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Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations
As human beings, we are created with desires. We all long for meaningful relationships, lives that reflect goodness, engagements with beauty, and the freedom to pursue our lives with integrity. But where can our restless hearts find fulfillment for these universal longings? Philosopher and apologist Greg Ganssle argues that our widely shared human aspirations are best understood and explained in light of the Christian story. With grace and insight, Ganssle explains how the good news of Jesus Christ makes sense of―and fulfills―our deepest desires. It is only in the particular claims of the Christian faith, he argues, that our universal human aspirations can find fulfillment and our restless hearts will be at peace.
160 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2017
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183 people want to read
About the author
Gregory E. Ganssle
9 books7 followersGreg Ganssle (PhD, Syracuse) is professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He is the author of several books, including A Reasonable God: Engaging the New Face of Atheism and Thinking About God, and he is the editor of God and Time.
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October 4, 2017
Summary: Makes the case that Christian faith, truly understood, is most congruent with our deepest human longings.
Gregory Ganssle believes that one of the most important questions we can ask is “what sort of person should I be?” and two other related questions: 1) what sort of person do I want to be? and 2) what sort of person am I becoming? These get at our deepest desires and commitments, the vision of the good, the true, and the beautiful toward which we aspire to live. In this book, Ganssle makes the argument that some of the basic human longings common to many of us are most congruent with the Christian faith. It is not that those who are not Christians, and Ganssle especially has atheists in mind, cannot embrace and pursue these longings. He argues that in fact they do, despite the fact that these longings are often dissonant with an atheist or materialist worldview, whereas they are consonant with a Christian worldview. He does not argue that this shows that Christian faith is true or that this “proves” Christian faith, but only that Christian faith is consistent with our deepest longings. He says, “There are many people who think that Christianity is false; I want to help people see that they really want the gospel to be true.”
Ganssle looks at four types of longings that he believes are consonant with the Christian story. The first is our value of persons and longing for relationship, that he sees grounded in a God who is personal and relational, the triune God, whose relationships are marked by submission and self-giving. The second is what might be called the problem of goodness, that we want goodness, even when we are faced with evil, that goodness seems somehow primary, that we want to be thought of as good, and and that goodness is good for us. The gospel is a story that grounds goodness in God, that accounts for our rebellion against it, and enables us to be what we long for.
We also long for and are drawn to beauty. We have a deep impulse to create things of beauty, that mirror the Creator. We long for beauties beyond what this earth offers in ways that suggest we are made for another world. And finally, we long for freedom, to live consistently with our sense of our best self, and the gospel proposes we are set free by truth, by a truth-shaped life, and enabled to live freely in the face of death because of hope. Ganssle concludes by proposing that if this case seems to make sense of our longings, then the next step is to determine whether the Christian faith is true.
What I like about this is approach is that he explores aspirations that are common to most or all of us. He raises what is a genuinely important question–how do we explain these aspirations? Are they just an artifact of our evolution and can they be explained in purely material terms? While he proposes that Christian faith is the best explanation, he recognizes that some may conclude differently and that each must decide what makes the best sense of our longings for love, goodness, beauty, and freedom.
His book poses a challenge for Christians as well. Does the kind of people we are becoming reflect the loving, good, beautiful, and liberating story we proclaim. Do we value people above programs–all people? Do we love goodness so passionately we pursue justice where it is lacking? Are our communities places that both celebrate beauty and evidence our hope in the beauty of the new creation? Are we consciously working to undo the personal and systemic evils that bind and limit people? In short, are we story-shaped people who find the fulfillment of our deepest longings in the story we proclaim? That, it seems to me, may be our most powerful apologetic.
____________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Gregory Ganssle believes that one of the most important questions we can ask is “what sort of person should I be?” and two other related questions: 1) what sort of person do I want to be? and 2) what sort of person am I becoming? These get at our deepest desires and commitments, the vision of the good, the true, and the beautiful toward which we aspire to live. In this book, Ganssle makes the argument that some of the basic human longings common to many of us are most congruent with the Christian faith. It is not that those who are not Christians, and Ganssle especially has atheists in mind, cannot embrace and pursue these longings. He argues that in fact they do, despite the fact that these longings are often dissonant with an atheist or materialist worldview, whereas they are consonant with a Christian worldview. He does not argue that this shows that Christian faith is true or that this “proves” Christian faith, but only that Christian faith is consistent with our deepest longings. He says, “There are many people who think that Christianity is false; I want to help people see that they really want the gospel to be true.”
