E. Calvin Beisner

Written as a conversation between two characters (Jim, a Christian, and Dave, a Non-Christian), this is intended to help Christians learn how to intelligently, compassionately, and logically answer questions about the facts of Christianity - the reasonableness and validity of the Bible, Evolution vs. Creation, and why Faith makes sense. This is a lofty and noble goal. However, while it contains large quantity of information, the conservation format comes off cheesy and unrealistic. It's sort of like rehearsing a conversation in your head - it never goes as planned in real life. Real people don't respond the way Dave did - with mutual respect and inquiry. Mostly, people believe what they want and aren't open to logic. Add to that elementary arguments with glaring holes and you have an unhelpful book for study - although most of those holes have been adequately explained in more modern Apologetic books (see Lee Stroble's Case for Christ). The list of books in the back is a helpful place to find resources for further study, but again, in the 20+ years since this was published, academics has moved on and much of those are either out-of-date or out-of-touch or don't address current controversies. I will note that this book was written in 1985 (with a 1993 revised edition) and was written for missionaries in the former Soviet Union. I gather it was useful for that purpose but for those of us in America during the 2010s, not so much. Not a bad source if it's all you can get, but with many other, much better, books on Apologetics out there, this one is not worth the time.… (mer)

E. Calvin Beisner tracked the progress and misunderstanding of the Doctrine of the Trinity from the New Testament, through the ante-Nicene thinkers, and through the multiple difficulties with gnosticism, neo-Platonism, subordinationism, polytheism, Monarchiansm, and finally Arianism and the various forms of each. It is a book, that in my opinion, does a great job contrasting the orthodox Christian understanding of what is taught in the Bible vs. the pseudo-Christian Trinities. It finishes with the final Nicene Creed and the support by section. Overall, I saw it as well written and accurate in its depth. Its readability was easy without sacrificing the profundity of God being the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I appreciated the author’s tone and respect of other's views but still pointed out why the early Christians put in so much work and clarification so as to properly elucidate their view of the concepts and biblical support for their beliefs. I walked away with a better understanding of the rival thoughts that were actually misunderstandings of other church thinkers and political moves to seize control and influence using some political maneuvering. Again, it was well written and left me with a strong understanding of the historical context and the importance of vocabulary distinctions within each council. I highly recommend picking up this short book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.… (mer)