Choosing Your Faith In a World of Spiritual Options Over the past couple of years, I have attempted to teach apologetics at an accessible level for the local church. Sometimes I hit and sometimes I miss this mark. So, I have continued to look for a well-reasoned, introductory apologetic work with a more pastoral tone. I look for a book that would serve as a springboard for church members into an investigation of their beliefs. I believe that Mark Mittelberg’s new book, Choosing Your Faith, fulfills this role. Mittelberg offers apologetic arguments, he calls “arrows,” that point towards belief in the Christian God, but he also offers a fresh look at how people choose their faith. He outlines six different paths to belief (or non-belief): 1) The Relativistic Faith Path, 2) The Traditional Faith Path, 3) The Authoritarian Faith Path, 4) The Intuitive Faith Path, 5) The Mystical Faith Path, and 6) The Evidential Faith Path. Mittelberg explains the benefits and problems with each one and what faith structures adhere to the different paths. He concludes that the Evidential Faith Path must be the one that tests all others, because it is based in logic and experience. As he states on page 155, “As we have seen, logic and experience are inescapable tools—you can’t deny them without using them—so we might as well accept them and learn to use them well.” Overall, I found the book to be a very readable and understandable introduction to apologetic arguments. When my own church members or seminar attendees ask me where to start, I will definitely point them to this book along with Timothy Keller’s book, The Reason for God. I specifically found the paths to faith helpful in understanding the differing backgrounds of those with whom I speak to about the Christian God. I also found Mittelberg’s book a revealing insight into my own beliefs and into how I came to faith in God. Thanks, Mark! MJ