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Bravo to writer John L. Betcher for his outstanding achievement with A Higher Court. Once started, I had a hard time putting it down. After two and a half days pouring through this work, I felt like I had taken an intellectual and spiritual journey from the beginning of creation to where I am today, and even beyond.
Set as a "trial" in a surreal court room with almost thirty jurors, this book puts you in a sort of Twilight Zone, where time and space are put on hold. As a reader, you become one of the jurors in this altered reality. Our judge is unusual, not what one would expect, but he has complete authority and command.
The trial we're all partaking in deals with the question of whether or not God exists. You may be thinking, I've heard this before. Well, most of us have, but probably not like this. Reading this was like watching a full-length and unrestrained conversation at a round table--Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens on one side, William Lane Craig and Ravi Zacharias on the other. The dialog was fascinating and it covered just about every subject and approach. Mr. Betcher's research is quite thorough and he covers not just the old contentions of this subject, but everything that is at the vanguard of today's science and thinking.
As we go through this trial, there is a counsel for the existence of God and a counsel for the repudiation of God. Each counsel is given the opportunity to present witnesses, ask questions, and then cross-examine. The witnesses are experts in their various fields and a wide variety of subjects are covered--theology, cosmetology, astronomy, philosophy and even psychology. If you're curious what the latest arguments are for how this universe came to be and how life started and evolved on planet earth, you'll be educated and enlightened with this work.
After a couple witnesses or testimonies, the jurors would gather in small groups and deliberate. I have to give kudos to Mr. Betcher for his balanced approach to this. Among the jurors at this trial we have a Native American, a Muslim, an agnostic, and of course an atheist. These different people give their perspectives on who and what God is to them based their upbringing and experiences. As a whole though, the focus is on the Judeo-Christian faith. Later, the reader will find out why Christianity is very much different from all other faiths.
As comprehensive as it all was, there is one element I thought was missing. At one point in the trial, witnesses came forward and gave their testimonies as to why they chose not to believe in God. Later, more witnesses came forward to tell why they do believe in God. There were two powerful and moving testimonies for each side, and each one dealt heavily on various forms of suffering. As we all know, pain either drives a person away from God in anger, or drives a person to God for comfort. But the testimony that was missing was the one of a totally changed life for the positive. I personally know people who in literally one instant, were radically transformed and healed of everything from substance abuse to physical and emotional trauma. Science will never explain that. It would have been nice to have added this component to the story. I do understand though why the problem of pain was focused on as this is a huge issue with so many.
As the story winds down, we are presented with a nice summary of issues that have plagued the human race and why the dilemma over the existence of God continues. It may surprise you how the trial ends and what it was really all about. There is also a huge and unexpected twist, one that really makes a person think. I highly recommend A Higher Court and wish all readers well on their own journey to finding our Creator.
Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, technical trainer, and author. He holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Anne and two sons.
Visit http://www.libatique.com/ or Contact Kelly at: Kelly.Libatique@gmail.com
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