Synopses & Reviews
Following the extraordinary success of the New York Times bestseller Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas's latest book offers inspirational and intellectually rigorous thought about the great questions surrounding us all today.
The Greek philosopher Socrates famously said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." Taking this as a starting point, Eric Metaxas founded a speaking series that encouraged busy and successful professionals to attend forums and think actively about the bigger questions in life. Thus Socrates in the City: Conversations on "Life, God, and Other Small Topics" was born.
This book is for the seeker in all of us, the collector of wisdom, and the person who asks "What if?" Within this collection of original essays that were first given to standing-room-only crowds in New York City are serious thinkers taking on Life, God, Evil, Redemption, and other small topics. Luminaries such as Dr. Francis Collins, Sir John Polkinghorne, Charles Colson, N.T. Wright, Os Guinness, Peter Kreeft, and Jean Bethke Elshatin have written about extraordinary topics vital to both secular and Christian thinking, such as "Making Sense Out of Suffering," "How Good Confronts Evil," and "Belief in God in an Age of Science." No question is too big-in fact, the bigger, the harder, the more complex, the better. These essays are both thought-provoking and entertaining, because nowhere is it written that finding answers to life's biggest questions shouldn't be exciting and even, perhaps, fun.
Review
Praise for Bonhoeffer
“Eric Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer's story with passion and theological sophistication.”
— Wall Street Journal
“Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history, and theology.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Metaxas presents a complete, accessible picture of this important figure, whose story is inspiring, instructive, and international in scope.”
— Kirkus, starred review
“Eric Metaxas has written a rich, detailed, and beautiful account of the great pastor and theologian.... Metaxas Bonhoeffer is a monumental achievement and a deeply important work.”
— Greg Thornbury, President of the King's College, New York CIty
“A captivating and inspiring read from start to finish..... Buy it. This book could change your life.”
— James N. Lane, Founder, New Canaan Society; Former General Partner, Goldman, Sachs and Co.
“Eric Metaxas Bonhoeffer is the biography for this generation. A masterpiece that reads like a great novel and weaves together in one opus an understanding of Bonhoeffers theology, the complex and tragic history of 20th century Germany, and the human struggle of a true Christian hero. Eric Metaxas is claiming his place as the preeminent biographer of Christianitys most courageous figures.”
— Martin Doblmeier, Filmmaker, Bonhoeffer
“With great skill, energy, and warmth, Metaxas reminds us why the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer stands as a rebuke both to believers and skeptics. Rarely has the story of a Christian martyr been told with such realism and depth. Its a gem of a book.”
— Joseph Loconte, Lecturer in Politics, The Kings College, New York City; Editor of The End of Illusions: Religious Leaders Confront Hitlers Gathering Storm
"Eric Metaxas has written the kind of extraordinary book that not only brings Dietrich Bonhoeffer, his times and his witness vividly alive, but also leaves us yearning to find the same moral character in ourselves. No biographer can achieve anything higher."
— Archbishop Charles Chaput in First Things Magazine
“Metaxas Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy is a modern-day classic that should be on ‘best of lists for the decade…”
— Relevant Magazine
“[A]n electrifying account of one mans stand against tyranny.”
—Human Events
Review
Praise for
Amazing Grace
"A fine and important book." -- Chicago Sun-Times
Review
Praise for Eric Metaxas and
Miracles
"[Metaxas] has taken a difficult and often controversial topic and presented it with clarity. Both erudite and intimate, Metaxas invites even the scoffer to wonder." -- Kirkus Reviews
“Miracles is the sort of book that -- once you've read it -- you'll wonder where it's been all your life.”
—Kathie Lee Gifford, Emmy-award-winning host, The Today Show
“If youre a skeptic, read this book with an open mind and you might just discover that miracles are real. If youre already a believer, be ready to be inspired.”
—Kirsten Powers, columnist for USA Today and The Daily Beast
"Alluring." -- Library Journal
"With this beautiful and moving and thoughtful new book, Eric Metaxas proves yet again to be a writer of the first order....Miracles is a cool rain of intelligent truth."
—Bret Lott, Best-selling author of Jewel; Non-fiction editor, Crazyhorse
“Take the brilliant mind of Eric Metaxas, add the provocative topic of miracles, and get ready to change the way you see reality forever.”
—Erwin Raphael McManus, Founder of MOSAIC and author, The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art
“Metaxas's Miracles mixes storytelling with logic and inspiring beauty with profound mystery. Its an intoxicating combination.”
—Patricia Heaton, Emmy-award-winning actress, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle
“In his inimitably entertaining way, Eric Metaxas shows us that it is okay to believe in a world in which God still speaks and shows up in the cosmos and the lives of people just like you. By opening this book, you'll embark upon a divine conspiracy. Are you ready?”
—Gregory Alan Thornbury, PhD, President, The King's College, New York City
“As Metaxas himself says, feel free to gulp. Reading Miracles is one of those life altering experiences.”
