Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Book Critique
of
A Paper
In Partial Fulfillment
Contemporary Evangelism
EVAN 565
By
R. Clay Hardwick
21 November 2010
!
William ³Bill´ Fay is a well-recognized evangelist because of his popular selling book,
. His passion is to see others come to Christ just as he did. In the back
of the book is a more detailed explanation of his testimony. His past is uncommon and varied
Bill Fay was raised in a wealthy family and he became very ambitious as he got older. At
the age of sixteen, he became sexually involved and got a girl pregnant. He married the girl but
it did not last. He became very interested in gambling in his college years and this led him into
involvement with organized crime. His good luck in gambling brought him into a craving for
³power and money´ which led him to more ambitious goals and greed. He soon became a CEO
of a multinational corporation in Denver, Colorado. He wasn¶t off to a bad start when the police
investigated his Fantasy Island enterprise in Lakewood, Colorado. This led to his arrest for
running a house of prostitution. He lost his job as CEO, went to jail, and was soon out on
probation.
As Bill went on to pursue success again at whatever cost, God placed people in his path.
He heard a Pastor, Bob Foster, preach a convicting sermon on Easter Sunday while he was on
vacation at a Colorado ranch. The words of his message really left an imprint on him about
³inner peace´. Influence from his friends, Paul and Kathy Grant were also causing him to pause
and think about his place in the world. A major turning point occurred when he was arrested for
a prostitution charge that ended up with a more severe conviction because of a probation
violation. With the pressure of a lengthy prison term, Bill became very depressed and suicidal.
He was looking to find answers and peace for all his troubles. With nowhere else to go, he went
to see a Pastor at the request of his wife and on March 4, 1981 he found a new relationship with
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Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. After accepting Christ, Fay became effective in
communicating the gospel to others. He later graduated from Denver Seminary and he now
2
The table of contents provides a good structure for the overall content of the book, as you
author was most concerned for his readers to learn. Fay starts out with an emphasis on the
concept of obedience. One soon realizes that it is important for Christians to be obedient to the
great commission. Next, he moves onto to a very big point, ³Don¶t be silent about your faith´.
If Christians remain silent about their faith, it is a sin. People are uncomfortable about making
conversation about their faith and they choose to be silent but this is not what the Lord intended.
Much of the time, this silence is because they don¶t know what questions are appropriate to ask.
Fay outlines the ³Share Jesus´ questions. These questions are meant to help a person ask the
critical questions that move a person toward a presentation of the gospel. With any type of
matters as they relate to the bible, therefore objections are highly likely. Fay gives plenty of
attention to these objections while also stressing the importance of prayer. He caps off the book
with strong encouragement to follow the call of evangelical ministry and share the gospel,
What are the main take away points from Fays Book? In the first few chapters, Fay
makes the point that anyone who shares their faith with others has succeeded in being obedient to
the Christian call placed on their life. Fay doesn¶t want people to miss the fact that a
conversation with a focus on the gospel is never a failure. Often, the results may seem
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dependent on the skill of the Christian but as Fay makes clear, the result of any conversion is
dependent on the Holy Spirit. In chapter two, a key point is made about the ³sin of silence´. 1 It
is described in a way that should get the reader to take notice of how they are not living in God¶s
will when they consciously choose to not share their faith and remain silent. Six common
reasons (i.e., I don¶t know how, I¶m afraid of being rejected, etc.) of why a person doesn¶t share
their faith are explained and then refuted. In Chapter 4, the central point is to get a conversation
focused on spiritual matters and then the gospel. Fay discusses the five ³share Jesus questions´,
which he uses as a funnel to lead into a discussion about Christ.2 This gives way to a discussion
of the power of Scripture, and seven verses specifically chosen for the non-Christian to read and
respond to, requiring little action on the part of the person sharing other than simply to lead the
conversation down a predetermined path. In Chapter 8, the point is to make Christians think
about how non-believers process information related to spiritual matters, the bible, and Jesus.
Fay lists 36 different objections and deals with each one individually. Following that is a chapter
on how to develop and keep non-Christian friends, what Fay calls ³lifestyle evangelism´. 3 The
importance of prayer is discussed, including praying before sharing, and keeping a list of all of
those who the Christian is praying for. In Chapter 11, the point is to encourage all Christians to
share their faith built on the training they have received from reading the book. The call to
evangelize is a serious call and Christians are responsible to make disciples as God guides them.
