Recommended Reading: “The Coffee House Chronicles”

The Coffeehouse Chronicles by Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett with Moody Publishers is a series of three apologetics novellas, each tackling a different issue that most Christian students will struggle with during their college years. They are set in the modern day and portray real, believable students as they engage in genuine dialogue concerning three questions:

The first book of the series, Is The Bible True… Really?,  introduces us to several students at Opal University in Dallas, Texas. Nick, a freshman, is severely confused when one of his first classes brings into question the historical basis for the Bible, and thus causes him to question everything he’d ever known about Christianity. As he struggles to corroborate the faith of his youth with the ideas of his skeptical religious studies professor, he becomes further confused when his new friend Andrea, an agnostic, also shares with him some of her skepticism about the reliability of Scripture. If the Bible can’t be trusted, what is he to believe? For the first time, Nick is asked real questions about his faith, and he doesn’t know the answers:

*Did Christianity really borrow from pagan mythology?
*Are there really mistakes in the Bible?
*Are there really other gospels not included in the Bible?

In Who is Jesus… Really?, we see that Nick has become the good-natured leader of a Bible study that meets at the local coffeehouse. One night he is blindsided by a host of hostile questions from a group of students lead by Andrea, who has now become a complete atheist. Most of the questions involve the person of Jesus, and while Nick thinks he has an answer for most of them, he just isn’t sure how to put the words together. In frank conversations that reference everything from the I AM SECOND series of videos to the skepticism of Christopher Hitchens, Nick and his friends discuss the historical person of Christ and the evidence for His existence, as Andrea goes on a very personal journey to learn who Jesus is and what He could mean to her. While Andrea’s friends seem to be getting answers, all she comes up with are more questions:

*Was Jesus really telling the truth?
*What do other people in history really say about Jesus?
*Did Jesus really perform miracles?

The third book, Did The Resurrection Happen… Really?,  hits the ground running, as a gunman opens fire at the Opal School and kills 9 people. We watch as Dr. Peterson deals with the aftermath of the shooting in the lives of his students and in his own conscience, as he had received scores of hate mail and threats following the forum about Christ earlier in the year. At the same time, Lauren, a member of the agnostic club on campus, can’t help but deal with the idea of life after death in the wake of the deaths of the victims that she knew. She finds the idea of eternal life overwhelmingly comfortable and appealing, but worries that it might just be some sort of to-good-to-be true fairy tale. Other students react by attempting to historically deny the possibility of Christ’s resurrection by using ancient texts and modern science. As each person’s journey collides with the others’, the topic of the historical resurrection of Christ rises quickly to the surface. Some of the unanswered questions Lauren and her friends grapple with:

*Can’t I be a Christian without really believing in the resurrection?
*Is there any real evidence of Jesus having risen from the dead?
*Why did Jesus really have to die, anyway?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Josh McDowell, co-author of The Coffeehouse Chronicles, considered himself an agnostic as a young man. He truly believed that Christianity was worthless. However, when challenged to intellectually examine the claims of Christianity, Josh discovered compelling, overwhelming evidence for the reliability of the Christian faith. His life has not been the same since.

Well known as an articulate speaker, Josh has addressed more than 10 million young people, giving over 24,000 talks in 118 countries. Over 40 million of his books are in print including More Than a Carpenter and New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. For more about Josh, visit his website.

Dave Sterrett, co-author of The Coffeehouse Chronicles, is a conference speaker and writer for a movement called I am Second. Along with ministering in churches, high schools, and college campuses, Dave serves as an adjunct professor at Liberty University. Dave is also the author of Why Trust Jesus? For more about Dave, visit his website.

See the Coffee House Chronicles website here.

Roger’s Comment:

I really enjoyed these books. They are short, punchy, engaging and entertaining. The authors manage to combine the fictional narrative with loads of factual information about the subject matter, suplemented with comprehensive footnote references for those who wish to pursue the issues and claims made in more detail. In many ways, the dialogues in these books remind me of the character dialogues in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, with one great difference – the claims made in The Coffee House Chronicles are actually true!

These books should be included in the basic reading list of any Christian involved in discussions with non-Christians (that’s pretty much all of us), and should also be required reading for the authentic skeptic who wants to engage with the historical and evidential realities of the Christian faith, rather than base their skepticism on fictional and internet-based caricatures of Christianity.

I gather that the main target audience is students in high school and university (or equivalent) - a time where many (if not most) young adults are breaking away from the belief systems of their parents, and starting to explore and develop their own worldview position. In this context, The Coffee House Chronicles are an ideal place to start for parents and young adults who have questions or concerns about these basic issues regarding the Christian faith. Even for thoses who are older, these books present the factual case for the legitimacy of the Christian faith  in a systematic way and the extensive footnote references make these books a must-have for any Christians involved in apologetics ministries.

Highly recommended!