Jared Wilson’s newest book, Unparalleled: How Christianity’s Uniqueness Makes It Compelling, is a welcome contribution to the growing need of Christian apologetics for the “true post-evangelical, post-Christendom spiritual wilderness” in which we now live (13).
Wilson, director of content strategy at Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, admits that America brims with the “spiritual but not religious” who have bought into intellectually sophisticated arguments of New Atheists. Nonetheless, Christianity is at a great advantage in this context: Christianity isn’t only true; it’s also compelling and unique. Wilson challenges us to not play the language games of New Atheists; instead, we ought to recall that “Christianity has never made converts primarily by winning arguments but rather by capturing hearts” and “Christianity’s utter uniqueness makes it utterly compelling” (18, 19).
Real Encounters
Each chapter of Unparalleled tells a story as it defends a claim. Wilson situates the questions people ask about the real God they doubt or ignore into real encounters.
We learn about a Muslim cab driver who can’t understand why the Christian God is not like any other (ch. 1). We’re confronted with human fallenness when Wilson introduces us to the “unbalanced” employer who was a swell boss but a deadbeat ex-husband (ch. 4). We encounter an engaged couple, whose groom-to-be can’t accept the historical evidence of Christ’s death and resurrection (ch. 7). We meet a debased businessman who morphs into a benevolent do-gooder upon discovering Wilson’s pastoral occupation (ch. 8).
These aren’t success stories of how to “get people saved.” More often than not, we’re left wondering what might come from these conversations. Instead, the stories are drips of faithful gospel proclamation to the lost.
Compelling Logic, Telling Stats
A solid apologetic, however, can’t be built on gripping stories alone. Wilson provides ample evidence to bolster your faith and, perhaps, convince skeptics to appropriate the Christian faith for themselves. Most of this evidence is built on the coherence of Scripture.
For instance, while demonstrating that Jews and Christians don’t worship the same God, Wilson takes readers to Jesus’s words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Wilson shows that Jesus asserts pre-existence, eternality, and omnipresence, while also claiming divinity. Then, responding to Jesus’s discourse (John 8:39–47), Wilson highlights the logical conundrum that confronts faithful Jewish people:
Unparalleled: How Christianity's Uniqueness Makes It Compelling
Jared C. Wilson
Unparalleled: How Christianity's Uniqueness Makes It Compelling
Jared C. Wilson
Jesus is saying that if somebody worshiped the true God they would worship him, because he is of the same nature as the true God. And he is saying that if anyone rejects him they reject the one true God. (38)
This is just one example of many strong arguments we encounter in Unparalleled.
Though not jam-packed with statistical research, the book contains effective facts and figures. In chapter 5, Wilson discusses how Jesus is more than a good teacher and recounts New England’s quiet revival. Since 1970, though the general population of Boston has declined, the number of churches has doubled, resulting in evangelical church growth up to 20 percent. Meanwhile, “theologically progressive” mainline churches have continued to decline. Wilson suggests that the different response to “orthodox evangelicals” is largely due to how they “draw a line in the sand” (131). Jesus’s claims of exclusivity speak to people’s deepest spiritual and emotional needs: “Only the exclusive Jesus provides this kind of security” (133).
Message that Moves
Wilson also contends that Christian mission is both worship and warfare. Mission is “not about payback; it’s about praise,” nor are good works “about earning but about delighting” (201). We’re meant to pick up where Adam and Eve failed; united to the last Adam, Jesus Christ, we “take dominion” by engaging in spiritual warfare. Further, Wilson observes that “nobody out-serves or out-gives Christians worldwide” (196). Needless to say, this is a powerful apologetic.
Unparalleled provides a message that moves. Wilson’s aim isn’t for us to shelve another good book without putting it into action. He labors to spur us past the threshold of inaction to the point where we engage in kingdom work.
I encourage you to pick up a copy of Unparalleled. Don’t just put it in a skeptic’s hand—though that’s a great idea—but be moved to action yourself by Christ’s matchless message.
