Book Review: Ask Me Anything
One of the seniors at Koinonia gives his take on the book "Ask Me Anything: Provocative Answers for College Students" and explains helpful lessons and takeaways that would pertain to any college student.
“The college years are full of life-defining questions and concerns. Dr Budziszewski (aka Professor Theophilus) offers his expert opinion to help students achieve personal insight about the most controversial and confusing topics they may face.”
This book compiles several conversations J. Budziszewski (aka Professor Theophilus) had concerning common issues college students have. While he has a website with several of these conversations, this book focuses two main topics: guy-girl relationships and having faith in a college campus.
THE REVIEW
When talking about guy-girl relationships, he gives the Christian view of how dating should be like, and explains why present forms of dating are so damaging. One example I really like was when he compared having a relationship to tape. At first, the tape was difficult to remove from the student’s arms. However, as the tape was reapplied and removed again, the tape became less sticky, and the pain of removing it dulled.
This was an analogy to how repeatedly dating others eventually made one lose their capacity to love. They would gradually lose the love they should have towards their partner, unlike how God intended us to be with our partners.
Theophilus gives advice on how to properly approach these relationships, and the boundaries we need to set.
As I mentioned earlier, Professor Theophilus covers several issues on having faith in a college campus, which also encompasses many theological questions. These include whether Catholics are Christians, why we should believe in our belief of God, what tolerance really is, relativism in beliefs, and more. Several of Theophilus’ responses to these questions have been really eye-opening to me, giving me a clear, reasonable answer to them.
One of these students asked how to answer a friend who claimed that anything he did, that did not hurt someone, was not wrong. Theophilus responds by explaining that he is ignoring parts of the moral law, and lays out three problems with living out that claim: one would be flat by avoiding all duties of the moral law except the avoidance of harm, one would become selfish by living a life where they don’t do anything to help others, and one would be stupid to not realize the different possible pains one can inflict on others in life.
THE VERDICT
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Theology: 4/10
Engaging Level: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
THE CONCLUSION
This book let me see that some of the questions I have been scared to ask also dwell in others. Theophilus answers many questions that the common college student will have: questions about sex conduct, responsibility, dating, skepticism in religion, what is tolerance, faith, and more. I would highly recommend it to any student who have doubts about conventional answers by today’s society.