The latest in the Questions Christians Ask series, Mark Meynell sketches out a solid introduction to basic Christian beliefs about humanity. Its brevity is both it’s biggest strength and weakness. It is accessible and easily digested in an hour or two. It’s probably most helpful for younger or newer Christians – more established Christians might find it a bit basic, and it assumes a lot that a non-Christian might want to argue.
It’s weakness is that the Questions Christians Ask format works best with a clear and specific question, but “what makes us human?” is a massive and broad topic. It touches on big questions such as gender and sanctity of life without room to develop its implications. Some suggestions for further reading might have helped, especially since a book of this length can’t be much more than an introduction to larger topics.
But given the limitations of tackling such a big question in under a hundred pages, if you’re looking for a pithy summary of the Bible’s teaching on what it means to be human, this is a good and helpful book.