Honestly [Paperback]

"What could happen if the world's Christians actually began to live what they say they believe?" asks the publishing blurb on the back. A potentially engaging read beckons but ultimately fails to deliver.

Actually it begins rather well, it must be said, with its consideration of "Why Thomas should be celebrated" and the very importance of doubt. "We need more men and women like Thomas ... who are not content to live out their beliefs on the fumes of other people's relationships with God."

However from a very promising start it starts to fall away. By the time it comes to considering the difficulties experienced by the early Christians it rather loses courage when it ponders how this may apply to those today. When it comes to The Cost of Discipleship, this book is no Bonhoeffer.

Ok first things first let me up front and candid here, I am an atheist. Not an anti-theist, just an atheist who is sick of the fighting between faith and none faith, more of what you might call a post-theist as in I see the entire anti-theist/theist debate as pointless. So why might you ask did I choose this book to read and review...

Well I wanted to get a look at 'the other side', I wanted to see what Mr Moore means about living his beliefs and why the book has so many ringing testimonials (as listed on the web page) and basically what it's selling. This is basically where I started to run into problems, Mr Moore really doesn't tell us what he believes, only that he believes and that he thinks other people who don't believe like him aren't real Christians.

This book is simply argument after argument about why believing is good and that if you have believe then you spread your beliefs. There is little or no examination of what his beliefs actually are, no passionate arguments to support his beliefs; he almost manages this when talking about Doubting Tomas, but that quickly turns into a story of well Tomas (a disciple of Jesus who would surely have witnessed Jesus performing miracles) needed one last miracle to prove to himself that Jesus was the son of God and because Jesus gave Tomas that proof we should all accept that truth... A rather circular argument that ignores the central points he made when outlining why the story of Doubting Tomas is important... in that he doubted and needed Jesus to prove (once again) that he was the supernatural son of God.

From that point we set off on a journey of more circular arguments that seem to miss the points that they are aimed at, instead falling back on trite 'miracles' such as a hymn written by Horatio Spafford who lost his son, then business, then daughters being the inspiration for survivors of the Rwandan genocide and using this for justification for not helping Mr Spafford. If I was to be critical of God I might question his goodness in allowing the Rwandan genocide to happen purely to make the sacrifice of Mr Spaffords life make sense (which is the basic assumption Mr Moore comes to). From there we are taken to the miracle of backpacking in India and finding a non-religious Irish man who fancied visiting a church and took Mr Moore with him.

Ultimately this book says nothing about Mr Moore's beliefs, he ignores what I consider to be many of the pressing concerns facing belief... such as is you god good, what position do your beliefs help you take on human rights issues, how does your faith deal with people who believe differently to you, how to deal with questions of evolution vrs creationism (in a round about way Mr Moore suggests that he is a creationist, but that might just be me reading between lines that he specifically doesn't write, but instead drops hints about when talking about other things), where does science and religion fit in with each other.

I found it telling that Mr Moore starts his book off by attacking 'PR stunt Christianity' and his disappointment in modern Christianity, but he never actually gives any real elaboration on what this is (beyond his parents got divorced and his pastor was sleeping with a married woman) nor does he define what is wrong with it or give anything more than platitudes to combat it.

Shame really, Mr Moore has an enjoyable writing style and is capable of making arguments... I just wish he had believed enough to actually try following his arguments to rational and or logical conclusions, just shouting I believe and so should you because we should all believe because Jesus is/was real isn't actually living anything more than a delusion in my honest opinion.

I think that Johnnie Moore has pretty much done what he set out to do - to have a confessional book, which is rather like sitting down and having a conversation over a cup of coffee. If you are looking for a hard-hitting academic tome, this probably isn't what you are looking for. If you are looking for someone who is ready to admit their own doubts, but also challenge you from a place of an authentic and honest faith, which he tries to live out without hypocrisy, then you'll enjoy this.

The book is split into 5 sections, 1. From Doubt to Belief, 2.From Belief to a Healthy Soul 3, From a Healthy Soul to Perseverance, 4. From Perseverance to Mission and 5. From Mission to Vision. These are then subdivided into chapters, exploring each stage of the journey. His intention is to meet you wherever you are at the time you read his book - whether you are right at stage one in doubt or whether you need inspiration to find vision.
I have really enjoyed immersing myself in the ideas put forward and it is a good book for motivating the reader to look at themselves, their faith and their motivation a little more closely than perhaps they have for some time (if ever).

I particularly liked the first chapter, which turned the idea of "doubting Thomas" on its head to make him "searching Thomas", seeking to have his own personal experience of Jesus firsthand, to base his faith on its own terms and not reliant on second-hand faith. With this idea of first-hand experience and faith, he continually challenges cultural Christianity and faith and the hypocrisy endemic in many churches in the US, which might easily be paralleled in the UK.

I agree with some of the other reviews that the book starts off with rather more gusto than it ends, however, if all it takes is individuals to take up the challenge to honestly looking at their faith and whether they are actually walking in the way that they profess to be walking, being spurred on from doubt, to belief, to a healthy soul, developing perseverance, mission and vision, then perhaps we will see the world changed by degrees and in ways we might not have expected.