John Blanchard may need no introduction – after all, he has written a number of books that have been published in multiple languages and printed in their millions – or he may be a new name to you.
The question that forms the title of, and shapes the pondering that forms, this book is however a timeless question that demands engaging with.
“A C. S. Lewis puts it, ‘either there is significance in the whole process of things as well as in human activity, or there is no significance in human activity itself… You cannot have it both ways. If the world is meaningless, then so are we.’”
The author of this book has been inviting people to consider the evidence for God, and a way into the Christian story and family, for longer than I have been alive. Does Life Have Any Meaning? engages with some of the key questions of apologetics – science and meaning – but ultimately serves as an excellent summary of Blanchard’s career. In chapter 8 of this book we are treated to a brief yet beautiful summary of death – the question that everyone has to think about. And this is where the book pivots. As a reader, this caught me off guard. We moved from questions about life to pondering the one who offers it. Blanchard shifts gear, inviting us, in light of the facts he’s presented, to consider Jesus.
This is a nicely produced, well written, meticulously researched and thoughtful little book. If you want something to give out as part of a wider evangelistic mission, I would recommend this wholeheartedly.
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