Questions for Discussion and Reflection
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
CHAPTER 1: WHO IS JESUS?
1. What is the difference between seeing and recognizing and how is this distinction illustrated?
2. Ravi writes, "A person is more than the physical; personhood involves essence of thought, will, and feeling
—a thinking, willing, and feeling entity in relationship."
How does this definition help you to better understand God?
3. What two propositions summarize the struggle we have with our expectations of God?
4. "The politics of Jesus were spiritually foundational not morally dictatorial." Explain.
5. This chapter begins and ends with the distinction between seeing and recognizing, which involves relationship and trust. What title for Jesus did you most connect with—or did you hope to connect with—and why?
CHAPTER 2: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
1. Why do objective moral values necessarily point to a
personal God?
2. How do some atheists reduce all philosophical thought to faith? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
3. Describe two ways that Christianity is unique.
4. What is a "semitranscendent point of reference" and how does this position help you understand your relationship with God?
5. Look at the six bulleted statements of affirmation on page 68.
Which one challenges you the most and why?
CHAPTER 3: POINTS OF TENSION
1. What is a half-truth and how does Satan use it to tempt Jesus? What half-truth allures you?
2. When our physical or mental frameworks are not functioning as they should, we usually feel limitations in our spiritual realm as well. When have you found this to be true and how do you meet this challenge?
3. Why do you think Michael's response to Darren transformed Darren's understanding of himself and ultimately his life? What does this story communicate about the way God has fashioned us?
4. What is the third tension addressed in this chapter and how have you wrestled with it personally? Consider taking time
to journal and pray about your growing edges in this area and your relationship with God. Is there something for which you may need to ask forgiveness or seek healing?
CHAPTER 4: LOOKING INCOHERENCE IN THE EYE
1. All questions about evil and suffering are raised either by a person or about a person. How does this reality counter the naturalist's and the pantheist's worldviews?
2. If the experience of someone in suffering and pain is valid as a counterpoint to the gospel, why isn't the experience of someone else who has known God's presence in suffering and pain just as valid? Give thought to both perspectives and the role of experience in the search for truth.
3. Examine the three ways we resist pain and Jesus' response to pain. How does Jesus' response expand your view of suffering?
4. Our cultures value the lives of children over adults; most parents would willingly give their lives for their children.
What does the counterper-spective of the gospel reveal about God and his love for you?
5. What was God's answer to Job? How does this answer trump every argument? Consider how God's response might satisfy your own questions.
CHAPTER 5: PURPOSE DRIVEN OR REASON DRIVEN?
1. Is the reason-driven life in contradiction to the Christian way of thinking? Explore this idea.
2. Why must the laws of logic have transcendent reality as their logical starting points?
3. How does the law of rational inference both challenge and contradict the skeptic's statement that we live in a morally neutral universe?
4. "You are a completely blank slate. It is up to you to create your own meaning." Do you agree or disagree? Why?
5. C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton write poignantly of their conversions to Christianity. What in their stories resonates with you? Consider reading one of the books mentioned.
CHAPTER 6: DOES PRAYER MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?
1. If you are not a praying person, you are carrying your faith —and trying to carry the infinite is exhausting. Have you tried to carry the infinite in some area of struggle? How might you begin to release this burden to God?
2. How does Jesus' teaching in Luke 11 encourage you to pray? What are one or two affirmations you might reflect on as you approach God in prayer this week?
3. Retelling the scheme of Jonas Nightingale, Ravi observes, "To pray as though we have the right to demand what we
want without the candor of facing up to who we really are is to make prayer the ultimate charade." Explore this observation in relation to your own prayer life.
4. Like shared intimacy with a loved one, prayer is conversational relationship that often requires hard work.
Does this idea challenge any of your expectations of your relationship with God? What about with others?
5. Name the five distinct realities that God wants us to learn through the process of prayer. Take time to explore each of these in the weeks to come, both in conversation with God and with others.
CHAPTER 7: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES CHRISTIANITY
MAKE?
1. What is naturalism and how does Francis Schaeffer's illustration counter this worldview?
2. Ravi offers a vivid, real-life example to confront the simplistic notion that the Christian faith is irrational and that naturalism is rational. What lessons learned in the Biosphere 2 project debunk the idea that naturalism is necessarily rational?
3. Why do you think many churches struggle to produce believers who possess strong character and exercise selfdiscipline? How might you experience such transformation in your own community and family?
4. "The single word that best describes the gospel message is forgiveness. Understanding what it means to both offer forgiveness and receive forgiveness is the difficult part of learning mercy." Take time to journal or discuss this idea with someone. Is there someone you may need to forgive or ask for their forgiveness?
5. What three realizations do we need to take hold of as we seek to live in relationship with God? Is there one area where you see an imbalance or lack faith? As you conclude this book, consider the growing edges in your relationship with God and others and the ways in which you might move forward to address them.