Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Sceptical Age

Last updated on: June 17, 2021 at 5:31 am by Michael F. Bird

Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Sceptical Age 2021-03-05T04:34:22-04:00 Michael F. Bird

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Joshua D. Chatraw
Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Sceptical Age

Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020.
Available at HarperCollins and Koorong

By Laura Thierry

I do not believe it would be an exaggeration to say that, in the majority of Western local church contexts, the topic of evangelism—of explaining one’s faith in an increasingly secular world—is more likely to be met with apprehension than enthusiasm. Christians who truly love the Lord Jesus and sincerely long to share the hope within them nonetheless find it anything but simple to engage their secular friends, neighbours, colleagues, and family in conversations about faith. For some reason the art of rich, beneficial, and lifegiving conversations about faith within our increasingly secular Western world is simply not simple. And this reality leaves many of us bewildered to the point of paralysis. In such a state we find ourselves deeply in need of the gifts of those who can read the signs of the times and provide a basic map of the world we’re seeking to travail.

One such means of grace comes in the form of Joshua D. Chatraw’s excellent new book, Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age. This engaging work on apologetics is beneficial for those in the above-mentioned quandary for at least three reasons.

Firstly, while apologetics in the past has often functioned on addressing a person’s reason, even to the exclusion of all else, Chatraw builds upon the work of Christian philosophers like Charles Taylor and James K. A. Smith in seeing humans fundamentally as storied animals. This approach brings forth his “inside out” model of apologetics—one that first seeks to hear a person’s story on its own grounds, to truly enter into and understand their story (including not just their rationality, but the reality of their whole selves), then to question their story, and finally to ask them to enter into the Christian story to see where and how it both affirms parts of their story, challenges others, and, ultimately offers a better story.

Secondly, Chatraw, as he notes in the first chapter, understands the need, not just for these questions to be answered for those outside the church, but perhaps just as fundamentally for those within the church. In recognizing the power of the secular story, and that it is the air that all who live in a secular world breathe, Christians need to see and understand why, both logically, personally, and aesthetically, the Christian story truly is a more humane, loving, and truthful story than that offered by secularism.

Finally, Chatraw understands throughout that just as important as having right answers is being the right kind of person. Virtue is an integral part of apologetics in his method. This comes through clearly in the winsomeness, patience, respect, and genuine care for persons made in God’s image with which he writes and reasons.

Chatraw is incredibly well read, and draws from a very rich array of strong academic sources. His rigor in intentionally belonging to these larger conversations makes this book a useful text for apologetic classes. And yet, it remains particually well suited for those within the life of the church—those seeking to love their friends, neighbours and colleagues by deeply understanding the stories in which they live while sharing with them the better story of the gospel.

Laura Thierry a PhD candidate at Ridley College, researching medieval hagiography, Christology, and theology of the body.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 14, 2021

We Are All Philosophers - John Frame

Next Post

June 20, 2021 A Week in the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Lands Blogosphere Book Review Calvinism Colleges & Universities Ecclesiology Emerging Adulthood Evangelicalism Foreign Affairs Gospel of John Greco-Roman World Humor Just War N. T. Wright Old Testament Resurrection Terrorism Theological Education Travel Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am a sea that parted to let my people cross on dry ground but drowned their enemies. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Red Sea The Mediterranean Sea The Jordan River The Sea of Galilee

Books by This Author Books by Mike Bird

See All Titles »