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Dear Reader,
Someone once told me that he didn’t want to become a Christian because the lives of Christians are boring. John Lennox’s life story is evidence that simply isn’t true.
I learned about Lennox when he was on his way to debate Richard Dawkins about The God Delusion. As he spoke in the seminary chapel, he gave me categories to resist scientism, recognize the reductionism in many arguments against Christianity, and see the information coded into creation as a testament to God’s existence.
It turns out that Lennox is also one of the most interesting people you could ever meet. Far from giving him a boring life, Christianity has taken Lennox on adventure after adventure.
His recent autobiography, My Story: A Spiritual and Intellectual Autobiography, weighs in at nearly 500 pages. But every one of those pages makes you want to keep reading to see what’s going to happen next.
Lennox lived through “The Troubles” in Ireland, yet came out with a strong faith that wasn’t sectarian. He persevered in his faith while studying mathematics at Cambridge, despite having a panel of senior scholars demand he abandon it. Lennox put his life and freedom on the line repeatedly to venture behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War to preach the gospel to thousands. There’s nothing boring about that life.
The most intriguing parts of Lennox’s biography aren’t the big adventures. It’s the way he explains his ordinary obedience to share the gospel wherever he goes. Because Lennox was willing to talk to anyone about Jesus, God put people in his path who wanted to listen. And God also provided surprising “coincidences” that led to gospel connections. For example, just after someone unexpectedly gave Lennox a Russian Bible, he happened to be seated on a train near a Soviet engineer whose wife was mourning the loss of her copy of Scripture.
As I read Lennox’s book and interviewed him about his life, I realized that a life committed to faithful obedience to the gospel is more exciting than any other life I could imagine. The conversation is worth watching in full.
Happy Reading!
Andrew Spencer
Associate Editor
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New from TGC
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Book Review
Andrew Spencer
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“I had peace that God would protect me, and he did. Although it's absolutely amazing looking back at how I got away with it because I was traveling on my own. Anything could have happened without other people knowing. And that's the incredible thing. I just am amazed as I look back that I came through as safely as I did.” Read the review.
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Book Review
Paul Putz
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“The idea behind this book makes sense. It’s going too far to say that athletes are ‘saving Christianity,’ but something interesting is happening with sports and Christianity in recent years. Athletes and coaches feel more emboldened to share their faith, and the new media landscape has made it possible to do so more directly.” Read the review.
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Book Review
Rebecca Pate
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Links for the Reading Life
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| 1. |
Andrew Spencer, “Books You Should Read This Summer” (The Gospel Coalition)
“Whether you’re overly optimistic about your potential future reading or simply don’t know what to read this summer, The Gospel Coalition’s editors have recommendations for you. These are books you can take to the beach, to the cabin, or just to the front porch as you watch the clouds roll by.”
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| 2. |
Andrew Spencer, “Summer Reading Recommendations for Your Kids” (The Gospel Coalition)
“As a parent of voracious readers, I’ve regularly faced the challenge of helping my kids find good books. It’s often fine to read the latest popular series, even if the stories won’t stand the test of time. However, I also want my kids to read the sort of books they’ll want to share with their own kids.
“Websites like Read-Aloud Revival, Redeemed Reader, and Good Book Mom can help parents find quality books, many of which are available from the local library. I also contacted several Christian authors to ask for a book recommendation for 8-to-13-year-olds to read this summer. These are the answers I received.”
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| 3. |
Beth Claes, “The Body Keeps the Score. But the Mind and Heart Do Too.” (The Gospel Coalition)
“Since its 2014 release, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk has become one of the most influential and widely read books on trauma. It has sold more than 3 million copies and spent eight years on the New York Times bestseller list. It’s been read and recommended by mental health professionals, trauma survivors, and many others who found the content helped make sense of their experiences and relationships. . . .
“Yet, as a new study suggests, Van der Kolk’s body-focused view doesn’t capture the complexity of the human experience with trauma. His framing risks a rebranded reductionism—one that locates trauma so firmly in the body that the mind and heart become bystanders rather than participants in both the wound and the healing.”
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| 4. |
Marielle Segarra and Malaka Gharib, “5 Ways to Read More Books This Summer” (NPR)
“I have this daydream where I go to the park and read under a tree. The sun is shining. It’s not too hot. The ground beneath me is comfortable. I have snacks on hand, I’m hydrated, and I am captivated by the book in front of me.
“The problem is it doesn’t usually pan out like this. Two minutes in, I’m sweating, my butt hurts from sitting on tree roots, I realize I forgot the snacks and I can’t focus. So I close the book, go home and turn on the TV.”
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| 5. |
Jessica Winter, “Why ‘Book-Shaming’ Won’t Solve the Children’s Literacy Crisis” (The New Yorker)
“Ample research shows that passive content consumption among kids and teens is adversely affecting attention spans, language attainment, and other factors that help make deep reading both sustainable and fun. It’s all the more alarming, then, that forty-six per cent of teen-agers reported being online “almost constantly” in a 2024 Pew survey. Meanwhile, phone-addicted adults aren’t necessarily modelling reading habits for the young people in their lives.”
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| 6. |
Ivan Mesa and Joseph Sherrard, “On My Shelf: Life and Books with Joseph Sherrard” (The Gospel Coalition)
“My call to the ministry is deeply bound to the joy I’ve found in continually rediscovering the power of the gospel. There are a handful of books that help me to be restored to the joy of my salvation and that shape me for the work I’ve been called to.”
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The Gospel Coalition
8520 Allison Pointe Boulevard, Suite 220, Indianapolis, IN, 46250
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