Book Review: Ask Me Anything

Author: J. Budziszewski

Reviewer: Greg Haskell

Books that are both entertaining and thought-provoking are not easy to come by. Books that are rooted in both Scripture and a down-to-earth grasp of reality are rarer still. So it was a pleasure to read Ask Me Anything, a recent NavPress publication authored by J. Budzieszewski, a professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas.

Ask Me Anything is similar in some respects, and different in other ways, from Budzieszewski’s best-selling How to Stay Christian in College (also published by NavPress). Both books have the same audience in mind—college students in the post-modern environment that characterizes universities in North America (and, increasingly, universities here in the Philippines). And both books have the same objective—challenging and equipping Christian students to intelligently, and biblically, address the issues they face in that environment. The two books differ markedly in style, however. While How to Stay Christian is a series of essays on living a Christian life in a post-modern university setting, Ask Me Anything is letters reprinted from Professor Budzieszewski’s regular column in the webzine Boundless. Each is a response to a real-life question posed by a college student.

Its style makes Ask Me Anything very readable. The questions are short, to-the-point, down-to-earth, and sometimes blunt. Professor Budzieszewski’s answers are likewise short, to-the-point, and sometimes (appropriately) blunt.

Readers who are familiar with the works of Boston College professor of philosophy Peter Kreeft will find that Budzieszewski reminds them of Kreeft, so much so that one wonders if Budzieszewski’s style in Ask Me Anything was not inspired by Kreeft’s Socrates Meets Jesus. Both Budzieszewski and Kreeft employ a style that is often Socratic. That is, they like to make a point (and they make their points very clearly and powerfully) by asking questions—questions that make the reader think. Their questions, and their answers, are invariably clever, and frequently witty. And, as might be expected of professors of philosophy, their answers are very well-considered.

Unlike Kreeft, who focuses more narrowly on philosophical issues, Budzieszewski takes up a mix of philosophical and practical issues. This is to be expected as the issues he discusses are those raised by real-life university students who either mail him their questions or ask questions in on-campus encounters. (Only occasionally does Budzieszewski lapse into “corniness” in providing a narrative setting for the dialogues he recounts.) Among the intriguing questions Budzieszewski take up: “I’m having sex, so what?” “What’s wrong with being gay?” “Why is chuch such a big deal?” “What does God say about war?”

Happily, Budzieszewski is not just a philosopher and a Christian, but also an astute student of human nature. He is a “hard-nosed” realist when it comes to dealing with the feelings that invariably arise in guy-girl relationships. His discussion of the misunderstandings inherent in something very akin to what Filipinos call “M.U.” (mutual understanding) is both logical and realistic. It turns out that Filipino and American young people make the same excuses for noncommittal “games-playing.” And Budzieszewski rightly insists (in a warm-hearted and cheerful way) that young men and women be honest with themselves. (He comes across as “warm-hearted” and “hard-nosed” at the same time.)

With the Philippines’ headlong rush to follow in the footsteps—however misguided—of the USA, Ask Me Anything is a timely read for the thoughtful Filipino. The last two questions Budzieszewski takes up—at more length than most of those preceding—concern a Christian response to homosexuality. With the Philippines’ burgeoning “gay pride” movement—and now talk of organizing a gay political party (in some respects, the Philippines has gotten ahead of the USA!), those questions are very relevant indeed.

Budzieszewski’s stance on all the issues he takes up takes both the Scriptures and logic into account. But not every reader will agree with Budzieszewski’s unequivocal stance on all the issues he addresses. His emphasizing that clear-thinking Protestants and Catholics are agreed on the gospel may come as a shock to some readers. His argument that any man who fathers a child out of wedlock should marry the mother of his child is debatable. And his insistence that “there is no forgiveness without repentance” raises questions about the free character of God’s grace. But Budzieszewski’s well-considered answers to some very important and relevant questions are well-worth reading (and entertaining reading at that!).

Peter Kreeft says of Ask Me Anything: “College students need this book like a diver needs oxyen.” I agree. I’m sending my college-student son a copy.

Greg Haskell (greg.haskell@gmail.com)