ipl-logo

More Than A Carpenter Summary

894 Words4 Pages

More Than a Carpenter
I. Introduction
More Than a Carpenter is a Christian Apologetics and Inspirational book written by Josh McDowell with later contributions by his son, Sean McDowell. First published in 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, the work has sold more than 27 million copies worldwide, and remains to be one of the bestselling books about Christianity and Evangelism.
The author, Joslin “Josh” McDowell, is an American Christian apologist and evangelist born in Union City, Michigan in 1939. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 books about Christian Apologetics since 1960, once of which being his highly influential book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict. McDowell is also the founder of the Josh McDowell Ministries and the humanitarian …show more content…

Summary
More Than a Carpenter is, first and foremost, a work about Jesus Christ. It revolves around His life, His death, and His resurrection. As an apologetics book, its thirteen chapters focus on presenting and refuting opposing theories, as well as clarifying various concepts about Christianity.
McDowell begins the book with an anecdote of his life; a familiar story of the sceptical university Agnostic, ready to fire back a retort at the slightest mention of God, Christianity, and anything (or anyone) within. He recounted the all too common feeling of a meaningless life, the seemingly innate itch of human existence, and how it brought him to various places in his life—until he stumbled upon a particular group of people and was changed forever.
This introduction, though short, is crucial to understand, for it sets the stage for the remainder of the book. It tells not only the story of a former non-believer, but the story of everyone—it presents us the life of Jesus Christ, not as a gentle sermon or a feel-good retelling, but as an assertive, rational reply to the accusation: ‘Christianity is a myth, and so is your God.’
III. …show more content…

While McDowell’s attempts in refuting opposing theories were remarkable and logical, a fairer presentation of both sides of the arena is somewhat lacking. The author’s tendency to be slightly morally condescending in his various anecdotes also puts a small hiccup in an otherwise smooth, intellectual ride.
IV. Conclusion
Overall, More Than a Carpenter has been an enlightening and interesting experience. The author made the effort to be as objective as possible, and this is seen in the quality of his work. The anecdotes provided by the author also kept the work grounded in reality and not just in theory, as exemplified by the recounting of the various debates and experiences that both authors has engaged in.
As a fairly comprehensive introductory book about Christian Apologetics, the Resurrection, and the profound effect of this particular faith on millions of people all over the world, one can easily see that its success is merited and its purpose fulfilled. The impact that it could leave the reader was apparent, and it was pursued aggressively and excellently by the two authors in a manner that relates to both the doubters and the

Show More
Related

  • Why College Matters To God Analysis

    639 Words  | 3 Pages

    This argument showed that although someone might think they have the answer in their Christian walk, there is always room to erase and

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Reb And Henry

    168 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Reb and Pastor Henry both were strongly committed to their religious doctrines and spent a great deal of their lives contributing to the well beings of others. Their stories began fairly similar, young men that strived for greatness, but came in contact with abounding obstacles in life . Pastor Henry grew up in an unstable home environment. The importance of school and God wasn’t reinforced constantly, but the use of drugs instantaneously became a way of life. During his adolescence, he developed a strong love for God and took him as his savior at the age of twelve, but then took a path in his teenage years that led him to drugs and violence.

    Read More

  • Book Report On Hatchet By Gary Paulsen

    1018 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gary Paulsen 's Hatchet is a modern classic tale of a stranded boy 's struggle for survival in the wilderness. The book is based on a 13-year-old who is accustomed to big-city life and comfort when he finds himself alone in a remote Canadian forest with no tools but a hatchet his mother gave him. Brian Robeson, a thirteen-year-old boy from New York City, is the only passenger on a small plane headed toward the oil fields of Canada. Brian is on his way to spend the summer with his father, and he 's feeling totally bummed about his parents ' recent divorce. he doesn 't have much time to dwell on his unhappy family situation, though, because the pilot the only other person on the plane suddenly suffers a heart attack and dies.

    Read More

  • David Van Biema's The Gospel Truth

    369 Words  | 2 Pages

    When it comes to knowing and learning the religions of the world one must approach them with a critical mind. One cannot simply just believe every religion and know have their own view points. David Van Biema presents his ideas about Christianity and Jesus in “The Gospel Truth?”. Van Biema’s main point is about how “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John… is notoriously unreliable,” . Van Biema writes about how one cannot be completely sure about whether to believe if Jesus actually said what is written in the bible, he continues to say that Jesus may even be an “imaginative theological construct” .

