Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus

by John MacArthur

In this volume, MacArthur fearlessly attacks those who "water down the gospel of Christ in order to make it more popular and appealing" saying that those who do such "may be leading thier fun-loving audiences down the road to eternal punishment." He calls this rendition of the gospel "Christianity Lite, the redirection, watering down, and misinterpretation of the biblical gospel in an attempt to make it more palatable and popular." He emphasizes the necessity of obedience, submitting to the lordship of Jesus, and the gospel's call to self-denial.

Hard to Believe is an oasis of hope in the world of Calvinistic evangelicals. But don't get too high on MacArthur. He is, in spite of himself, Calvinistic and premillenialist. And you will find portions of each of these teachings scattered throughout this book (and others of his). Read this book as you would any other--a lot of good thoughts composed by a man. And thresh out the chaff with the Bible.

Overall, this book was a great read and very insightful. I recommend it to anyone who would like to have a better idea of what the gospel is really about.

The Editors do not advocate everything taught by the authors of the books we review. Like us, these authors are fallible humans and those who choose to read these books should measure them by the bible, the one true standard.