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The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning & Public Debate
Phillip E. Johnson pries the lid off public debate about questions of ultimate concern - questions often suppressed by our society¡¯s intellectual elite. Moving far beyond matters of creation and evolution, Johnson outlines the questions we all ought to be asking about the meaning of human history, the limits of scientific inquiry, religion and education in a pluralistic society, truth, liberty and moral choices, and God and his word, Jesus Christ.
Johnson deftly demonstrates how the reigning naturalistic philosophy not only squelches public debate, but also constrains us to ask the wrong questions. Unless we start with the right questions, Johnson argues, our discussions will be framed by the assumptions of that very philosophy that must be challenged.
Johnson asserts that even the Christian church has much too often passively accepted this limiting frame of mind to the detriment of all. But Christian faith and conviction instead ought to lead in opening up the search for truth and meaning through the kind of public education that ¡°teaches in controversy¡±. Then all of us will be prepared to engage in lively, informed, and civil debate about the questions that really
Why is it always wrong to mix science and religion? What is the ultimate premise, the beginning point, from which logic should proceed? How can a college education prepare students to understand the ultimate purpose or meaning for which life should be lived and to choose rightly from among the available possibilities? What is the appropriate understanding of religion in a pluralistic nation where substantial numbers of Christians, agnostics, Jews, and Muslims all need to live together in peace? How can democratic liberalism remain viable when severed from its Christian roots? What is the most important event in human history? Provocative, personal, persuasive, and prophetic, Johnson is certain to help us break free from our intellectual and spiritual captivity.
Johnson deftly demonstrates how the reigning naturalistic philosophy not only squelches public debate, but also constrains us to ask the wrong questions. Unless we start with the right questions, Johnson argues, our discussions will be framed by the assumptions of that very philosophy that must be challenged.
Johnson asserts that even the Christian church has much too often passively accepted this limiting frame of mind to the detriment of all. But Christian faith and conviction instead ought to lead in opening up the search for truth and meaning through the kind of public education that ¡°teaches in controversy¡±. Then all of us will be prepared to engage in lively, informed, and civil debate about the questions that really
Why is it always wrong to mix science and religion? What is the ultimate premise, the beginning point, from which logic should proceed? How can a college education prepare students to understand the ultimate purpose or meaning for which life should be lived and to choose rightly from among the available possibilities? What is the appropriate understanding of religion in a pluralistic nation where substantial numbers of Christians, agnostics, Jews, and Muslims all need to live together in peace? How can democratic liberalism remain viable when severed from its Christian roots? What is the most important event in human history? Provocative, personal, persuasive, and prophetic, Johnson is certain to help us break free from our intellectual and spiritual captivity.
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First published September 1, 2002
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About the author
Phillip E. Johnson
39?books68?followersJohnson is an American born-again Christian lawyer and creationist.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2013
This book is a thought-provoking blend of countercultural opinions with a personal memoir. Johnson asserts that in order to discover what is right and true, we need to ask difficult questions that are often left unasked. Here are a few of the questions that Johnson proposes that I think are important: Is it wrong to mix science and religion or is such mixing inescapable? Should a college education prepare students to understand the ultimate purpose or meaning for which life should be lived and to choose rightly from among the available possibilities? What is the chief end of man, and why do we need to know? Both this book and the one I just read "In, But Not Of," discuss the influence of the Russian writer, Alexander Soltzhenitsyn, who resisted the tyranny of Communism and helped bring about the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Soltzhenitsyn warned that freedom can foster evil when all the problems of life are blamed on misguided social systems rather than mankind's sinful nature.
May 19, 2020
Phillip E. Johnson encourages christians to think. They need not fear, but should prepare themselves to present their beliefs to the world. According to Johnson, the church has been way to passive in the debate of science vs christianity. This has to change! Christians need to defend their faith by asking people the right questions.
August 28, 2017
A good book on intelligent design
May 31, 2021
A thoughtful and provocative book.
March 5, 2021
Loved the thought that it doesn¡¯t matter so much the answer if you are not asking the right question. Probably best takeaway from the book, made some good points but biases took away from some arguments
August 13, 2012
The one star is not an accident. I'll hold back on what I think of the author's style... The overarching issue I have with his book is that he seems to want those who are without Christ to live by Christian principles. It's as if he's blaming the world for living in darkness, when, perhaps the issue has more to do with whether or not Christians are living well in the light--an issue he never addresses. He intellectualizes faith, which can't be done. [But, he does it poorly...]
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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