Ganssle looks at four types of longings that he believes are consonant with the Christian story. The first is our value of persons and longing for relationship, that he sees grounded in a God who is personal and relational, the triune God, whose relationships are marked by submission and self-giving. The second is what might be called the problem of goodness, that we want goodness, even when we are faced with evil, that goodness seems somehow primary, that we want to be thought of as good, and and that goodness is good for us. The gospel is a story that grounds goodness in God, that accounts for our rebellion against it, and enables us to be what we long for.
We also long for and are drawn to beauty. We have a deep impulse to create things of beauty, that mirror the Creator. We long for beauties beyond what this earth offers in ways that suggest we are made for another world. And finally, we long for freedom, to live consistently with our sense of our best self, and the gospel proposes we are set free by truth, by a truth-shaped life, and enabled to live freely in the face of death because of hope. Ganssle concludes by proposing that if this case seems to make sense of our longings, then the next step is to determine whether the Christian faith is true.
What I like about this is approach is that he explores aspirations that are common to most or all of us. He raises what is a genuinely important question–how do we explain these aspirations? Are they just an artifact of our evolution and can they be explained in purely material terms? While he proposes that Christian faith is the best explanation, he recognizes that some may conclude differently and that each must decide what makes the best sense of our longings for love, goodness, beauty, and freedom.
His book poses a challenge for Christians as well. Does the kind of people we are becoming reflect the loving, good, beautiful, and liberating story we proclaim. Do we value people above programs–all people? Do we love goodness so passionately we pursue justice where it is lacking? Are our communities places that both celebrate beauty and evidence our hope in the beauty of the new creation? Are we consciously working to undo the personal and systemic evils that bind and limit people? In short, are we story-shaped people who find the fulfillment of our deepest longings in the story we proclaim? That, it seems to me, may be our most powerful apologetic.
____________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
February 6, 2019
I really like the angle Ganssle takes in this book: that the most important question for most people is not whether Christianity is true, but whether it would be good if Christianity was true. In other words, Ganssle takes what he believes are the most widely held human values and desires and he shows how the Christian story makes the most sense of them. I agree with Ganssle that it is necessary for people to understand that Christianity is worth exploring before they actually explore it. I feel like this book is a good first step in that direction, but it left me wanting more, especially more comparisons with other major religions (not just atheism).
September 21, 2017
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in apologetics, the rational defense of the Christian faith. This interest led me to study philosophy in college and accounts for quite a few books in my library. But over the course of my ministry, I have discovered that arguments — the logical kind, not the yelling-and-screaming kind — have a limited power to change minds.
Blaise Pascal identified a reason for this limitation in his Pensées. “Men despise religion,” he wrote. “They hate it and are afraid it may be true.” Notice the verbs: despise, hate, are afraid. This is the language of affect, not intellect; of roiling desires, not calm, cool reflection. On this account, Christian apologetics often fails because it treats people like the Vulcan Dr. Spock rather than the all-too-human Captain Kirk.
Pascal outlined a three-pronged strategy for apologetics in light of this truth about human nature:
"The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is true."
We might call these three prongs negative apologetics, apologetics from desire, and positive apologetics. Negative apologetics rebuts arguments against Christianity, showing that they are false. Positive apologetics makes arguments for Christianity, showing that it is true. Pascal’s crucial insight is that apologetics from desire play a crucial role. People must “wish it were true” in order to see “that it is true.”
Although Gregory E. Ganssle doesn’t cite Pascal in Our Deepest Desires, I get the impression that his book is a Pascalian project nonetheless. “The claim that this book will explore,” he writes, “is that the Christian story makes sense of our deepest longings. That is,” he goes on to explain, “the story that Christianity sets forth fits well with the things we value most and with the kinds of people we want to be.”
What kinds of things? Ganssle names four key values: persons, goodness, beauty and freedom. These values are, he believes, transcendental and universal. They are the kinds of things all people must take into account as they try to construct a good life.
