The Grace Effect

"The keystone that sits atop the grand archway of authentic Christianity is grace"
Larry Alex Taunton

When author Larry Alex Taunton has a friendly debates about the concept of God and religion with renowned Christopher Hitchens (author of God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) and John Lennox (Oxford mathematician and fellow Christian), Taunton throws out the idea of "common grace": the thought that when there is a Christian influence in the culture, it will bring benefits to the whole of that society. Little did he know that life was about to show him just how true "common grace" really is.

Some time after the debate, the author and his family travel to Ukraine to start the process of adopting a ten year old girl names Sasha. While there, the Taunton family sees the effects of Communism and the lack of Christianity through the corruption of a country that has been without religion for generations.

With the recent events of Occupy Wall street, Taunton's thoughts on socialism/communism are even closer to home. Socialism is merely the start of Communism, and Communism cannot abide with Christianity because it takes the place of religion by putting the state in place of God. I appreciated his thoughts on Socialism, having just covered the basics of it in Modern Civilization. Taunton backs up his thoughts with quotes from our own presidents, which I found interesting.

When I received this book, I wasn't so sure that it would live up to my expectations. Boy, was I wrong! The author does a wonderful job of addressing the arguments of the New Atheist and backing them up his own opinions. Even if you don't agree with Christianity, I think that this is a wonderful book to check out, just so you know where Christians are coming from. I appreciate that the author didn't bash Ukraine, even though I am sure he found parts of it infuriating. He also didn't bash atheism. I think it helps that he was a good friend of Hitchens.

All in all, I give this book a five. It was insightful and written in layman terms, so even though some of the material is incredibly thought provoking, it isn't difficult to follow along.

Reviewed for booksneeze.com