PURE GOD

An accessible look at some of Christianity’s biggest conundrums.

This work takes on some of the Christian faith’s larger questions and contradictions from the perspective of a deeply religious follower. Some are fairly general, such as, “What Happens after You Die?” and “What Is the Holy Trinity?” Others, however, take for granted that readers have a fairly in-depth knowledge of the subject (“Was God Being Evil When He Killed Ananias and Sapphira?”). Regardless of their complexity, however, the answers to many of the questions are fairly predictable. Edwards is an unabashedly devoted Christian and a firm literalist who states very early that he believes everything in the Bible is true: “The answers,” he writes, “are not out there; they are in there—in the Bible.” At times, readers may find this strict approach off-putting, as when he criticizes an old friend who used to question why God ordered the annihilation of the Canaanites: “By the way,” he declares, “anything that attributes evil to God is blasphemous—pure and simple.” At other times, however, the book may be a useful resource for believers. The author has a very thorough understanding of the Bible; if readers want to know more about the origins of the Holy Trinity in Scripture, for instance, this would be a good place to look. Despite his strong views, however, the author does take a balanced approach to issues such as the “end-times,” noting that “the words second coming and rapture appear nowhere in the Bible.” He’s also adept at pinpointing potentially confusing issues, such as why Jesus is known as both the Son of God and the Son of Man. The work, however, might have been improved by some consideration of other views, although, given the enormity of the subject, the author would have had to choose carefully.

A useful guidebook for Christians interested in literal answers to the Bible’s more acrimonious subjects.