QUESTIONS ANSWERED INCLUDE…
- How can I be sure I have eternal life?
- Is the Bible consistent with the findings of cutting edge, secular science?
- Was there really a man named Jesus, or is he just a myth?
- And even if he did exist, aren’t the events of Jesus’ life and his teachings as described in the New Testament merely fabrications of the earliest Christians?
- Does the historical evidence support the claim that Jesus rose from the dead?
- To understand who Jesus really was, why shouldn’t we consider other documents outside the Bible, such as the Gnostic gospels?
- Why were some documents excluded from the New Testament?
- Did Jesus really claim to be God, or did the earliest Christians just want to believe that?
- Is the Old Testament still relevant? Does it really point to Jesus hundreds to thousands of years before he lived?
- How does the salvation by grace of Christianity differ from the salvation by works of all other religions?
- Why can’t I just believe in the Jesus that I like the best?
THE BOOK
- How can I be sure I have eternal life?
- Is the Bible consistent with the findings of cutting edge, secular science?
- Was there really a man named Jesus, or is he just a myth?
- And even if he did exist, aren’t the events of Jesus’ life and his teachings as described in the New Testament merely fabrications of the earliest Christians?
- Does the historical evidence support the claim that Jesus rose from the dead?
- To understand who Jesus really was, why shouldn’t we consider other documents outside the Bible, such as the Gnostic gospels?
- Why were some documents excluded from the New Testament?
- Did Jesus really claim to be God, or did the earliest Christians just want to believe that?
- Is the Old Testament still relevant? Does it really point to Jesus hundreds to thousands of years before he lived?
- How does the salvation by grace of Christianity differ from the salvation by works of all other religions?
- Why can’t I just believe in the Jesus that I like the best?
THE AUTHOR
A FORMER ATHEIST, VAN DEN HERIK CAME TO FAITH IN CHRIST IN 1998.
A. L. van den Herik graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a degree in Biological Sciences in 1990 and also earned an MBA from UC Berkeley in 1995 and was elected to membership in the Gamma Beta Sigma honor society.
The culmination of more than 20 years of research, The Shortest Leap is the book that van den Herik prays today’s atheistic students at Stanford (and elsewhere!) would be willing to read.
FAQ’s
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The main purpose of the book is to summarize the extensive evidence for God’s existence all in one place. God reveals Himself to His people through a plethora of scientific, historic, biblical, and explanatory evidence, but it is often drowned out by the busyness and noise of the world. The book puts this evidence, in an organized and succinct form, literally in your hands (unless you read the electronic version, of course!).
This is a very difficult question! I really don’t have a favorite, but I must say that I love the chapters on the scientific evidence because I love science. Unfortunately, they may not be the favorites for those of you who don’t like science, but hey, you’ll get through it (I tried to make it as easy as possible to understand!). I also love the chapters on the evidence for the resurrection, and I often read those chapters on days when I am experiencing grief over the loss of a loved one. But if I had to choose ONE chapter, it would probably be the chapter that talks about the uniqueness of the Gospel, the good news that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less, that we are saved by sheer grace through the finished work of Jesus. It is such a beautiful message because it puts human pride to death and it lifts the brokenhearted (all of us), who otherwise would never be able to “earn” their way into God’s favor.
The Shortest Leap has been translated into Arabic, Chichewa, Indonesian, Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian, and is currently being translated into Chinese, German, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. The Arabic and Indonesian versions will be available for purchase soon!
Please join with me in praying that the book is spread far and wide, and that God uses it to open the eyes of those who formerly believed faith in Jesus is irrational.