Take persons, for example. Ganssle shows that “what we value most is connected to our personhood.” This is the case for two reasons: “The value of the things we pursue for ourselves is enhanced because we have human capabilities, and we value other people intrinsically.” In other words, we are persons (not pigs or peanuts or planets), so the good life we pursue must be appropriate for us. Moreover, that good life is relational to the core.
What story makes best sense of this fact? Ganssle contrasts the Christian story with the atheist story throughout the book. Let me cite a representative example of each story, then add in Ganssle’s argument.
First, a representative example of the Christian story:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:7–12).
Ganssle writes: “In the Christian story, the most fundamental reality is intrinsically relational” (emphasis in original). God is a Trinity of persons in eternal relationship of love with one another. This eternal Trinitarian love has implications for the doctrine of creation: “God’s love for the created order and particularly for the persons God created is an overflow of the love among the distinct persons within the divine nature. Love overflows into creative giving.” Given this reality, it is not surprising that “the content of Christian ethics centers on love and service to others.”
Now, for a representative example of the atheist story — by atheism, Ganssle means evolutionary naturalism, the “unguided Darwinian story” of human origins — consider this famous quote from the infamous Bertrand Russell:
"That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast heat death of the solar system, and that the whole of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins — all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built."
In this story, Ganssle points out, “our relational nature arises solely from our biological nature, which in turn arises from the underlying physics. In these accounts, the human drive to form and value relationships found its impetus in the need to survive.” So, yes, relationship is part of the atheist story, but as Ganssle points out, this is “an accident of evolutionary history.” He goes on to conclude: “Our beliefs about these relational virtues do not track with the deep contours of reality. So, although the meaning and value of relationships are not incompatible with atheism, they do not fit well with the atheistic story.”
Notice that Ganssle hasn’t argued that the Christian story is true. He’s simply argued that it’s a better fit to our deepest desires about personhood. He makes similar arguments about goodness, beauty and freedom. These transcendental values — our deepest desires — fit better within the Christian story of reality than in the atheist story. To use Pascal’s words, the Christian story is “attractive.” It is the kind of story “good men wish … were true.”
Obviously, there’s still a place for negative and positive apologetics. We have to show that Christianity is true, not false, after all. But if arguments from desire have moved people from scorn, hatred and fear of religion to curiosity about it, or even an openness to “reverence and respect,” then our arguments stand a far better chance of being persuasive.
Our Deepest Desires is a short book, but Gregory E. Ganssle should be congratulated for how much deep and interesting insight he has packed into its pages.
Book Reviewed:
Gregory E. Ganssle, Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017).
P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, plese vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
Blaise Pascal identified a reason for this limitation in his Pensées. “Men despise religion,” he wrote. “They hate it and are afraid it may be true.” Notice the verbs: despise, hate, are afraid. This is the language of affect, not intellect; of roiling desires, not calm, cool reflection. On this account, Christian apologetics often fails because it treats people like the Vulcan Dr. Spock rather than the all-too-human Captain Kirk.
Pascal outlined a three-pronged strategy for apologetics in light of this truth about human nature:
"The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is true."
We might call these three prongs negative apologetics, apologetics from desire, and positive apologetics. Negative apologetics rebuts arguments against Christianity, showing that they are false. Positive apologetics makes arguments for Christianity, showing that it is true. Pascal’s crucial insight is that apologetics from desire play a crucial role. People must “wish it were true” in order to see “that it is true.”
Although Gregory E. Ganssle doesn’t cite Pascal in Our Deepest Desires, I get the impression that his book is a Pascalian project nonetheless. “The claim that this book will explore,” he writes, “is that the Christian story makes sense of our deepest longings. That is,” he goes on to explain, “the story that Christianity sets forth fits well with the things we value most and with the kinds of people we want to be.”
What kinds of things? Ganssle names four key values: persons, goodness, beauty and freedom. These values are, he believes, transcendental and universal. They are the kinds of things all people must take into account as they try to construct a good life.
Take persons, for example. Ganssle shows that “what we value most is connected to our personhood.” This is the case for two reasons: “The value of the things we pursue for ourselves is enhanced because we have human capabilities, and we value other people intrinsically.” In other words, we are persons (not pigs or peanuts or planets), so the good life we pursue must be appropriate for us. Moreover, that good life is relational to the core.
