What do I think of Jason Jolin’s book published by Westbow Press? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
Jason Jolin sent me this book to review. I told him I was hesitant to since I don’t know much about football, but he did say I could understand it. So in preparation for this, I did some research.
Turns out, football is a sport. Learn something new every day.
So in this story, you have two brothers on opposing teams each being a quarterback facing off against each other and the main one you follow is the younger one named Adam. Through all the events in the book, Jolin goes through to show evidence for Christianity. The story is also a pretty good one with some look at the inner psychology of the protagonist.
So let’s start with the positives.
First off, I think it’s a good idea to use something that is an everyday experience for many people to try to get them to think about Christianity. I started wondering if the same could be done in other areas. I know Jerry Walls’s son Jonny years ago wrote The Legend of Zelda and Theology. I would like to see more works like this. Consider it a sort of pop culture and theology instead of pop culture and philosophy.
Second, the book is short with short chapters. That way, it won’t overwhelm the layman. One could conceivably read some of it during a halftime show or during commercial breaks at a game, except for perhaps the Super Bowl since I am convinced the commercials are the only part of the Super Bowl worth watching. You can easily present this to a football fan.
Third, there are plenty of essential topics covered such as the existence of God, the nature of morality, the reliability of Scripture, and the death and resurrection and person of Jesus. One could consider this a sort of primer to study for something deeper.
Now on to things I would like to see improved.
While I understand this was written for a football fan, for those of us who are not football fans, I found the terminology confusing at times. What is a linebacker or a tight end exactly? Yes. In all honesty, I do not understand these terms as I am not a football fan. I was able to understand the story well enough, but that would have been more helpful.
Second, I would like to see more references directly to the scholars instead of to books on popular apologetics. Geisler and Turek’s I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist might be fine for a reader, but when I go to a book on apologetics, I want to see the main scholars themselves cited.
Finally, I can’t say I agree with all the arguments. I’m still not really a fan of scientific arguments for God and when it comes to morality, I would like to see goodness defined. I think a lot of approaches can seem to beg the question such as God being eternal and yet not giving a reason for that or defining what goodness is and just saying God is good.
Still, these are things that should not detract. A football fan in your life could enjoy this book and it could lead to conversation. Again, I hope that many more will follow suit like that.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
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