In the book Keep Going, Neil Martin displays a keen understanding of the difficulties people find in the Christian faith. He addresses these issues clearly, logically, and pastorally. I pray that God will enable it to reach a large audience.
Neil Martin brings a disciplined mind and a well-traveled heart to focus on the struggles endemic to authentic growing faith. Keep Going is captivating, compelling, convincing and-- liberating! I wish that this important book could be in the hands of every earnest young Christian.
Keep Going!" is an invaluable book, which tackles head on those thorny issues that can so often derail the thinking Christian. I believe its value lies in several areas: In the first half it encourages wobbling Christians to face up to the root causes of their doubts. In the second half, Neil Martin ably demonstrates that biblical faith can more than stand up to the onslaught of contemporary and historical intellectual detractors. I was particularly helped by the chapter on God's sovereignty and human responsibility. This is an area which I have often struggled to grasp and I found Neil's use of scripture and the works of John Owen & Jonathan Edwards really helpful. This book will bolster your confidence in understanding God's dealings with his world, and give you the intellectual backing you need to give a reasoned explanation of your faith to unbelievers.
Keep Going! is a book that faces with honesty what many contemporary Christians prefer to pretend away: the fact that the normal Christian life is one of struggle. Sadly, many intelligent Christians are ill-equipped for this realitynot grasping how the resources we have in Scripture can, and must, shape their thinking. Used properly, the bible helps to defend a reasonable worldview and robustly strengthens an intellectually coherent faith. And in this book Neil Martinwho has himself struggled through many intellectual battlesdemonstrates how Scripture is a sure armour whatever it is we face. This is an excellent book. As a pastor, I would not hesitate to recommend it to Christians struggling with the big questions of belief themselves, or who want to help others in their struggles. It will also be a great tool to strengthen the biblical confidence of those who long to persuade non-Christians friends of the intellectual coherency of the Christian faith, but who feel their own answers to their questions are inadequate. Reading Keep Going! will certainly help to get them going, and with a spring in their step. Revd Dr William J U Philip Minister, St Georges-Tron Parish Church, Glasgow; Editor, The Practical Preacher; Co-Author (with Dick Lucas), Teaching John; Co-Author (with David Jackman), Teaching Matthew
Struggling honestly with our deepest beliefs in God can bring despair and isolation. This book is written by a fellow struggler and it acknowledges the gravity of such struggles and yet continually draws the reader onto Gods living and active word. It is this continual drawing on Scripture in its depth and width and height that in my opinion makes this such a valuable book. I found the book easy to follow and have called on the content in a surprising number of conversations with others. I would recommend this as essential reading for those who find themselves struggling to believe that God is who he says he is in their daily lives and for all those who are seeking to encourage fellow strugglers to Keep Going!
This book makes a valuable and original contribution to Christian literature, integrating practical experience and acknowledgement of doubt within a rigorous framework to navigate through doubt to resolution. Most books for Christians struggling with their beliefs offer little more than empathy or affirmation that to doubt is a typical Christian experience. Neil Martins work, however, takes us to the higher level of transformative engagement. Tackling the complexities of our secular, post-modern culture head on, Neils approach is academically rigorous and practically accessible, philosophically and theologically articulate, but also clear and helpful. The toughest question to ask of any book on the habitual experience of doubt in the Christian life is whether, having read it, our confidence is strengthened. Neils work not only instills confidence but also puts the Christian on the front foot, with a framework to counter doubt with truth.
This is an excellent book for anyone struggling with their Christian beliefs. Grounded in Scripture and offering clear and compelling arguments to some of the biggest intellectual questions Christianity raises, Keep Going! is a book I warmly recommend.