only because of its intellectual rigor but also because of its honest, empathetic humanity." —John C. Lennox. Named the 2020 Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year by Christianity Today. Christianity is the most widespread global belief system, and promises to remain so well into the future. But for many educated westerners, biblical Christianity is a dangerous idea—challenging some of their deepest beliefs. Channeling state-of-the-art research, personal stories, and careful biblical study, Confronting Christianity explores 12 questions that keep many of us from considering faith in Christ. Look more closely, McLaughlin argues, and the reality of suffering, the complexity of sexuality, the desire for diversity, the success of science, and other seeming roadblocks to faith become signposts. Jesus becomes not a relic from the ancient world, but our modern world’s best hope. |
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