—Caroline Coleman, author of the novel Loving Soren
“Metaxas provides a compass for our intellect and inspires our journeys with profound miracle stories -- with his attuned humor shining throughout.”
—Makoto Fujimura, Artist and Founder, International Arts Movement (IAM)
“Eric Metaxas is like C.S. Lewis but with jokes: intelligent, spiritually profound, and full of wit. In Miracles, Metaxas himself is a testament that genius and religious faith are not mutually exclusive.”
—Susan E. Isaacs, author Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir
“Read this book to confront your doubt. Read this book to face down your fear of the afterlife. Read this book to re-enchant your humanity.”
—Owen Strachan, Author, Risky Gospel
“As a secular reader, I come to such books with a certain resistance. Metaxas won me over instantly by meeting me where I live. His intellectual honesty, coupled with an open-hearted wonder at the sheer breadth of human experience, is irresistible.”
—Christopher Noel, author, Impossible Visits
With wit and wisdom, Eric Metaxas will blow your mind with stories of phenomena beyond anything we might classify as merely natural. And he will bless your heart with what can happen in your life personally as you read stories of people (very smart people I might add) who "extra-ordinarily" encountered God's majestic purpose converging with their daily lives, stunning and humbling them forever. Are you next?”
—Emerson Eggerichs, author of 2007 ECPA Book of the Year, Love and Respect.
“A dense, edgy and awe-inspiring report on the possibility of the impossible.”
—Dr. Markus Spieker, Reporter for German National Television and bestselling author of Hollywood Cinema in Nazi Germany
“Miracles is a clarion call to any who, like Dante, have lost la speranza dell altezza. The rich variety of testimonies sing a song of hope and should rekindle in us the glorious certainly that there is a loving God, who is always there willing to help us.”
—Dame Alice von Hildebrand, author, Memoirs of a Happy Failure and The Privilege of Being a Woman
“No Christian thinker today combines reason and wit, argument and imagination, to greater effect.”
—Joseph Loconte, Associate Professor of History at the King's College, NYC and author, God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West.
"Metaxas has done it again....he presents hope for the tone deaf who cannot hear the splendor of the music of the spheres, and he brings in sunlight for modern cave dwellers who have become accustomed to only shadows on the wall of our increasingly windowless world."
—Os Guinness, author Long Journey Home
“Miracles is just what I needed to remind me to keep asking to see the miraculous."
—Joy Eggerichs, Creator, The Illumination Project, and Founder of Love and Respect Now.
“The miracles in Miracles -- and Eric's own amazing miraculous experience -- bring out the
fact that the miraculous gift of eternal life that God provides can be experienced here on earth.”
—Luis Palau, International Evangelist
Review
“A stunning collection… I can hardly think of any other single-volume anthology with such weighty, clear-headed pieces.” —
Comment MagazineReview
Praise for Eric Metaxas' Bonhoeffer:
“Eric Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer's story with passion and theological sophistication.”— Wall Street Journal
“Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history, and theology.” --Publishers Weekly
“Metaxas presents a complete, accessible picture of this important figure, whose story is inspiring, instructive, and international in scope.” — Kirkus, starred review
Synopsis
An inspiring and eye-opening exploration of the phenomenon of miracles from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer and the forthcoming Martin Luther
What are miracles, and why do so many people believe in them? What do they tell us about ourselves? And what do we do with experiences that we cannot explain?
In Miracles, Eric Metaxas offers compelling -- sometimes electrifying -- evidence that there's something real to be reckoned with, whatever one has thought of the topic before. Miracles is also a timely, thoughtful, and civil answer to the books of the -New Atheists- -- Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris -- who have passionately asserted not just the impossibility of miracles and the supernatural, but the outright harmfulness of belief in them.
Metaxas -- whom ABC News has called a -witty ambassador for faith- -- provides the measured and wide-ranging treatment the subject deserves, from serious discussion of the compatibility between faith and science to astonishing but well-documented stories of actual miracles from people he knows.
A more current, anecdotal, and personal version of C. S. Lewis's 1947 book on the subject, Miracles is a powerfully winsome challenge that miracles are not only possible but are far more widespread than most of us ever might have imagined.
Synopsis
The definitive book on miracles from the New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas.
What are miracles, and why do we believe in them? Is it for comfort, to explain the inexplicable, or do we simply long for a connection with something larger than ourselves? And why do some people dismiss them out of hand, as if they can never happen?
What Heaven is for Real did for near-death experiences, Miracles does for the miraculousprovides undeniably compelling evidence that theres something real
to be reckoned with, whatever one has thought of this topic before. It provides a wide range of real stories of the miraculous and will engage the reader in the serious
discussion that this fascinating and rich subject deserves.
