A FRIENDLY DIALOGUE BETWEEN AN ATHEIST AND A CHRISTIAN
By Luis Palau & Zhao Qizheng
Zondervan. 142 pages
ISBN 978-0-310-28533-5
This is a curious book. At one level it has an immediate appeal. Christians need to be challenging those of other religions and worldviews in the context of ‘friendly dialogue’. This was Paul’s approach in Acts, and evangelicals by and large have neglected it. So, it looks at first glance, as if, among other things, Zondervan has provided us with a useful apologetic model.
Given the aggressive atheism of scientists like Richard Dawkins and the fact that Luis Palau, the Western evangelist, is in discussion with a prominent atheist scientist, reinforces this impression. The scientist is also a senior civil servant in China where the church has grown exponentially and where the book has been published simultaneously with the US. After the success of the Beijing Olympics (not to mention the collapse of Western banking), China’s global significance could not seem larger. Added to which the book looks great: high quality paper with lots of spectacular photographs. What potential for good, therefore, and all very impressive.
