Book Review of Can I Really Trust the Bible? by Barry Cooper

There has been a beautiful revival of thirst for God's Word in the past decade, and a slew of books recently published on this topic even in 2014 alone. In the cheeky promo video for Can I Really Trust the Bible?, author Barry Cooper jokes that you should read his book because, weighing in at under 100 pages, it's shorter than all the others. Though he said that jokingly, that point is very compelling to me, a mom of two very young children with little concentrated time to read.

I was captivated by this book on every page. Mr. Cooper wrote with tremendous skill and his deep-down knowledge of the subject matter allowed him to write clearly and concisely. I would quickly give this book to a non-Christian because he asked all main the questions non-Christians ask then gave very convincing answers from scripture and common sense. I'm grateful that all the defenses are laid out right there so I don't have to keep watching Voddie Baucham's "Why I Choose to Believe the Bible" sermon on YouTube repeatedly. My affections for the Word were stirred as I became more obviously convinced of the Bible (and the God of the Bible!) that I already believed.

I love the reverent heart behind the book. In chapter 1 we are charged to read or listen to the Word in anticipation because "The fierce power that summoned and sustains the universe is about to be unleashed again in our hearing." I also loved his answer for when people ask if the Bible is "out of date": "If we feel discomfort at some of the Bible's teaching, is it really because the Bible is a product of its time, or because we are?" Later he added, "Wouldn't it be suspicious if [God] always said what we wanted him to say, or if he always confirmed the views of our particular culture, in our particular moment of history?" This just struck me with the timeless beauty of the Bible.

I love the Bible, I'm staking absolutely everything on whether the Bible is true, and this book confirmed that by so doing I'm putting all my hope into an absolutely steadfast Truth. I recommend you buy and gift this book.

Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.