Why I Believe by Dr. Henry Cloud

 Why I Believe

Why I Believe by Dr. Henry Cloud is a mix of memoir and spiritual exploration, real life miracle stories, and science-meets-faith in one book.

Why I Believe is divided into three parts--following the introduction where Dr. Cloud explains why he wrote this book. 

The first part: I Came to Believe in God is where the author shares his early years and things that happened to him that caused him to believe in God. He also shares things that were a bit of an obstacle in life for him. Like most of us in the world, Dr. Cloud experienced some life challenges that left him wondering where God was in the midst of them. In this section, he explains how he kept his faith and how he felt he heard from God at certain times in his life and how the people around him drew him to God.

The second part: How I Came to Believe in Miracles was fascinating. I am not sure I have ever really experienced some of the things like Dr, Cloud has that were miraculous. He shares ways God worked in his life that were clearly from God. At the end of the section, he makes the comment that you may not have experienced anything like this but that doesn't make your faith any less important. I like that he acknowledges this. It is one of the things I like about him--he is down to earth and relatable.

Then the third part of the book: How I Came to Believe Through Science shares scientific truths that relate to the Bible. Dr. Cloud shares why he believes the Bible can be trusted. My favorite chapter in this section is entitled, "Jesus, Please explain your followers." This chapter talks about how bad experiences with some Christians tarnish other Christians and don't reflect God well. He also addresses the issues of how a good God can allow suffering in another chapter, which is also good.

All in all, I really enjoyed Why I Believe. I have read other books by this author and read and listened to him in other avenues and always appreciated his way of communicating. I find him easy to read and understand. He is almost conversational in his writing in this book. I felt it was both interesting and compelling. This is a good book for those who are new to faith and those who have been Christians for awhile.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

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