Tag: Benjamin Wiker

Deeper Waters Podcast: 10/19/2013 Benjamin Wiker

What’s coming up on tomorrow’s episode of the Deeper Waters Podcast? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters.

A few years ago when living in Charlotte, my roommate gave me a copy that I had been looking at in a bookstore. It could have been a coincidence for all I know for I never mentioned my interest to anyone, but he got the book for me for my birthday. It was a book called “Ten Books That Screwed Up The World And Five Others That Didn’t Help” by Benjamin Wiker.

At that point, Wiker became a favorite writer of mine, even though we do not agree on everything, I find his style engaging and witty and he is the kind of author who I find just “Tells it like it is”, a quality that I admire in a writer.

So when it came to finding guests for my show, I thought that I should get in touch with Wiker, who I had spoken to after an apologetics conference one year. (I could also point out that this was an apologetics conference that I made the suggestion to the guy heading it up to get him)

Wiker agreed to come on the show and suggested that the best topic of discussion would be a book that he had written recently called “How To Think About God On A Plane.” Readers of Deeper Waters should recognize that name. I blogged on that book not too long ago as you can see here.

I certainly encourage you to tune in to this show to get to hear Wiker for yourself and even beyond this book, recommend you check out his other books. (I’m still itching to read the one about 10 books that every conservative must read.) The purpose of the plane book is, as the blog says, to give you something that you can read in a short time and be able to use to talk with the person sitting next to you.

And ironically, the show could last longer than the plane flight itself or even longer than it would take you to read the book.

Wiker in this book has interacted with religious claims and biblical claims (Somewhat. The book focuses more on natural theology rather than making a case for YHWH or the Trinity specifically) and philosophical claims and scientific claims. Despite its short length, it also packs within it a powerful argument. As we discuss the book on the show we will get insights into the nature of the history of science and religion and the philosophical perspectives that have helped shape the debate and reached a conclusion that we could reach in the time of a plane flight, that God does indeed exist.

I hope that you’ll also be wanting to come along for the ride on this journey. The show will be airing from 3-5 PM EST on Saturday, October 19th. The call in number if you want to ask Dr. Wiker a question yourself is 714-242-5180. The link can be found here.

Enjoy your flight!

In Christ,
Nick Peters

Book Plunge: How To Think About God On A Plane

What do I think about Benjamin Wiker’s book? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters.

Benjamin Wiker has been a favorite author of mine ever since my best man years ago on my birthday gave me a copy of “Ten Books That Screwed Up The World And Five Others That Didn’t Help.” Wiker’s latest work is an incredibly short one, but don’t confuse size with lack of power. This is an excellent work that serves its purpose.

The whole idea of this book is to be part of a series that is meant to be read while on a plane and while getting ready to board and leave a plane. (Okay. To be fair, it’d probably need a 1,000 pages in today’s system to be able to encompass all that time.) Wiker wants to see you reading something meaty on the flight and who knows, maybe something the person next to you will want to talk about.

Now if you’re a Grammar Nazi looking at the title of this book, you’re internally going berserk thinking about a dangling modifier. You will be amused to know that this is where Wiker because this is where the book begins. Are we on the plane thinking about God, or are we thinking about the possibility of God being on a plane, or is it both?

Wiker goes from there to the different ways religions view God including how the Christian can think about God being on a plane and not in the sense of omniscience! It’s a truly fascinating look! The work goes on at that point in more of a kind of stream-of-consciousness thinking.

There won’t be interaction with much Scripture in here. Wiker’s book is largely about simple reasoning and not doing a full examination of the Bible or the Koran or Book of Mormon or any other work that a religious group deems sacred. It’s more natural revelation, although it does include general ideas about major world religions.

Within the book, there is also interaction with the ideas of atheism and for such a short work, Wiker does make a very strong argument. Quite amusing to readers should be his sections on the interaction between science and religion, including a look at the astounding hypothesis of Francis Crick.

The read is definitely a short read so it could feasibly be read on a plane ride. I had finished the book within one-two hours of reading time. The steady stream will engage the reader in a conversation with Wiker and is easily accessible to any reader out there.

I conclude that this is definitely a good book that would be worth having with you on a plane ride. This is the kind of meat that people should be spending more time reading and it could be that something like this could in fact be a great conversation starter. After all, when you talk about God on a plane with someone next to you, it’s not like they have much option on where else to go. Not only that, the book has some excellent humor thrown in that will keep the reader amused.

If you have a flight to go on soon, get a copy of this book. You won’t be disappointed.

In Christ,
Nick Peters