A Critical Prð"©cis of "the Mystery of Persons and Belief in God by C. S

A Critical PrÐ"©cis of "The Mystery of Persons and Belief in God by C. Stephen Evans

1. Name of author, title, appropriate publishing information, followed by a verb such as argues, believes, reports, and finally a "that clause containing the author's thesis or major assertion.

In "The Mystery of Persons and Belief in God" from the web site http://www.orgins.org/articles/evans_mysterypersons.html, C. Stephen Evans asserts that if we examine human nature and desires with a Christian mindset, we will discover good reasons for believing in God.

2. A brief explanation (one paragraph or less) how the author supports and develops his or her thesis.

Mankind's evil deeds point to our greatness, for only a creature with self-consciousness and freedom can be truly evil. We are created in the image of God and we were created to enjoy a special relationship with God. We possess imagination and the power of reflective choice. We are creative beings with the power of free choice because we were made in the likeness of the Person who created the whole of nature by a free choice. Many people use this power of choice in terrible ways. This does not mean human freedom is an illusion; rather that God takes our freedom so seriously that he allows our actions to produce their full consequences. Down through the ages we have been incurably religious. The urge to believe in and worship a higher power is present in virtually every human culture. The fact that we have a deep need to believe in and find God strongly suggests that God is real.

3. A sentence stating the author's purpose for writing.

Evans is trying to convince the reader that humans were created with the need for God causing us to believe in and worship God hence God is real.

4. A sentence identifying the author's audience.

Christian-minded believers of God who are seeking proof of God's existence.

5. Your evaluation of what the author wrote (no more than three paragraphs).

I found Evans' arguments inadequate proof of the existence of God. Throughout the article the term "if Christianity is trueÐ'..."