Timeless Truth in Truthless Times: Answers to Tough Questions about God, Christianity, and the Bible

by George Bassilios

In this book, you will find insightful and concise answers to 35 tough questions about God, Christianity and the Bible, such as:

Who created God?
Why did God create people knowing they will end up in hell?
Why is there so much evil in this world?
Can I live a good moral life without God?

It is the culmination of 15 years of Christian Apologetics (defending the Christian faith) and youth ministry.


More about the book and the author: https://www.amazon.com/George-Bassili...

Genres: Religion, Christian, Spirituality

240 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[SherryTX · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on the book. I love how it is structured, each chapter with a question, different points made and a final conclusion. The chapters are long enough to provide an overview of the topic but not so long that you can't read them on a lunch break, etc. depending on the chapter it could take 15 to 30 mins to read. I think it just depends on the depth of the material. I enjoyed the writing style, which really made it easy to read.

For someone that is already a Christian, this could be a helpful book, and can serve as a starting point to so you can delve into a topic further with other resources should you want. The author also has an endnote section that provides some sources for quotes and a few other things.

Some of my issues with the book:

Some of the chapters feel smug, and may be a bit off putting to someone who isn't a Christian.

I felt like a few of the chapters really didn't answer the question asked in the title. For instance, the chapter "If God Is All Loving, Why Is There So Much Evil In The World" doesn't answer the question. The focus is instead on how God and evil can exist. While that can be a good starting point on getting to an answer, it stops there.

Sometimes there a few odd things. One that comes to mind, in the chapter entitled "Has Science Disproved The Bible And Christianity" he references a quote that says "it is the census among contemporary historians, philosophers, sociologists of science that real science only arose at once: in Europe." He then goes on to list several Christians that established scientific fields. Such as Kepler who "established" astronomy. What? While he did some amazing and important work in the field he did not establish it. There is evidence of astronomy being established thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia and other areas.
And there was much work done in that field of science other countries well before Kepler. A simple Google search shows this (or my 7th grade science class). It is one thing to acknowledge there have been many Christians that have made substantial contributions to science. It is another thing to claimed that major fields of science were all established by Christians.

One thing I did find interesting about the book is that even though it is by an Orthodox author (specifically Coptic) he did a good job with out getting caught up in the weeds or going into a discussion trying to break down which form of Christianity is better than others. To me that is an important aspect of the book. The audience is NOT just narrowly focused on Orthodox Christians, but is a book that any Christian (or someone interested in learning more about general Christian beliefs on who God and Jesus are how most Christians view suffering) can pick up and read with our a deep background.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading this book, but that they go in with realistic explanations. The author tried to accomplish a huge task, and I admire him for that. But if you are looking for a book with bulletproof answers, this is not the book. I don't think that book exists.

[Maria Hany · Rating 5 out of 5]

هل توجد كراهية للنساء في الكتاب المقدس ؟
هل أثبت العلم عدم صحة الكتاب المقدس ؟
هل الله موجود ؟
من خلق الله ؟
هل قام المسيح فعلا من الأموات ؟
كل هذه الأسئلة و اكثر منها موجود إجاباتها في هذا الكتاب
** معظمنا لم يشك في وجود الله ثم بدأ أن يخطئ . بل بالعكس بدأ يخطئ أولا ثم بعد ذلك أخذ يشك في وجود الله.
** إن المسيحية لا تظلم النساء. بل تعلم أنه، على الرغم من اختلاف الرجال عن النساء في نواح كثيرة إلا أنهما متكاملان في الجوهر و متساويان في القيمة و الكرامة ، "إن الرجل ليس من دون المرأة ، ولا المرأة من دون الرجل في الرب ." (١كو١١:١١) و حين تدرك الاختلافات بينهما و تقدر ، حينئذ فقط تبلغ الإنسانية كلها إلى أكمل تعبيراتها .
** لا يوجد هناك صراع حقيقي بين العلم و المسيحية ، فهما يصنعان معا ثنائيا رائعا . و كما قال لورد كلفين ( العلم لا يعادي الدين بل يعضده ) .
كل هذه مقتبسة من الكتاب من الأفكار الختامية ( و هو الجزء الذي يتكلم فيه الكاتب بعد كل سؤال عن المضمون) لكل سؤال .
و فيه تفسير لبعض الآيات التي يساء فهمها عن النساء في الكتاب المقدس.
(من الكتب الدفاعية المسيحية)
الكتاب مترجم للغة العربية