What story makes best sense of this fact? Ganssle contrasts the Christian story with the atheist story throughout the book. Let me cite a representative example of each story, then add in Ganssle’s argument.
First, a representative example of the Christian story:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:7–12).
Ganssle writes: “In the Christian story, the most fundamental reality is intrinsically relational” (emphasis in original). God is a Trinity of persons in eternal relationship of love with one another. This eternal Trinitarian love has implications for the doctrine of creation: “God’s love for the created order and particularly for the persons God created is an overflow of the love among the distinct persons within the divine nature. Love overflows into creative giving.” Given this reality, it is not surprising that “the content of Christian ethics centers on love and service to others.”
Now, for a representative example of the atheist story — by atheism, Ganssle means evolutionary naturalism, the “unguided Darwinian story” of human origins — consider this famous quote from the infamous Bertrand Russell:
"That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast heat death of the solar system, and that the whole of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins — all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built."
In this story, Ganssle points out, “our relational nature arises solely from our biological nature, which in turn arises from the underlying physics. In these accounts, the human drive to form and value relationships found its impetus in the need to survive.” So, yes, relationship is part of the atheist story, but as Ganssle points out, this is “an accident of evolutionary history.” He goes on to conclude: “Our beliefs about these relational virtues do not track with the deep contours of reality. So, although the meaning and value of relationships are not incompatible with atheism, they do not fit well with the atheistic story.”
Notice that Ganssle hasn’t argued that the Christian story is true. He’s simply argued that it’s a better fit to our deepest desires about personhood. He makes similar arguments about goodness, beauty and freedom. These transcendental values — our deepest desires — fit better within the Christian story of reality than in the atheist story. To use Pascal’s words, the Christian story is “attractive.” It is the kind of story “good men wish … were true.”
Obviously, there’s still a place for negative and positive apologetics. We have to show that Christianity is true, not false, after all. But if arguments from desire have moved people from scorn, hatred and fear of religion to curiosity about it, or even an openness to “reverence and respect,” then our arguments stand a far better chance of being persuasive.
Our Deepest Desires is a short book, but Gregory E. Ganssle should be congratulated for how much deep and interesting insight he has packed into its pages.
Book Reviewed:
Gregory E. Ganssle, Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017).
P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, plese vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
November 12, 2025
Simply Lovely
This book is lovely. Out of all the philosophy books I've read for Philosophy this semester, this was one of the two accessible and enjoyable reads. This book evokes C. S. Lewis vibes, not in the sense that it's scholarly, but because it explains complex topics with ease and clarity. This book also fills my heart with joy through its discussions of beauty, what brings us happiness, goodness, relationships, and hope. I read most of the book, but out of order, as I was reading it for a class. I will keep and return to this book in the future.
This book is lovely. Out of all the philosophy books I've read for Philosophy this semester, this was one of the two accessible and enjoyable reads. This book evokes C. S. Lewis vibes, not in the sense that it's scholarly, but because it explains complex topics with ease and clarity. This book also fills my heart with joy through its discussions of beauty, what brings us happiness, goodness, relationships, and hope. I read most of the book, but out of order, as I was reading it for a class. I will keep and return to this book in the future.
April 13, 2020
An enjoyable and thought-provoking work that offers a unique contribution to 'apologetic' books. Rather than setting out to show that the Christian faith is true, Dr. Ganssle demonstrates that it would be great if the Christian faith was true. He shows how the Christian faith satisfies our deepest longings for relationships, goodness, beauty, and freedom. I appreciated the clear and simple way that Ganssle incorporated philosophers and showed their relevance to the conversation.
February 14, 2022
This book is a perfectly adequate redux of past Christian philosophy offered in suitable prose.
Its central thesis, that the Christian worldview is not only sensible, but genuinely good for personhood, goodness, beauty, and freedom, is becoming progressively more needed as opposed to the typical goal of attempting to prove theism as reasonable, and while this volume is a nice, compact place to start, I don't know if I would call it the banner example of this area of apologetics.
