Yes or No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions About Christianity

by Peter Kreeft

The popular Christian apologist Kreeft tackles many of the tough questions of our day concerning Christianity. In a series of imaginative "dialogues", Sal the Seeker and Chris the Christian deal with the profound mysteries of the Gospel. The result is a book that is both engaging and profound, a book that leads readers to initial faith―or to deeper faith. "The stakes in these dialogues are high. Christianity is God's marriage proposal to the soul, says Kreeft, and the answer must be "yes" or "no". We can evade the claims of Jesus Christ for a while, but death brings evasion to an end. It is wiser to look at Christianity honestly now. Yes or No? shows the truth of Jesus' promise that those who sincerely seek the truth shall find it. It is a road map for those who are honestly seeking the truth and a source of greater faith for those how have already found God. It presents the full challenge of the gospel in a way modern men and women can understand.

Genres: Catholic, Christianity, Faith, Theology, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Peter Kreeft is an American philosopher and prolific author of over eighty books on Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. A convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, his journey was shaped by his study of Church history, Gothic architecture, and Thomistic thought. He earned his BA from Calvin College, an MA and PhD from Fordham University, and pursued further studies at Yale. Since 1965, he has taught philosophy at Boston College and also at The King’s College. Kreeft is known for formulating “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” with Ronald K. Tacelli, featured in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. A strong advocate for unity among Christians, he emphasizes shared belief in Christ over denominational differences.

Reviews

[Ramón S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best compliment I know for a book is: I will read it again.
I am reading this book again. Two thumbs up

[Rod Horncastle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A noble apologetic effort by Kreeft. (and fun too!)

Would I recommend it to atheists or agnostics to persuade them to logically accept Christianity? Probably not.
Although it has some great moments and issues that clearly get the point across. I think books like this probably help people more once they've crossed the line into a relationship with Jesus. But anything is worth a try.

As much as I admire Kreeft I do disagree with him on a few issues. His idea of Hell is a little fruity. His purgatory belief is not in my Bible...although he does offer an interesting explanation.
But worst of all on page 153 his Christian character states that Muslims worship the same God as us. There Kreeft appears to have done almost no theological studies (or historical) on the religion of Islam - or the behaviour of its God Allah. This book was written many years ago - so hopefully Peter has done some investigating and updating his knowledge of world religions since then.

But Peter Kreeft has many other books i'm very excited to read. He tackles awesome topics.

Whoops - posted the last review under my wifes name. :)

[Tom Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book in the reasons for belief, written in the Socratic style that Peter Kreeft does so well. It wasn't intensely in depth, but it would probably make a great introduction to Christianity for any honest seeker of truth. More high school level than college.

[John Rey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conversation style of presenting facts about Christianity and the faith. It was an interesting style to employ. But mostly, it’s really about emphasising that Jesus is the object of our faith more than anything else. That’s the reminder for me as I finish this book.

[Tsoler]

A book I read awhile ago for a high school class, but always great to refer back to. Peter Kreeft is brilliantttttt

[Leslie Moellering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simply lays out the arguments for Christ. If only everyone was as open to the truth as Sal, but I doubt many conversations are this easy. Maybe that's because I don't love as I ought.

[Dylan Schweitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What are you doing wasting your time reading this review? Go read the book!

It is a fantastic dialogue between 2 people, an Agnostic and a Christian. The conversation has a wonderful balance of humor, humility, honest searching and reverence. Great to observe dialogue for anyone interested in these sorts of conversations.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seek and you shall find. Ask the questions, especially the hard ones. You don’t know, until you do. This book is a great guide towards the answer.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am Christian. I would say I am firmly Christian, yet somehow found this book disappointing. The reasons did not seem nearly as strong to me as it seemed they were meant to be. An example is page 108 where he says if it took millions or billions of years for us to evolve to the most advanced and most conscious life form and there were no life after death, the universe would be absurd.
And on page122 he says if there is no life after death, then life is meaningless in the long run.

This reminded me of working in my huge and wild flower garden one day. I suddenly realized neither of my children will probably move here and after I die my garden will be overgrown, plowed under our razed for a housing development. What a waste! Why should I bother? And then I realized I bother because it gives me joy. I find joy in working the earth, I find joy in seeing the beauty. If it gives further beauty beyond my death, so much the better, but even if it's torn up immediately I have found great joy there and thus it is not meaningless.

[Erin Vestecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider myself agnostic and this book was still pretty good.

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good introduction