Routine Conservative Christian Apologetics. Two things up front: the single star deduction is for prootexting, which is far too common in books such as this and is an automatic star deduction for me every time I see it in a text. Second, I honestly fail to see why this particular book exists, as it offers nothing particularly new – not even a real discussion of more current social issues and an Apologetics-based response to them. Indeed, in quoting the legends of this field – C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel – and especially in basing such a decent chunk of the text around Lewis’ “Liar, Lunatic, or LORD” argument… there isn’t really anything novel at all about this book. It is good enough for what it is, and for those unaware of Christian Apologetics as a field it is a pretty decent summary of a high level view of its arguments, but there’s no real “meat” here, and certainly nothing worthy of deep contemplation the way Lewis and Strobel achieved. Hell, I largely left Christian circles 20 ish yrs ago as my faith in Christ deepened while my faith in people faltered, and the arguments presented in this text are remarkably similar to ones that were even then at least a few years old.
So don’t get me wrong here, this book is in fact solid for what it is, and again, for those unfamiliar with the topic, it does indeed serve as a decent overview and introduction. Clocking in at 12% bibliography as judged by the Acknowledgements section after yet with documentation at the end of each chapter as well that seemingly bumps the actual total documentation to around the 15% or so I consider the bare minimum for a nonfiction text, there is nothing overly *wrong* here other than the prooftexting. I was just expecting *some* kind of new slant or potentially *some* level of new argumentation, and this book fell rather flat on those accounts.
Recommended, particularly for those who have never considered Christian Apologetics.
This review of What If Jesus Is Right by Douglas Groothuis and Lindsey Medenwaldt was originally written on March 1, 2026.