Fool’s Talk

Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion

By: Os Guinness

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

In the post-Christian context, public life has become markedly more secular and private life infinitely more diverse. Yet many Christians still rely on cookie-cutter approaches to evangelism and apologetics. Most of these methods assume that people are open to, interested in, and needy for spiritual insight when increasingly most people are not. The urgent need, then, is the capacity to persuade - to make a convincing case for the Gospel to people who are not interested in it.

In his magnum opus, Os Guinness offers a comprehensive presentation of the art and power of creative persuasion. Christians have often relied on proclaiming and preaching, protesting and picketing, but are strikingly weak in persuasion - the ability to talk to people who are closed to what is being said. Actual persuasion requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach. Guinness notes, "Jesus never spoke to two people the same way, and neither should we."

Following the tradition of Erasmus, Pascal, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge, and Peter Berger, Guinness demonstrates how apologetic persuasion requires both the rational and the imaginative. Persuasion is subversive, turning the tables on listeners' assumptions to surprise them with signals of transcendence and the credibility of the Gospel.

This book is the fruit of 40 years of thinking, honed in countless talks and discussions at many of the leading universities and intellectual centers of the world. Discover afresh the persuasive power of Christian witness from one of the leading apologists and thinkers of the era.

©2015 Os Guinness (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Powerful and timely

Insightful in so many ways. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to know why much of our evangelism and apologetics might be ineffective.

Different voices?

I was really looking forward to getting deep into this topic but right from the start this audio book seemed replete with distractions.

The reading of the text was clear and understandable however, when ever a quotation involved someone of a particular national heritage the narrator would switch between a multitude of dialects. On one hand, performance wise it's impressive, on the other hand it's quite distracting while in the midst of comprehending and synthesizing together abstract concepts.

The other distraction was that there were literally two narrators at different parts of the book. I couldn't quite understand why or if there was some logical reasoning for it. But the beginning introductions up through the first chapter was the most confusing in this respect . After which the reading remained with just one narrator.

Over all, I thought the writing seemed a bit strained with way too much repetition of key phrases. I always appreciated the problems that the author identifies with many approaches to apologetics and kept waiting for a practical solution. In the end, the journey may have had its effect, I think, but I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied. Not a true bait and switch but the conclusions didn't really justify the verbosity. Still I would recommend it because I think more Christians need to learn the lessons found in the book.

Great and helpful!

I think this is a very timely book that is approached with humility and strength. I found it highly profitable for my ministry. I think any Christian out there need to listen to this book.

GREAT CONTENT...EXTREMELY ANNOYING READ

There are undoubtedly audio books where the use of different voices by one reader enhances the content. This is sadly not one of them. While the half-hearted attempts to “speak” in the national accents of the quoted authors is both distracting and irritating...this approach - for a Christian listener - is downright blasphemous when the reader assumes an accent for Almighty God. What on earth was Os thinking? Such an exceptional thinker...with truly refreshing insights on modern apologetics... undermines the entire thrust of his argument about the JUDICIOUS use of humour or drama by displaying remarkably poor judgment in this regard.

EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS

Put this at the top of your list. Os Guinness presents a wealth of wisdom here from many years of deep thinking, broad reading, and fruitful ministry. Be prepared to be challenged and provoked to change and grow.

Note: As a bonus, his style is thoroughly enjoyable and the narrator/reader is excellent.

Thought provoking

Thought provoking nuggets in each and every chapter. A must listen for searchers and believers alike!

Some good points but too verbose

Despite numerous good points here and there, it often kept going on without getting to the point. I appreciate that the author is trying to reason with the listener/reader without always imposing his own point of view, but at times it would have been easier to get to the point, make it absolutely clear and then elaborate from there.

Definitely a good read overall, I recommend it.

Great book about Christian persuasion.

Great book book about Christian apologetics and persuasion. very biblical and engaging! it is worth the read.

Logical explanation of steps of faith in Christ

After listening to this audiobook, I have a better understanding of how to approach the topic of faith with others in their various stages.

Os Guinness's book Fool's Talk was such a surprise

I had heard Os Guinness's name referenced in so many books, and seen him quoted or summarized in most of those, so I had (hilariously!) assumed he was perhaps one of The Inklings, or before. I was re-reading C.S.Lewis's God in the Dock and - perhaps because of a Google algorithm, or perhaps The Great Choreographer? - I ended up facing the electronic offer of Fool's Talk by Os Guinness at a temporary discount too good to turn down. "Sure! I've always wondered about him, and would like to have one of his books in my "Read" list. Why not?"

Nearly immediately I realized Os Guinness was a contemporary of *mine*, not of Lewis, talking about how sharing our faith with young people in our modern age are so much the same in their need, yet so very different than in my own Life Cohort. In fact, where I almost immediately was arrested was that he was quoting from God in the Dock! - in the introductory passages! I laughed out loud at the unlikeliness, and at the sometimes humorous Choreography at work!

I learned so much, yet, at the conclusion, felt like reading it straight through again, cover-to-cover, to plumb its depths and maybe settle some of it into the shifting sand of my long-term memory!

Then the conclusion... oh, yes!... that everyone has a different story and is in a different place, so we need to have, and try, all those tools, but that the greatest of these, and the mightiest, is love. Loving Jesus, loving our neighbor, loving the people God brings our way, being interested in each one's story, never compromising Truth, but always speaking it with grace and love. Because our love for God and His Son and His Word, and our neighbor... that's the point of the whole caboodle. We can encourage, entice, listen, But only the Holy Spirit can bring them through the Gate to His Kingdom.

Good book!! I got bogged down sometimes in the details and minutia, but it was all valuable in the end. But that conclusion!

a mighty modern tome

Os makes a great case for the Church to be so loving and persuasive to a world that doesn't want to hear it.

Thanks. It made me think

Thanks this was a good book with lots to think about. Os Guinness is thoughtful and provoking lots of thought.