BOOK RECOMMENDATION:Thinking Straight In a Crooked World

This book was selected for the month of July Truth Chinese Alliance Church's Library for the month of July 2006.

For those who have been growing in their knowledge and application of defending the faith in Presuppositional Apologetics (that emphasize beginning from the Bible first, focus on epistemology[Theory of knowledge], Ultimate Standards and authority, etc) one might find that over time it can be difficult to lay out everything with what Presuppositional Apologetics has to offer in a concise introduction. Several months ago, this writer have begun pondering about what book he can recommend as an introduction for those who might be interested for the interested but non-technical reader.

"Thinking Straight in a Crooked World" would serve as a good book as an introduction to General Apologetics from a Presuppositional Apologetics perspective. Many people who have been intimidated by the works of Van Til and Bahnsen either by the length of their books, the language in their writing, or the philosophical bent to their literature would find that "Thinking Straight in a Crooked WOrld" would help fill this gap for a 'beginner's book'.

The book begins with the Ultimate Authority of the Word of God when we pursue apologetics. Having laid out the Biblical mandate to defend the Christian faith from the Bible, it then goes on to articulate what a worldview is and how everyone has a worldview (whether we call it religion, philosophy or 'the way we explain the world'.)

The Chapter titled "Worldview Building Blocks" laid out what every worldview have as presuppositions about this world: what the reality and nature of the material world is (Physics), the nature of things that exist (Metaphysics), how we know things (epistemology) and how we determine right and wrong (ethics).

Throughout the book it is laced with great illustrations and a good of amount of quotes from atheists and critics. It offers in different chapters in the book a general critique of various worldview such as Eastern Religion, Secular Rationalism, and trends and ideas of pop culture.

In addition, author Gary DeMar devotes several chapters to the post-Rationalism's cultural fad with the occultic, UFO-ology, the para-normal, demonology, etc. This was a rather interesting twist to the flow of the book unlike other Presuppositional Apologetics book that this reviewer have thus read so far. Yet, critiquing the para-normal and the occult has its place given where our culture is heading towards today.

The book concludes with an optimistic chapter of how Post-Modernism (being self-refuting) will eventually collapse as an ideology and Christianity has a chance to fill its void in the battle place of Ideas and ultimate commitment.

A true grasp of this book would assist any reader into further understanding in other apologetics literature.

--Jimmy Li