Saving Truth - A Review (also on Goodreads)

Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World by Abdu Murray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having seen a video of Abdu Murray at an event in UC Berkeley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3PKL...) discussing some of the topics in this book, I was intrigued to read it. I was not disappointed.

Abdu hits the nail on the head in identifying that we live in a "post-truth" culture where personal preferences are more important than the truth. You only need to look at the posts in social media to see we "like" whatever we agree with and fill comment boxes with hateful words for whatever we dislike.

Freedom
One of the most impactful discussions in his book for me is the topic of freedom. Many focus solely on freedom from restraint, which is actually a desire for autonomy. He says:

"Simply put, focussing on freedom from restraint encourages a sort of narcissistic preoccupation on the self and the fulfillment of our desires."

To counter this, Abdu argues convincingly that true freedom is deeper than this, requiring freedom for the greater good and freedom from sin to be added to the mix in order to experience real freedom.

Human Dignity
Later chapters of the book deal with very sensitive subjects including the longest chapter which focuses on sexual identity. Abdu deals with this and all topics in a very respectful and thoughtful manner. If anyone is dealing with these issues and can hold off on their own biases for just a chapter, they will find some kind, gentle and clear discussions on the topics.

Christ Focus
Abdu is a devout follower of Christ with a strong intellect and poetic eloquence. My favorite quote of the whole book is in the last chapter and it exemplifies this well, I think:

In Jesus Christ, we have both the truth who satisfies our quest and the personality who satisfies our need for connection. He is the truth our minds seek and the person our hearts embrace. He validates facts and personal preferences without sacrificing either. His words expose the fact of our sin. The fact of his sacrifice demonstrates his unbounded love for us. And the fact of his resurrection provides us with the joy of knowing our desires can be fulfilled. There they are: joy and knowledge, feeling and fact, coupled together. Putting it all together is how we go about saving truth.

I recommend this book to all Christians who want to speak the truth in love, and to anyone who really does want to seek the truth and discuss it in respectful dialogue.

#SavingTruth and www.AbduMurray.com