Its central thesis, that the Christian worldview is not only sensible, but genuinely good for personhood, goodness, beauty, and freedom, is becoming progressively more needed as opposed to the typical goal of attempting to prove theism as reasonable, and while this volume is a nice, compact place to start, I don't know if I would call it the banner example of this area of apologetics.
March 6, 2021
So this was a book.... don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it and understanding the authors arguments, but it wasn’t what I was after.
The book takes some really solid ideas and explores them in enough detail to wet the appetite of any burgeoning philosopher without being unapproachable by your average joe.
The 4 desires covered are great explorations of how God does fit into our every day longings. Ideas are well thought out and explained through basic theology and philosophy.
Be prepared to go back and read sentences, if like me you are a causal reader.
There was just something about it that I can’t put my finger on that meant I didn’t really enjoy it that much...
The book takes some really solid ideas and explores them in enough detail to wet the appetite of any burgeoning philosopher without being unapproachable by your average joe.
The 4 desires covered are great explorations of how God does fit into our every day longings. Ideas are well thought out and explained through basic theology and philosophy.
Be prepared to go back and read sentences, if like me you are a causal reader.
There was just something about it that I can’t put my finger on that meant I didn’t really enjoy it that much...
August 23, 2017
Christianity is good news. But how is it good news for us? Philosopher Gregory Ganssle says the Christian Story is the answer to our deepest desires. In Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations, Ganssle describes how the good news of Jesus Christ makes sense of our longings and fulfills our common, human desires. Ganssle (Ph.D., Syracuse) is professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and Biola University and the author of several books of theistic philosophy and apologetics.
In part 1, Ganssle describes what the Christian story has to teach us about personhood, our purpose and meaning, and our capacity for relationships. In part 2, Ganssle claims that Christianity answers our deep expectation for moral goodness. Part 3 explores how beauty points us toward God. In Part 4, Ganssle delves into what the Christian Story has to offer us by way freedom (and how it relates to Christian truth and hope).
As Ganssle explores each of these longings, in turn, he contrasts how the Christian story describes reality, with atheistic and materialistic stories and ways they answer these questions of desire. He differentiates the Christian faith from materialistic Darwinism, existentialism, utilitarianism, and thinkers like Bertrand Russell, Fredrick Nietzche, the New Atheists, etc. Ganssle does this all, with an accessible conversational tone, full of personal anecdotes and pop-cultural references.
IVP Academic classified this book as "RELIGION/Christian Theology/Apologetics"(back cover). I think the ordering of these is essentially correct. Ganssle offers thoughts about the value of Christianity which I think will be instructive and beneficial, primarily for Christians as we think through a Christian understanding of reality, and what difference this makes for our lives. Ganssle explores more the 'why Christians believe,' than the 'what' Christians believe. This doesn't mean what Ganssle says is solely subjective, but his emphasis is on the lived benefits of the Christianity—how it gives us meaning and a purpose and the ways it illuminates the true, the good and the beautiful and brings us hope and freedom.
This emphasis on the 'why' more than the 'what,' characterizes how Ganssle handles the Christian story. Ganssle uses 'the Christian Story' as shorthand for what Christians believe about the nature of reality. Ganssle doesn't explore the narrative of scripture in great detail, though he does note along the way: creation, the fall, redemption, and consummation. Most of Ganssle's Scriptural references are drawn from the New Testament (though he does reference Genesis 1-3, and, Psalm 19:3). Missing from his Christian Story is both the story of Israel and the Church's story. However, he is not telling us all of the what, but why the Christian Story answers our deep desires.
As an apologetic, Ganssle doesn't offer any 'knock-down arguments,' but his contrasting of worldviews highlights the ways in which Christianity speaks meaningfully to human longing. Ganssle notes in his introduction "If you recognize your own deep values in what I discuss, you may see that, indeed, Christianity makes a good deal of sense" (13). Seekers who are interested and exploring what the Christian story has to offer may find Ganssle's answers compelling. The committed atheist will not find these brief reflections as persuasive. But I think one of the most valuable things about apologetic works, is that they show clear thinking and a rational basis for faith for those who are drawn into the Christian story or are staring back from the other side of conversion and wonder if they thought stuff through the issues well enough. To that end, Ganssle describes cogently how the gospel is good news, fulfills our deepest longings. That is pretty valuable.