[Monica Salib · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book George! As someone who is currently serving high school, I know how tough their questions might get and there is nothing worse to the youth than a shallow old-fashioned answer that shows a lack of knowledge. Thank you for compiling all the arguments in one place - you definitely made it easier for us to be prepared in having better discussions :) God bless your service!

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very simple and comprehensive book! A very good one! It answers our most common and repeted questions, either we ask ourselves or other people ask us, and surprisingly we get stuck in the same questions over and over again, it is beautifully written with knowledge and study enriched with a lot of quotes from a lot of authors that are inspiring providing an answer to familiar and unfamiliar questions to me. I enjoyed reading this book and it is so good to have this book as a reference to return to to have a complete, logical and comprehensive answer. It gave me new insights and knowledge. A recommended book for sure for whoever is seeking answers!

[Chantal Ayman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each chapter provided new information and opened my eyes to new truths. I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking to find answers to troubling/debatable questions. However, the answers included in this book are only the tip of the iceberg; the author himself stated that. George is including many references which appear to be useful if someone is seeking to go in-depth studying the topics in the book to get a full grasp. I will definitely be reading it over and over again throughout my lifetime 🤩

[Austin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for what it is. Any apologetics resource should get mixed reviews because its purpose should be to wrestle the heart and engage uncertainty. Those who are obstinate to engaging uncertainty, likely presume their final opinion on such resources before they even start them.

As someone who has believed in God for most my life, the only way this book seemed to not help was that certain questions were answered partly or entirely without much reference (likely for brevity sake). Most questions, however, I found to hold relevant anecdotes both biblical and not. I don’t fault the author for this because I certainly couldn’t do it better and I also wasn’t expecting this book to give me all the answers in their entirety (such a feat, I would deem impossible for any man) but rather to spark curiosity.

[Andy Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This precious book aims to provide you, its readers, not with a shallow worldly knowledge, but with a knowledge of action that leads you towards faith. I pray that God will use this blessed book for the salvation of many.” -Bishop Youssef, Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern U.S.

“I would like to thank George, my son in Christ, for this book and for all his contributions to deliver the word of the true Orthodox faith. This book addresses many of the doubts and queries of our time. George has done an excellent job in covering every question in a clear way. I would like to add that I myself benefit from listening and reading George’s answers to these sort of questions.” -Father Daoud Lamei, Priest of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, Cairo.


TimelessTruth.org

[Evelyn Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book addresses a wide range of questions related to Christianity and religion as a whole. Mr. George Bassilios does an excellent job responding to these questions with well-supported facts and evidence. One aspect I wasn’t particularly fond of was the heavy use of references—nearly every page included citations from other authors. That said, these references did help reinforce his arguments. I also appreciated how he broke down complex ideas and simplified them, making the content accessible even to readers who may not be familiar with Christian theology. Overall, it’s a great read!

[grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

wish i didn't bother

[Fady Aymin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to read this book but I do not know how to do it from this site

[Micky Samir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive yet simple.
Consider it answers to the FAQs of God, Christianity and the Bible. truly beautiful.

[Marcelino Makkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction into apologetics, but lacks depth for the weighted questions it seeks to answer. Simple solutions to complex problems.

[Rany Nagui · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book with great effort put on it, answering some of the most difficult questions that we've been faced and asked particularly during the painful periods in our life.
I'm encouraging everyone and every servant to obtain and read this great book.
God bless the Autor and his services.