Letters From a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father's Questions about Christianity

A friend gave me this book after I had complained about The Shack, and how I felt the ultimate question in The Shack was never answered. I deemed the question to be: "why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" Well, at least I didn't waste my money purchasing this book.
The format utilized is as old as time itself. Have a dialog with someone where softball questions are posed to the other person and the other person then gives the answer that will change the mind of the original person(in this case the senior Boyd)and never up with any refuting comments of what his son as just said, but rather, give a milk toast response in the following letter.

What would have made this a very intersting response is if some one like Robert M. Price, or Burton Mack, or Earl Doherty had responded to the PhD son. Now, you have a discussion, and what you wouldn't have had is Dr. Boyd's half-baked ideas on his verson of what God is, or on what the scriptures mean.

Others have commented (particularly those that have given one star ratings) that his scholarship on the bible and his interpretation of the bible leaves a lot to be desired. I agree, but for different reasons.
Thank God is was only 190 pages in length. Don't buy it. Not worth the time and energy.

This is unlike any other "apologetic" book I have read, in that it is very personal as the son (Greg) responds to his father's questions about the Christian faith. This made it a much more interesting read for me, wanting to see the dialogue between them.

I agree with those who say this is for Christians. I find it encouraging to see how God was at work in both of their lives bringing them to belief in Jesus as who He says He is. It is in a relationship, and taking time with someone that is the difference; not simply intellectual reasons for belief. The book has "gut-level" responses from both the father and son, which is very refreshing. The primary intended audience for this book is Christians as stated by Greg in the beginning, so the we would be strengthened in our efforts with skeptics in our lives.

I do not see how anyone could say the father (Ed) was not a skeptic. It took three years for him to come to the point of committing his life to belief in Jesus. Every skeptic has their own uniqueness, and each will take his/her own path as Christians seek to love and have dialogue with skeptics. While there are certainly some ideas from this book I can use with a skeptic I love very much, his questions and responses will differ, and the encouragement I received from the book is to never give up - not that I, or Greg, or anyone else, has all the answers.

This book is clearly written by Christians, for Christians. Nowhere do you find a real skeptic in this book... just (allegedly) an old angry man who has questions and accepts anything the author says.

For an example of the shallow and absurd answers this book offers... in the chapter entitled "Why does God make believing in him so difficult?", the author's stereotypical response is: "So even if God did address everyone with a message in the sky, this might convert many at that moment, but the lasting effect would, I suspect, be nil." (pg.123)

Or how about this gem on pg.147 in response to "Why are there so many differing interpretations of the Bible?"... the author's oh-so-insightful response is "...these differences are all but totally irrelevant next to the central message of the New Testament which rings forth loud and clear: Jesus Christ died for you and is the Lord and Savior of all who believe"

The title of my review says it all. This isn't a book for skeptics or people looking to broaden their horizons. It's shallow, a good read for the intellectually stunted.

I bought the audio book and it was well-read and held my interest. I am very certain, however, that I would not have stuck with it if I were actually reading the book. I simply wouldn't have waded through the heavy doses of philosophy -- but I could easily tune them out for a few minutes.

I have found this book extremely interesting. The question and answer format makes it a great reference for someone who is searching for answers.