I would recommend this book for believers and seeking-unbelievers who are exploring, or at least open to, Christianity and are curious as to what the Christian faith has to offer. I give this book four stars. ★★★★
Notice of material connection, I received a copy of this book from IVP Academic in exchange for my honest review.
In part 1, Ganssle describes what the Christian story has to teach us about personhood, our purpose and meaning, and our capacity for relationships. In part 2, Ganssle claims that Christianity answers our deep expectation for moral goodness. Part 3 explores how beauty points us toward God. In Part 4, Ganssle delves into what the Christian Story has to offer us by way freedom (and how it relates to Christian truth and hope).
As Ganssle explores each of these longings, in turn, he contrasts how the Christian story describes reality, with atheistic and materialistic stories and ways they answer these questions of desire. He differentiates the Christian faith from materialistic Darwinism, existentialism, utilitarianism, and thinkers like Bertrand Russell, Fredrick Nietzche, the New Atheists, etc. Ganssle does this all, with an accessible conversational tone, full of personal anecdotes and pop-cultural references.
IVP Academic classified this book as "RELIGION/Christian Theology/Apologetics"(back cover). I think the ordering of these is essentially correct. Ganssle offers thoughts about the value of Christianity which I think will be instructive and beneficial, primarily for Christians as we think through a Christian understanding of reality, and what difference this makes for our lives. Ganssle explores more the 'why Christians believe,' than the 'what' Christians believe. This doesn't mean what Ganssle says is solely subjective, but his emphasis is on the lived benefits of the Christianity—how it gives us meaning and a purpose and the ways it illuminates the true, the good and the beautiful and brings us hope and freedom.
This emphasis on the 'why' more than the 'what,' characterizes how Ganssle handles the Christian story. Ganssle uses 'the Christian Story' as shorthand for what Christians believe about the nature of reality. Ganssle doesn't explore the narrative of scripture in great detail, though he does note along the way: creation, the fall, redemption, and consummation. Most of Ganssle's Scriptural references are drawn from the New Testament (though he does reference Genesis 1-3, and, Psalm 19:3). Missing from his Christian Story is both the story of Israel and the Church's story. However, he is not telling us all of the what, but why the Christian Story answers our deep desires.
As an apologetic, Ganssle doesn't offer any 'knock-down arguments,' but his contrasting of worldviews highlights the ways in which Christianity speaks meaningfully to human longing. Ganssle notes in his introduction "If you recognize your own deep values in what I discuss, you may see that, indeed, Christianity makes a good deal of sense" (13). Seekers who are interested and exploring what the Christian story has to offer may find Ganssle's answers compelling. The committed atheist will not find these brief reflections as persuasive. But I think one of the most valuable things about apologetic works, is that they show clear thinking and a rational basis for faith for those who are drawn into the Christian story or are staring back from the other side of conversion and wonder if they thought stuff through the issues well enough. To that end, Ganssle describes cogently how the gospel is good news, fulfills our deepest longings. That is pretty valuable.
I would recommend this book for believers and seeking-unbelievers who are exploring, or at least open to, Christianity and are curious as to what the Christian faith has to offer. I give this book four stars. ★★★★
Notice of material connection, I received a copy of this book from IVP Academic in exchange for my honest review.
January 28, 2022
This book, written by a philosophy professor, explores the ways that Christianity makes sense of human beings’ deepest desires, contrasting it with atheism’s explanation for these same desires. It is, as you’d expect from a philosopher, fairly abstract, but it is nevertheless concise, approachable, and not too difficult. At first, this was a disappointment to me—I was hoping for something deeper and more challenging—but I liked the book more and more as I kept reading it.
Ganssle clearly sets out his intentions in the introduction: he is not attempting to prove that Christianity is true, but he is attempting to show that it is better at grounding and explaining the deep desires of human beings than is atheism/naturalism.
The next four sections of the book explore the four main areas of desire: personhood, goodness, beauty, and freedom.
The section on personhood, while solid, did not cover any new ground for me, because I had already encountered the same ideas in Michael Reeves’ excellent book “Delighting in the Trinity” (which I highly recommend). But the sections on goodness, beauty, and freedom gave me some new insights and things to think about. I particularly enjoyed the section on goodness.
