Bob Fuhs

Book Review: Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson

Book Review: Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson

Take a half cup Donald Miller, 2 Tablespoons of CS Lewis, sprinkle in a pinch of Kierkegaard, Sartre, Hume, and a handful (no, two) of Chesterton.  Let it simmer for an hour, then baste with colorful metaphors (earth=a carnival ride, Shakespeare= a lesson on evil and suffering, kittens=more lessons on evil and suffering). 

 What you might get is something like N.D. Wilson’s wonderful book, Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl. We got a free copy at our recent Campus Crusade for Christ National Staff Conference (Thanks Thomas Nelson!).

 One of the problems with writing a review of a book like this: I don’t write as well as N.D. Wilson and probably never will.  If you like books that are more like art than science, that are more like a meal of words, that cause you to think: “Oh, I wish I could say things like that.” Then, you’ll love this book.

This book is, at the heart, an “apologetic” (apologetics=a defense of the faith) book covering questions of the existence of God, the problem of evil and suffering, intelligent design, why would God send people to hell, and who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong? It’s meaty stuff covered as a poet might, not as a scientist.  The arguments are logical and well-thought-out, mind you (they really, really are), but N.D. writes in a free form prose that draws on the best of metaphor and word-picture.

Bottom line: I loved it and can’t wait to read it again…this time slower, taking in each word, each phrase, each argument.  Hop on, I think you’ll enjoy the ride.

 

The Puddle

A couple summers ago, my wife had a conversation with a girl on the boardwalk in Ocean City.  The conversation turned to reasons for God's existence.  Jill talked about the order and design in the universe as a reason to believe that there is a God, or designer.  In response, the girl said that was like a puddle thinking to itself, "Wow! How great is this that this hole was specifically designed for me!"  The idea is, just like the hole was not designed for the puddle, the earth only appears to be designed for us humans.

While shaving just now, a response to that argument (which perhaps you have heard) just occurred to me.  What if Jill had said, "Well, what if, instead of a hole in the ground, the water was in a swimming pool?  What would the water conclude?  The hole (i.e. the pool) was designed for the water! If you look at the incredible order in the universe, it makes more sense to me to see our world more like the swimming pool than the hole in the ground."

I doubt that this girl reads my blog, but now you know what to say if you ever come across that line of reasoning.

For some great illustrations to use when you are having conversations about God, I highly recommend a book by my friend Tim Muehlhoff called The God Conversation. You can order it here .