Seven Reasons to (Re)Consider Christianity - Paperback

What If Christianity Deserves a Closer Look?

For many people, Christianity is something they grew up around and moved past. A childhood story. A cultural tradition. Something their grandparents believed. Not something a thinking, modern person takes seriously.

Ben Shaw used to think that too. He was raised in a non-Christian home, held many of the common objections to faith, and had every reason to stay exactly where he was. But then he started investigating — and what he found surprised him.

Seven Reasons to (Re)Consider Christianity is his invitation to do the same. Not to be pressured into belief. Not to be told what to think. Simply to consider — honestly, openly, and on your own terms — whether Christianity might be worth taking more seriously than you have.

About This Book

Published by The Good Book Company, Seven Reasons to (Re)Consider Christianity is a warm, accessible, and intellectually honest book written specifically for people outside the Christian faith — or for those on the edges of it who have drifted away and are not sure why they ever believed, or whether they want to again.

Ben Shaw is not writing as a detached academic. He is writing as someone who came to faith from outside it and who understands, from personal experience, what it feels like to find Christianity implausible, irrelevant, or simply uninteresting. His tone is conversational, empathetic, and entirely free of the pressure and condescension that put so many people off religious books. He does not claim to have all the answers — he simply asks readers to consider whether the questions deserve a more serious hearing than they may have given them.

Reviewers have noted that unlike typical apologetics books that rehash standard arguments and hand readers “The Answer,” Shaw focuses on why Christianity is worth testing — making it a genuine invitation rather than a persuasion exercise. The key word throughout is consider.

The Seven Reasons — What the Book Argues

1. It’s worth thinking through what life is really all about Before examining Christianity specifically, Shaw invites readers to take seriously the big questions that most of us quietly shelve: What is life for? Why does anything matter? What kind of story are we living in? He argues that these questions deserve honest engagement — and that Christianity has more to offer here than most people expect.

2. Christianity is a lot more intellectual than you might think One of the most common dismissals of Christianity is that it requires you to switch off your brain. Shaw pushes back, showing that some of the greatest thinkers in history have been committed Christians, and that the faith has a rich intellectual tradition that engages seriously with philosophy, history, and science.

3. The historical evidence for Jesus is stronger than you realise Shaw addresses the question of Jesus’ historical existence and the reliability of the Gospel accounts — including the broad academic consensus that Jesus was a real historical figure, the significance of multiple ancient manuscript sources, and the way the Gospel narratives contain specific, verifiable details that point to eyewitness testimony.

4. The resurrection is worth investigating seriously The resurrection is the hinge of the Christian faith — if it happened, everything changes; if it did not, nothing much is lost. Shaw presents the historical case for the resurrection as a serious intellectual matter deserving honest investigation, rather than a claim to be dismissed without consideration.

5. Christianity offers a compelling explanation for why the world is broken Most worldviews struggle to account for the simultaneous reality of beauty and horror in human experience. Shaw shows how the Christian understanding of creation, fall, and redemption offers a coherent account of why the world is not what it should be — and why that matters.

6. The gospel is more wonderful than you may have been told Many people’s objections to Christianity are actually objections to a distorted version of it. Shaw shows what the Christian message actually is — not a set of rules to follow, but an offer of relationship with the God who made us and rescue from what has gone wrong in us.

7. If Jesus really rose from the dead, it would confirm everything Shaw closes with the resurrection as the pivot point of the whole book: it would confirm who Jesus claimed to be, and confirm what he said about why he came. This final reason ties the whole investigation together and leaves the reader with the most important question they can ask.

What Readers Will Learn

• Why the big questions about life, meaning, and purpose deserve more than dismissal
• How to engage seriously with the historical evidence for Jesus and the resurrection
• Why the standard objections to Christianity — it’s anti-intellectual, historically unreliable, morally restrictive — deserve a more careful hearing
• What Christianity actually teaches, as opposed to the distorted versions that are easy to reject
• How the Christian story of creation, fall, and redemption answers questions that other worldviews struggle to address
• Why the resurrection is the central question — and what is at stake in answering it
• Where to go next if this book raises more questions than it answers

Who Should Read This Book

Sceptics and non-Christians who are open to thinking seriously about whether Christianity might be true — especially those who grew up outside the faith and have never given it a fair examination.

Lapsed or nominal Christians who once believed, have drifted, and are not sure what they think anymore — this book is written with them in mind as much as anyone.

Christians who want a book to give away — to a friend, colleague, family member, or neighbour who is curious but dismissive. At a slim, accessible length with no evangelical jargon, this is one of the most naturally giveable apologetics books available.

Teenagers and young adults navigating questions about faith in a secular environment will find Shaw’s honest, non-pressuring approach exactly the kind of engagement they are looking for.

Pastors and evangelists looking for a trustworthy resource to place in the hands of enquirers before an Alpha course, Christianity Explored, or a gospel conversation.

About the Author — Ben Shaw

Ben Shaw grew up in a non-Christian home and came to faith after grappling seriously with the questions this book explores. He works for The Good Book Company and is the author of several accessible books for seekers and new believers. He writes with the warmth and empathy of someone who has stood on both sides of the conversation — and who understands exactly what it feels like to find Christianity worth reconsidering.