One thing I appreciated about Ganssle is that when he contrasts Christianity with atheism, he does not construct any straw men or take on a disdainful tone. He respectfully and accurately represents the explanation that atheistic naturalism puts forth for each phenomenon, but goes on to point out that in each case, the human desires in question seem surprising, anomalous, and going against the grain of the nature of reality as understood in their worldview, whereas in the Christian story, those desires make perfect sense and align well with the nature of reality.
I think it’s a good book overall; while I still feel like it would have been better if each section had been fleshed out a little more, I think it is a good book for Christians to read as we think about the implications of what we believe, and about how our deepest desires are fulfilled in Christ.
Ganssle clearly sets out his intentions in the introduction: he is not attempting to prove that Christianity is true, but he is attempting to show that it is better at grounding and explaining the deep desires of human beings than is atheism/naturalism.
The next four sections of the book explore the four main areas of desire: personhood, goodness, beauty, and freedom.
The section on personhood, while solid, did not cover any new ground for me, because I had already encountered the same ideas in Michael Reeves’ excellent book “Delighting in the Trinity” (which I highly recommend). But the sections on goodness, beauty, and freedom gave me some new insights and things to think about. I particularly enjoyed the section on goodness.
One thing I appreciated about Ganssle is that when he contrasts Christianity with atheism, he does not construct any straw men or take on a disdainful tone. He respectfully and accurately represents the explanation that atheistic naturalism puts forth for each phenomenon, but goes on to point out that in each case, the human desires in question seem surprising, anomalous, and going against the grain of the nature of reality as understood in their worldview, whereas in the Christian story, those desires make perfect sense and align well with the nature of reality.
I think it’s a good book overall; while I still feel like it would have been better if each section had been fleshed out a little more, I think it is a good book for Christians to read as we think about the implications of what we believe, and about how our deepest desires are fulfilled in Christ.
April 22, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫(4.5)
Philosopher Greg Ganssle delves into the human quest for meaning, goodness, beauty, and integrity. Through the lens of Christian theology, he explores how the message of Jesus Christ offers fulfillment for these universal longings. With grace and clarity, Ganssle argues that the Christian faith uniquely satisfies our deepest desires and brings peace to our restless hearts.
The way this book is framed is so good/enjoyable/accessible/relevant: Most people are not asking if Christianity is reasonable, they’re asking, if Christianity is reasonable, is it also good? Ganssle does a great job of answering this with scholarly wisdom and accessible language. I wouldn’t call myself an apologist by any means, but this book was easy to understand because it’s presented in a conversational tone. I enjoyed the personal stories and pop culture references added in.
Thank you @ivpress for the free copy of this book 🥰
Perfect for you if you like:
Exploring the intersection of faith and reason
Understanding the compatibility between Christianity and human aspirations
Accesible philosophical concepts
Similar to:
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
Existential Reasons for Belief in God by Clifford Williams
Philosopher Greg Ganssle delves into the human quest for meaning, goodness, beauty, and integrity. Through the lens of Christian theology, he explores how the message of Jesus Christ offers fulfillment for these universal longings. With grace and clarity, Ganssle argues that the Christian faith uniquely satisfies our deepest desires and brings peace to our restless hearts.
The way this book is framed is so good/enjoyable/accessible/relevant: Most people are not asking if Christianity is reasonable, they’re asking, if Christianity is reasonable, is it also good? Ganssle does a great job of answering this with scholarly wisdom and accessible language. I wouldn’t call myself an apologist by any means, but this book was easy to understand because it’s presented in a conversational tone. I enjoyed the personal stories and pop culture references added in.
Thank you @ivpress for the free copy of this book 🥰
Perfect for you if you like:
Exploring the intersection of faith and reason
Understanding the compatibility between Christianity and human aspirations
Accesible philosophical concepts
Similar to:
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
Existential Reasons for Belief in God by Clifford Williams
May 28, 2024
To clarify, this book is not what I expected based of the recommendations given but overall still an ok read.
Ganssle covers 4 main topics in regards to our desires and how the Christian story would be good if it was true. He doesn’t use his philosophical background to argue why Christianity is true but discusses why it could be a wonderful thing if it was true (stating consistently how he believes it to be true)
He focuses considerably on general views and attitudes from an atheistic society and when discussing the Christian story the applications weren’t always thoroughly discussed with Bible context. I would love to have seen this more consistently throughout the book, although I’m aware that this is aimed more at non-Christian’s. Also considering how and why the Christian story would be good for those who aren’t atheists would have been nice.
