What do I think of Alec Klein’s book published by Republic? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
I was driving home one Sunday when I heard a show on the radio, since I just listen to talk radio, and the guy was talking about coming to Christ after a lot of things he went through. I only caught bits and pieces of it, but I found that the person’s name was Alec Klein. I heard he recommended The Case For Christ as well which was the start of my own apologetics journey. I got in touch with him and he sent me an ecopy of the book.
This is a really strange book, but in a good way. It’s not an apologetics book per se. It reads more like a stream of consciousness work. Alec describes how he was a university professor who was involved in investigating cases where he thought people had been either wrongly accused or sentenced way too harshly for a crime. He had seen reputations smeared and destroyed.
Next thing he knows, it’s happening to him. He is being investigated for charges of sexual harassment. In my opinion, the MeToo movement started off with good intentions and raised important issues, but unfortunately, after the Kavanaugh hearings, many of us started looking at the movement with suspicion. All it took was an allegation and lo and behold, anyone could be ruined.
This in light also of a failing marriage and his father having a suicide attempt. Everything is crashing down around Alec. He has a lawsuit hanging over him and he’s failing as a husband and he doesn’t know what to do.
And around that time, someone gives him a copy of The Case for Christ.
Alec’s journey continues then as he reads the book and starts thinking seriously about Jesus, eventually buying a Bible and reading the Gospels and then the Old Testament. He starts telling his children bedtime stories about Jesus. He finds the man really amazing, but somehow he can’t sign on the dotted line yet. He’s still hesitant.
Alec takes us through his life and does so in a way that is quite gripping. The story is a difficult one to put down as it rings through with pathos. On the other hand, I get a picture of a dark and stoic figure just trying to make some sense of the mess of his life.
Alec keeps working with his goal of helping people in prison who he thinks have been wronged and along the way, seems to constantly run into Christians. He starts to interact with his Dad more who is a skeptic and his Dad recommends he read Zealot. Alec does, but he is convinced further about the truth of who Jesus is by reading it instead of the reverse.
He does eventually reach a point where he says that he’s just going to take the plunge. It’s hard to believe in the miracles, but he’s going to try. It will be interesting to see where he is a few years down the road, but at least, he’s doing interviews where he talks about the difference Jesus has made in his life.
The story is really interesting. It’s not the traditional apologetics book, but it could speak to a class of skeptic out there. Give it a try.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
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