    Read More

  • The Populist Party In The 1890's

    1450 Words  | 6 Pages

    He affirms that the real hard-working Christians are being taken advantage of by the idle capitalists who do not work and just move the money around. These idle capitalists go against his theory of labour and economics where labour produces wealth. Bryan worries that if this trend continues American jobs will eventually be taken by the “yellows” and the “ scheming Jews”. Bryans uses Christian terms to dramatise the businessmen as villains who are pressing down the “brow of labour” a “crown of thorns” similar to how men had crucified Jesus Christ. He highlights that

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Salvation

    831 Words  | 4 Pages

    Writing about controversial subjects can often be difficult; however Hughes executed his story, Salvation, in an intriguing manner that is suitable to all audiences and religions. In this story, the writer retells an experience from his childhood describing his journey to Jesus Christ. Discussing the complications, the main character, Hughes, faced while trying to come to Jesus is what makes the story interesting to read. On many occasions, you will read a story or watch a movie that shows the main character coming to Jesus and having an immediate and obvious realization of their Savior. For this reason, I found this story to be unique and relatable in the way that it shows a journey that countless Christians face, but you are not often granted the opportunity to read about this type of experience.

    Read More

  • Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Summary

    582 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sometimes it is easy to take the gift of salvation for granite, which is why we should review how and why it was given to us. The sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was so effective because it showed people who they really are. The sermon opened people’s eyes to where they were spiritually, how powerful God truly is, and the things He can do but chooses not to. The sermon described how we are all born sinners and deserve to go to hell.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Man Nobody Knows By Bruce Barton

    903 Words  | 4 Pages

    The third chapter, ‘The Sociable Man,’ challenges the idea that no one has seen Jesus laugh and have a fun time. Barton defends Jesus by bringing up the wedding at Cana as evidence of Jesus’ enjoyment of life. The fourth chapter, ‘The Method,’ shares his views on the methods of how Jesus took on an impossible challenge. He took 12 uneducated men into his organization and made it the most powerful. The fifth chapter, ‘His Advertisements,’ Barton shares how Jesus’ secret to fame was advertisement, and that came in

    Read More

  • Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies: An Analysis

    1371 Words  | 6 Pages

    Many may believe that reading a book about religion would be challenging to accomplish for someone who is not religious. But those people have never read Anne Lamott’s, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. If one were to ask non-religious college students to read a book by a random author about spirituality and “Finding God” through conversion, they would most likely roll their eyes and bear through it. In Lamott’s series of essays, one does not have to “suffer through the readings” because her writing style is one of a kind. She has strategically chosen every word because she is aware of how important her spiritual experiences are to so many people, religious or not.

    Read More

  • Imagery And Irony In Langston Hughes's 'Salvation'

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Hughes’s short essay, which he ironically titles “Salvation,” he tells the reader about one of his most significant childhood memories. Hughes provides background about a huge revival at his aunt’s church. He flashes forward to the day where he was supposed to be called upon by Jesus and greeted by a bright light his aunt repeatedly tells him about. Hughes recalls that he sat on the mourners’ bench right in the front row with the rest of the unsaved children.

    Read More

  • Good People Character Analysis

    916 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this story the man is willing to kill his unborn child to be rid of dependence. The purpose of the story is not to attack Christianity and state that all followers are all hypocrites, but to show that there can be hypocrites in such a large spreading faith. For this reason Wallace, introduces us to Lane Dean Jr. 's girlfriend, a idealistic Christian who becomes a foil. He allows the reader to see the difference between the two people and compare their circumstances and greater emphasizes the narrators hypocrisy. Having the narrator change his views of himself, he changes greater than any other character could, because his thoughts on himself changes not only how he acts, but how he reacts to events and hardship.

    Read More

  • Imagine There's No Heaven By Salman Rushdie

    805 Words  | 4 Pages

    A common questioning of a higher power beyond the physical realm lingers in society: Who and what is God?. However, many of these theological questions cannot be answered until we, of course, die. Due to human’s innate curiosity to understand the forces beyond their own, especially in terms of religion, humans find their own reasons to believe in God in the process of discovery. Religion is a sense of belief and worship to praise a higher power (God), and it provides a guide for human beings to have the opportunity to come together and live as one image of God’s children. “Imagine There’s No Heaven” is an article in which Salman Rushdie, the author, presents an atheistic view where religion is pointless, and a higher being is non-existent.

    Read More

  • The Message In The Bottle Analysis

    638 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the essay “The Message in the Bottle”, Walker Percy attempts to separate information into two categories. These two categories are “knowledge” and “news”. Through an extended metaphor featuring a person cast away on an island, the significance of Percy’s distinction does not offer merely definitions, but rather a perspective on the man’s life and deliverance. The castaway in Percy’s story has no memory of his past. He does not know where he came from or who he is.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Infancy Narrative Of Matthew And Luke

    1307 Words  | 6 Pages

    Matthew and Luke were both evangelists. They both helped to spread the Gospel, the good news of Jesus. Their telling of the Gospel is very similar, yet very different at the same time. They are similar because they both tell the same story.

    Read More

  • Authorianism Similarities

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    This essay will outline the similarities and differences between two studies, which tried to explain how authorianism is characterised and how it developes. An authoritarian personality can be defined by obedience to authorities, following rules and deprecative behaviour towards people beeing contrasting to oneself. First it will compare the backgrounds of the studies, next it will focus the methods used. Third it will analyze the findings and conclusions of the two studies and last it will examine the limitations of them.

    Read More

More about More Than A Carpenter Summary

Open Document