Overall was still good but I think I just really struggled to get my teeth into this one (which might just be a me thing!). I’d still recommend reading particularly if you have a philosophical background or are interested in that area.
Ganssle covers 4 main topics in regards to our desires and how the Christian story would be good if it was true. He doesn’t use his philosophical background to argue why Christianity is true but discusses why it could be a wonderful thing if it was true (stating consistently how he believes it to be true)
He focuses considerably on general views and attitudes from an atheistic society and when discussing the Christian story the applications weren’t always thoroughly discussed with Bible context. I would love to have seen this more consistently throughout the book, although I’m aware that this is aimed more at non-Christian’s. Also considering how and why the Christian story would be good for those who aren’t atheists would have been nice.
Overall was still good but I think I just really struggled to get my teeth into this one (which might just be a me thing!). I’d still recommend reading particularly if you have a philosophical background or are interested in that area.
January 2, 2018
Interesting and insightful and places but shallow and lacking depth in others. Ganssle's elaborations on John Stuart Mill and the implications our valuing of persons has are excellent but stating that because we admire figures like MLK and Mother Theresa for their self-sacrifice and have a fleeting sense their lives were 'good lives' that there is therefore a deep congruity between our longings and the Christian story are a bit of a leap.
Cover review comparisons to Mere Christianity, however, are not even remotely justified.
Cover review comparisons to Mere Christianity, however, are not even remotely justified.
June 17, 2018
Great books that takes you through the philosophy of the Christian worldview
This book reminds me of C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." It takes you through the Christian worldview philosophically and seeks to explain why the Christian viewpoint makes more sense than an atheistic one. Gregory Ganssle bring up many points that I've never even thought about before in favor of the Christian God.
This book reminds me of C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." It takes you through the Christian worldview philosophically and seeks to explain why the Christian viewpoint makes more sense than an atheistic one. Gregory Ganssle bring up many points that I've never even thought about before in favor of the Christian God.
February 17, 2019
Ganssle has written a fantastic book describing the Christian story in relation to our desires for human flourishing, goodness, beauty, and freedom. He argues that this story captures the eternal longings of the heart better than the atheistic story. I can't help but think that this book is a perfect complement to Cornelius Plantinga's book "Not the Way It's Supposed to Be". My rating: 5/5
February 17, 2018
A book I’m eager to share
In conversation with atheist friends and clients, I have recently recognized how our hopes and aspirations are much the same. This book should be helpful in our journey together. I’m hopeful and prayerful about it’s impact on people I care about.
In conversation with atheist friends and clients, I have recently recognized how our hopes and aspirations are much the same. This book should be helpful in our journey together. I’m hopeful and prayerful about it’s impact on people I care about.
Read
February 9, 2021Relationship/personhood
Goodness
Beauty
Freedom
The author addresses these four pointers to God as he argues that Xianity explains best our desire for each of them.
A helpful book for those wrestling with Gods existence or Xianity’s viability.
Especially loved the section on Beauty
Goodness
Beauty
Freedom
The author addresses these four pointers to God as he argues that Xianity explains best our desire for each of them.
A helpful book for those wrestling with Gods existence or Xianity’s viability.
Especially loved the section on Beauty
April 24, 2021
This feels mean, but I didn't like the tone of the book. The content was solid and accessible. But the approach seemed to edge tired being pat, trite, and almost arrogant. This probably reveals my post modern self, butI think I was looking for understanding and empathy more than tidy answers.
August 30, 2017
Excellent!
July 12, 2020
Read for a summer zoom reading group. Ganssle touches on some very beautiful and thought-provoking ideas that stay with you, but other parts could use more depth and elaboration.
April 10, 2021
We were made to believe the Christian story about life- it makes the most sense of who we are. Good book to show that. From a philosopher so expect it to be abstract
May 9, 2021
Simple, yet substantive. An excellent book to give to someone curious about spiritual matters. The chapters on Beauty were my favorite.
April 27, 2025
4.5 stars
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