JourneyOnline
Penguin
RRP $22.95
God explained in a taxi ride was handed to me off a coffee table in an office reception with the entreaty, “You’ll enjoy this – do a review for Journey.”
A quick glance at a few pages immediately fuelled a conversation, and I did enjoy reading it.
The title instantly grabs you, while the sub title reads, ” Since the beginning of mankind, more thought has gone into the understanding of God than any other subject under the sun – and still nobody is any the wiser.
“In the length of a taxi ride, this little book explains it once and for all.”
Clearly, this was my kind of book and I started my post grad in theology right away.
With a few edited excerpts, you will hear the sizzle and smell the aromas of new age theology: ‘Cut out the middle man (preachers). We just have to believe that a power or force exists that is itself perfect. But few will accept this. It’s too simple. It has to be complicated and heaven knows, the church does that well.’
‘The greatest story told – it was written long after the death of Jesus, from word of mouth and hearsay, then translated and retranslated. It is the book the church wants you to believe in. It is the church’s book not God’s.’
‘Why does God need you to defend him?’
‘Evolution, fate, creation, fluke, Call it what you like … They are all words we use to describe the same thing – the existence of God. God is our name for the force behind creation.’
‘I believe in God.’
The back page billing says, “The world’s second best book on God.” WOW! Just might be so.
It was certainly in a good place on the coffee table, just waiting to start a conversation about God with anyone who dares pick it up.
God explained in a taxi ride is a perfect gift. Go on I dare you.
Reviewed by Reg Collard, a member of the Uniting Church Lay Forum
