Book Synopsis:
High school and college students are bombarded today with mixed media messages of moral relativism. Ethix: Being Bold in a Whatever World helps young adults better understand how to make Bible-informed ethical decisions on the issues of abortion, homosexuality, marriage and divorce, the morality of war, cloning, euthanasia, capital punishment, sexuality, and more.
My Review:
5/5 stars. This was a really good apologetics book that gave me clarity about a lot of my beliefs and gave lots of good information to use in defense of my faith. I love apologetics books because I want to be able to have answers in any situation when someone asks why I believe what I believe. This book provided that.
The first few chapters had very similar quotes to I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, another apologetics book I love. Sometimes, it almost seemed to be word-for-word what that book said. While Sean McDowell might've been inspired/influenced by that book, they're both so similar because they both say true things.
While I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist covered many different aspects of the Bible and focused more on proof that the Bible is true, Ethix was more about specific moral issues and had dedicated chapters for those different issues. A lot of the content in Ethix is based on the Bible being true, but McDowell never gives proof of the Bible's validity. While I obviously know it's true, skeptics reading the book wouldn't, which might make them disregard a lot of the information.
I liked how the book gave multiple arguments/viewpoints for different issues, then discussed the good things and problems of each, ultimately explaining which one is the most biblical. In giving multiple viewpoints, it helps you know how to respond when someone argues their opinion. Rather than needing to take the biblical view at face value, the reader can understand why the other views are wrong.
Even though this book was written in 2006, most of the stuff applies even more in today's society. The chapter on abortion is even more relevant now. I really liked the chapter on abortion, because that's a topic I feel strongly about. It was heartbreaking to read the different abortion methods described in detail, because I didn't realize just how violent they were.
Other chapters I enjoyed were The Morality of War and How to Know God's Will. In the last chapter about knowing God's will, I love the quote "it's less about what you do than who you are." As long as you're being godly and following God's word in your life, God can use you in whatever college or career you choose.
If you want to know great ways to defend your beliefs, or how to stay strong in your morals in today's culture, I highly recommend this book.
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