Christian apologeticsâ??and, one suspects, arguments generallyâ??can take two basic forms: they can be directed toward trying to persuade others of the truth of oneâ??s position or they can be self-reflective, focusing on arguments that one finds personally persuasive and to explain oneâ??s personal conviction as to why one argument is more persuasive than another. In True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense of our Complex World, David Skeel, the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at Pennsylvania Law School, has written a book that is an exemplar of the latter.
Rather than seeking directly to persuade the reader of the truth of Christianity, Skeelâ??s apologia instead reads like a journey through Skeelâ??s mind as he comes to try to explain (rather than justify) how he came to believe in Christianity. In this sense, Skeelâ??s book has many of the hallmarks of classical Christian apologies such as C.S. Lewisâ??s Surprised by Joy, by representing an intermingling of his own personal journey of faith with an effort to explain it to others. And by pointing to the experiences that Skeel experienced as pivotal during that journey, he hopes to bring along the reader with him.
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