The book Jesus Or Nothing is the first book written by Dr. Dan DeWitt, the Dean of Boyce College. Marcus Gray, better known as Christian hip-hop artist FLAME, was a student of his and they decided to make a project together. The book loosely goes along with the Clear Sight Music compilation album that shares the same name. The book has a never-before-seen poem by FLAME as its afterword but otherwise has no mention of anything hip-hop related. On the other hand, the theme of the book is heard all over the album. The message of the book is well described on its back cover as saying that the author “challenges us to think carefully about the choice between Jesus and nothing by comparing the Christian worldview with the notion of a godless universe devoid of true goodness and ultimate significance.” This book would be best categorized as apologetics.
What I Liked
Dr. DeWitt is very thorough and really convinced me that he knows what he is talking about. He does a good job of explaining what he believes and often quotes what others have said to show his points. He convinced me that a Gospel-centered worldview is superior to an atheistic or deistic one. His quotes are well chosen from scientists, philosophers, and authors, some of which are theists, atheists, and Christians. From the start, he made it clear that while many deny this, a universe without God has no objective meaning. He did a good job of explaining that a theistic but deistic worldview (a god created creation, but has had no further interaction with it) is not enough to offer us significance. I really liked the poem by FLAME, which followed the theme and journey of the book. It was nice to read a poem of his that is not heard in his music or anywhere else. The author has a discussion guide at the end of the book for groups that would read it together. It’s an interesting book that made me think about faith in an unfamiliar way.
What I Didn’t Like
This book is hard to read. I saw a few words in it such as “progeny” that I had never seen before. The author is an intellectual, scholarly man and I’m not a scholarly reader. I feel like he often overcomplicates things when explaining his apologetics. It’s definitely a book anyone under age 16 should not read. I tried to read one chapter per sitting, but some parts of the book were too complicated for me that I had to put the book down. For example, when he started talking about the “quantum vacuum,” he lost my attention. The “quantum vacuum” is better known as outer space; outer space is technically a lack of matter, literally “nothing” and what it actually is (if anything or “something”) is a question that has confused astronomers for decades. I thought that the last two chapters were the best. It is a book which the author said he hopes could convince an atheist or skeptic reader, but I think a person like that would put the book down before getting towards the end of it. I think the end of the book does a great job of bringing things full circle, but it is not a book I’d give to someone in order to share my faith with them.
Conclusion
Overall, I liked this book, but it is not for everybody. It really wasn’t written for a person like me, an average person soon going to college for the first time. I’m not a person who needs to know how to defend my worldview in comparison to an atheistic worldview by discussing objective significance and meaning. Don’t expect it to be the album Jesus or Nothing in book form, because it is not that, but remember that it is only my opinion. It’s a good, short book and made me think about things that I had never thought of before. I learned a lot from reading this book, and I think some of what I learned will help me better understand my own faith and the atheistic faith of others.
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