Miracles is in some ways a more personal, anecdotal, and updated version of C. S. Lewiss 1947 book on the subject. Metaxass Miracles is an exploration and an
exhortation to view miracles as not only possible, but as far more widespread than most of us had ever imagined.
Eric Metaxas says it is not a question of whether miracles happenthe evidence that they do is overwhelming in this book alonebut rather, what exactly are
miracles, why do they happen, and how can we to understand them in our own lives?
Synopsis
An inspiring and eye-opening exploration of the phenomenon of miracles from the New York Times #1 bestselling author of Bonhoeffer.
What are miracles, and why do so many people believe in them? What do they tell us about ourselves? And what do we do with experiences that we cannot explain?
In Miracles, Eric Metaxas offers compelling -- sometimes electrifying -- evidence that theres something real to be reckoned with, whatever one has thought of the topic before. Miracles is also a timely, thoughtful, and civil answer to the books of the "New Atheists" -- Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris -- who have passionately asserted not just the impossibility of miracles and the supernatural, but the outright harmfulness of belief in them.
Metaxas -- whom ABC News has called a "witty ambassador for faith" -- provides the measured and wide-ranging treatment the subject deserves, from serious discussion of the compatibility between faith and science to astonishing but well-documented stories of actual miracles from people he knows.
A more current, anecdotal, and personal version of C. S. Lewiss 1947 book on the subject, Miracles is a powerfully winsome challenge that miracles are not only possible but are far more widespread than most of us ever might have imagined.
Synopsis
This book is for the seeker in all of us, the collector of wisdom, and the person who asks, What if?” from the author of
Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness
The Greek philosopher Socrates famously said that the unexamined life is not worth living.” Using this as a starting point, Eric Metaxas created a forum encouraging successful professionals to actively think about lifes bigger questions. Thus, Socrates in the City was born.
First presented to standing-room-only crowds in New York City and written by luminaries such as Dr. Francis Collins, Sir John Polkinghorne, and Os Guinness, these original essays grapple with extraordinary topics from Making Sense out of Suffering” to Belief in God in an Age of Science.” No question is too bigin fact, the bigger, the betterbecause nowhere is it written that finding the answers to lifes biggest questions shouldnt be exciting and even, perhaps, fun.
Synopsis
The #1 bestselling author of Bonhoeffer explores miracles in an inspiring response to the New Atheists”
Not since C. S. Lewis in 1947 has an author of Eric Metaxass stature undertaken a major exploration of the phenomenon of miracles. In this groundbreaking work, Metaxas examines the compatibility between faith and science and provides well-documented anecdotal evidence of actual miracles. With compellingsometimes electrifyingevidence that there is something real to be reckoned with, Metaxas offers a timely, civil, and thoughtful answer to recent books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris. Already a New York Times bestseller, Miracles will be welcomed by both believers and skepticswho will find their minds opening to the possibilities.
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Vatican Diaries, a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the Vatican investigates claims of miraculous events Apocalyptic prophecies and miraculous apparitions are headline-grabbing events that often put the Catholic Churchand#8217;s doctrine of and#147;rational faithand#8221; at odds with the passion of its more zealous followers. To some, these claims teeter on the edge of absurdity. Others see them as evidence of a private connection with God. For the Vatican, the issue is much more nuanced as each supposed miraculous event could have serious theological and political consequences. In response, the Vatican has developed a highly secretive and complex evaluation system to judge the authenticity of supernatural phenomena.
and#160;
Former journalist John Thavis uses his thirty yearsand#8217; experience covering the Vatican to shed light on this little-known process, revealing deep internal debates on the power of religious relics, private revelations, exorcisms, and more. Enlightening and accessible to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, the book illustrates the Churchand#8217;s struggle to balance the tension between traditional beliefs and contemporary skepticism.and#160;
About the Author
Eric Metaxas is the
New York Times #1 bestselling author of
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and the acclaimed
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, ("spectacular*... a crackling bonfire of truth and clarity.**"). His books have been translated into over 20 languages. After graduating Yale with an English degree, he published humor in the
New York Times and the
Atlantic and was a writer for Rabbit Ears Productions and VeggieTales. He has written over thirty childrens books, including the best-sellers,
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving and
Its Time to Sleep, My Love, illustrated by Nancy Tillman. Metaxas speaks to tens of thousands around the United States and internationally each year. He was the keynote speaker at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast and at the 2013 Canadian National Prayer Breakfast, and he has testified before Congress on anti-Semitism in Europe. Metaxas is the founder and host of Socrates in the City, the acclaimed series of conversations on "Life, God, and other small topics," featuring Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Francis Collins, N.T. Wright, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Dick Cavett, and Sir John Polkinghorne, among many others. He is a senior fellow and lecturer-at-large at The Kings College in New York City, where he lives with his wife and daughter. You can visit his website at
www.ericmetaxas.com.
* The Christian Century
** Books and Culture