Creating Useful Guides And Documentation [Podcast #327]

When I was in youth group, I was told that the best way to share my faith was to wait for “God conversations,” which occurred when my friends started talking about God, the meaning of life, nature of the afterlife, etc.

And that sort of worked, but as time has gone on and I have aged, those conversations happen less and less. Why? According to Kyle Beshears, it’s because more and more people are becoming apathetic regarding faith. A combination of factors, some ideological such as society’s shift toward secularism and others more practical such as the relative peace, prosperity, and technological progress we in the West readily benefit from.

People like this are sort of a new breed. They aren’t necessarily atheists, disbelieving in God. They are not agnostics who believe in something but lack certainty. Instead, they are apatheists who do not care if God exists or not.

The Good

Beshears is a good writer, and he does a deft job weaving sociology, political science, and theological concepts into a cohesive analysis. His book offers some keen insight into the limitations of our most popular evangelistic techniques, including apologetics. Furthermore, while the material might sound heady, Beshears keeps the book at a normal human reading level while also presenting several practical examples and applications.

The Bad

Honestly, I don’t have anything bad to say about the book. Personally, I wish I’d read and reviewed this book soon. (Life was so slow, and then, all of a sudden, it was lighting fast again.)