All of these points are covered with plenty of explanation that most readers can be clear about
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cWilliam Fay,
(Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman &
Holman Publishers, 1999), 6.c
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cIbid, 33.c
3
Ibid, 126.
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What really jumps out and sticks with the reader audience of Fay¶s book is the title itself,
One has to admit that the title hits to the core of what many
contemporary Christians struggle with---the fear of rejection. Obviously, Fay understands that
people are fearful of being rejected when they share their testimony or probe others about their
thoughts about Christian faith and Jesus. It is the main goal of Fay¶s book to help people learn
how to overcome the fear of rejection and failure and to put more faith in the witness of the Holy
Does the author accomplish his goal to help others see how to overcome their fear of
rejection or failure in sharing their faith? Yes, he does accomplish his goal. He provides good
descriptions of how to initiate a spiritual conversation, how to handle common objections, how
to present the gospel clearly, how to pray, and how to trust in the Holy Spirit. The language is
written on a ninth-grade level where the reader can follow along easily and there is sufficient
content on the key points (how to ask question, present the gospel, etc.) that one should feel more
equipped and prepared than they did before they started reading the book.
The book was published in 1999 which means some years have passed and culture has
changed a little since then. The structure or conversation flow that Fay discusses is still relevant
today but the ³Share Jesus Questions´ are in need of updating. Fay was obviously having a good
effect with his five questions when he wrote the book but if you were to ask him today what
questions he is using, there is some likelihood that he would say they have changed some.
Atheists and agnostics are still in the minority in most countries but there has been a rise in the
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numbers of atheists in certain regions around the United States.4 It is wise to assume in a
spiritual conversation that a person may be agnostic. At the time of the writing of this book, it
was probably more common for people to have responded to the 1st of the five ³Share Jesus´
questions with an answer of ³yes, I believe in higher power or I am a [insert religion]´ but in the
last 10 years, postmodernism has become more common and people look less to religion for
answers and therefore they don¶t identify with it as much. A direct question about a person¶s
belief in a deity seems necessary but it shouldn¶t be asked right up front as this could be
offensive. A good bridge question that might be considered is ³Do you think it really matters
what we believe?´ and then it may not be too hard to assess if they hold a belief in God, but if it
is hard to assess the evangelist should ask a clarifying question about their spiritual beliefs.
Asking good questions and listening are stressed throughout Fay¶s book but in many
places there could be more commentary discussing the importance of ³authenticity´. There are
very good explanations in the chapters of how to transition from one step to the next in
conversation but as a person reads through the steps (for questions or listening), they may get
focused too much on a technique at the expense of being authentic. No one wants to come
across as a slick salesperson when they are presenting the gospel but if one reads Fay¶s book
rapidly or incompletely, they are likely only to see a ³method´ and not the manner of approach.
Fay did not write his book in such a way that the reader is totally confused about being authentic,
honest, and loving in an evangelistic conversation but some of his chapters could have allowed
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cAmerican Religious Identification Survey 2008, ³ARIS 2008 Report: Part IA ± Belonging,´
http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/p1a_belong.html.
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As good as it was to include many of the popular objections that are put against the
Christian faith, the answers that Fay provides are not always sufficient and practical for all
readers to apply in their own circumstances. The content of chapter 8 was necessary but it could
have included a statement about how the answers were not universal or comprehensive for all
persons in all circumstances. Also, the chapter could have been condensed to include only the
most popular objections and the rest could have been placed in an appendix. Scholarly citations
are not common to book of this type but in regards to some of the objections, citations would be
most appropriate (e.g. ³Objection: there are many religions in the world´ could have used a
reference to a popular Christian apologetics author like Ravi Zacharias). Citations or references
are very resourceful to intellectual objections. They are not so critical to objections of a
Even though there are some shortcomings with Fay¶s book, it still remains a very good
resource and practical book for any Christian to own. The content is easy to read, there is a good
foundational framework to work from, the author writes from personal experience, and the
conversation methods described are easy to comprehend and apply. This book should remain a
recommendation for any Christian who struggles with nervousness or fear to share their faith.
u
American Religious Identification Survey 2008. ³ARIS 2008 Report: Part IA ± Belonging.´
http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-
ARIS/reports/p1a_belong.html.
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