Different Questions

I met David Skeel just before the New York Times article came out earlier this month about his friendship with an atheist colleague at the University of Pennsylvania.

What

I didn’t know when I met David was how the friendship had shaped his recent IVP book, True Paradox, and perhaps even made it possible.

This fresh entry into discussions among Christians and atheists asks questions that neither group is paying much attention to but which could be illuminating. Three key topics in particular animate Skeel’s discussion:

• Where does out idea-making capacity (consciousness) come from?

• How is it that we are able to appreciate and desire beauty?

• Why do we all have a sense of what justice is?

As a lawyer he especially has interesting insights into the legal system.

Another plus for this book is the very respectful and appreciative way he interacts with other worldviews. He emphasizes the strengths of pantheism, stoicism, Islam, naturalism and other viewpoints and is honest when Christianity seems weak, even though on the whole he thinks Christianity has more to offer. Very refreshing indeed.