Deep Theology in audiobook form!
This book is a rare jewel.
Most audiobooks, by nature, are simple. It is very difficult to listen to complex theological doctrine in audiobook form. Think of how hard it would be to follow John Owens, "Death of Death" with someone reading it to you. But In this case it works.
First things first. Alcorn takes a very difficult subject and makes it accessible to the normal person. This is a monumental feat in and of itself. Add the ability to follow it easily in audible form, and we have ourselves a great audiobook.
The subject has been debated for 2000 years and Alcorn does not break new ground here, but neither does anyone else who writes on the subject. What he does bring is a logical and balanced voice to the freewill debate.
What sets this book apart from many others is the attention to fairness in debate. Most people, when debating, set up straw men and knock them down. They take another’s position, stretch it our past what the person actually believes, knock it down, then say they have destroyed their argument. In reality, they have only destroyed a caricature of the true argument. In the end, that leaves no one convinced and only preaches to the choir.
Randy Alcorn, takes a different approach here. He lets both sides speak for themselves. He is fair and does not use logical fallacies to win his argument.
I believe a book like this can bring both sides together for a calm discussion without raising one’s blood pressure.
The narration was spot on. Randy does his own narration and does a fine job at that. Sometimes you forget you are even listening to an audiobook and feel you are listening to a lecture. The narration was clear and read at a speed that makes it easy to understand.
I loved this book!
I highly recommend this audiobook and give it a 5 out of 5 star.
I enjoyed this book courtesy of the Christian Audio review program at http://christianaudio.com and received the audio book, free of charge, from ChristianAudio.com in exchange for an honest review.
I tend to gravitate toward unusual books. Today, best sellers are usually "10 steps to this" or "three steps to that". Those kind books are about as deep as a thimble of water. They are soooo boring. Give me something I can sink my teeth into. When I saw this book, it really peaked my interest - How can family become an idol?
I think what drew me to listen to this book is the fact that in today’s society the family is derided so much. From the idiot dads, to the single parent households, the nuclear family is all but extinct. So how can it be placed as an idol when no one cares about it anymore?
If an idol is something we replace God with and the family is considered "out of date", how can it become an idol?
When starting this book, I felt I would be disappointed - Ho Hum, another Hipster Postmodern Neo-Calvinists whipping himself in public to show everyone how humble he is.
I WAS WRONG. What I saw here was a man who seemed to have it all, but was miserable because he placed his dream of a perfect family in the place of God’s will. In places, you can see the pain that both he and his wife have faced.
This idol of the family was created because of our culture’s desire to destroy the family. In many cases, the Christian pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. We have placed family as such a priority, that all else pales in comparison.
How do we get our priorities right? Place God back on the throne! When we place Him first, all other things will fall into place.
All in all, this was a very good book. The narration was very well done and the sound was crisp and clear. They have Adam Verner (male) as narrator for Ted’s part and Amy Rubinate (female) for Kristin's. Both do a great job.
I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it, especially for those Hipster Postmodern Neo-Calvinists, of which I am a part of - minus the postmodern.
I highly recommend this audiobook and give it a 5 out of 5 star.
I enjoyed this book courtesy of the Christian Audio review program at http://christianaudio.com and received the audio book, free of charge, from ChristianAudio.com in exchange for an honest review.
